860 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



"To the southeast of my apiary the land 

 rises gradually for about six miles, and at 

 the end of the distance it is nearly 1000 feet 

 higher than at the bee-yard. Unless inter- 

 rupted by rain the bees follow the receding- 

 bloom of basswood till the top of the hill is 

 reached; and I can see no slackening of 

 work in the sections as long as the bloom 

 is plentiful on this hill. And the bees, also, 

 all work in this direction at this time, while 

 during the first half of the bloom they work 

 in all directions." 



"But how about the length of time con- 

 sumed in flying thus far?" 



"Well, I can not tell exactly about this, 

 but I judge it does not take nearly so long 

 for a bee to fly five or six miles as many 

 imagine. From what I have seen I judge a 

 bee can fly at the rate of thirty miles or 

 more an hour; and, if so, ten minutes would 

 be sufficient for a covering of the trip one 

 way, or twenty minutes for the round trip." 



' ' But they do not seem to fly as fast as 

 that when coming to the hives loaded." 



"Of course, they do not fly as fast when 

 nearing the hives, or when about the apiary; 

 but when they get out and away they move 

 very fast. I have often gone to an elevated 

 portion of ground which the bees must pass 

 over in going to the top of this hill, and, by 

 lying flat on my back and placing my hands 

 on either side of my face so as to cut off the 

 side light, and looking steadily up for a 

 little time, until the eyes became accustom- 

 ed to the surroundings, the bees could be 

 seen going and coming quite plainly against 

 the sky, while the rapidity of flight seems 

 to approach that of a rapidly moving pas- 

 senger train on one of our railroads." 



"Well, I am glad I came; for if what you 

 say is true I have a fairly good location 

 where I am, when I come to consider all the 

 flora within four to five miles of me in all 

 directions." 



H^'^'M''°" 



FULL SHEETS OF FOUNDATION; WHEN IT 



PAYS AND DOES NOT PAY TO HAVE A 



HONEY-EXTRACTOR. 



1. Are full sheets of foundation equal to 

 natural-built combs, for use as brood-combs 

 for extracting? 



2. Would it pay for a person who keeps 

 10 or 15 colonies of bees, and to whom a 

 pound of extracted honey would be equal to 

 a pound of comb honey, to buy an extractor? 

 That is, would the extra amount of honey 

 secured justify the expenditure? 



3. How could I secure the greatest amount 

 of liquid honey without having an extractor? 



4. How is the Red River Viilley, in North 

 Dakota, for keeping bees? Amateur. 



[1. I do not know that I quite understand 

 your question. If you iisk whether combs 



from full sheets of foundation are better 

 than those built without foundation, I would 

 unhesitatingly say 3'es. If you inquire 

 whether full sheets of foundation not built 

 out are equal to natural-built combs, then I 

 would say yes and no. Natural-built combs 

 if they are true and straight — in fact, any 

 combs — are more serviceable in the apiary 

 than foundation. Where one is running for 

 extracted honey he will be able to get much 

 more honey if he has combs already drawn 

 out than if he has to depend on sheets of 

 foundation; but if he wishes to run for comb 

 honey, and keep down swarming, then he 

 should have either full sheets or starters of 

 foundation. 



2. If you mean that j^ou could sell a pound 

 of extracted at the same price as a pound 

 of comb, then it surely would pay you to get 

 an extractor. This question will depend 

 largely on the market. It is usually ad- 

 mitted by practical men that more extracted 

 honey than comb can be produced. Some 

 saj"^ twice as much, others one-half more ; 

 but a conservative estimate, perhaps, would 

 be one-third more. If the market prices are 

 in proportion, then it would pay you to get 

 an extractor, for the liquid honey can be ob- 

 tained from weak as well as strong colonies. 

 It is not practicable to produce comb honey 

 except from full-sized colonies. In most lo- 

 calities, and especiall}' at the present time, 

 or within the last two years, say, the bee- 

 keeper of IS colonies had better confine him- 

 self entirely to comb hone3^ Extracted 

 honey is apt to be a drug on the market, 

 while comb honey can scarcely be obtained 

 at anj^ price. 



3. It is not practicable to produce liquid 

 honey without an extractor. Do not fool 

 away your time and money. 



4. I am not able to advise you; but, speak- 

 ing g"enerally. North Dakota ranks well as 

 a honey State. — Ed.] 



HOW SWARMING STOPS IN FLORIDA AT THE 



COMMENCEMENT OF THE HEAVY 



HONEY-FLOW. 



Your description of how the bees manage 

 their swarming in Southwest Texas and in 

 New Mexico, fits us here in Southern Flor- 

 ida verj' closely; but Mr. Robbins (p. 752) 

 is right in saying, "The broad assertion 

 that bees will, at the advent of the honey 

 season, destroy cells, kill off drones, etc., 

 needs qualification." I never knew bees 

 to destroy cells or kill off drones at the 

 commencement of the honey harvest; but 

 there are few if any swarms afterward. 

 We have a fair flow of honey, say an aver- 

 age of 20 to 50 lbs. of honey per colony, dur- 

 ing December to February inclusive, then a 

 very light flow, usuallj^ just enough to keep 

 bees breeding heavily during March, and 

 in April until the heavy flow commences. 

 Practically all of our swarming occurs dur- 

 ing the last of February and in March. 

 A hundred miles north of here, swarming 

 lasts longer and more persistently than it 

 does here; and often, entirely too often, 

 swarms issue from hives that do not contain 



