292 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



the corners of the square, and the area of flig'ht will 

 be a circle. 



Fig. ^ shows the inter- 

 ference to be less with 

 circular than with 

 square fields. If 1 have 

 made no mistake in fig- 

 uring', the shaded part 

 in Fig. 2 is 39 per cent of 

 A's field. But is there *''^- ^• 



not still an error? We have thus far considered 

 that the bees occui)y a circular field sharplj' defin- 

 ed by its circumference, the bees spread evenly 

 over this whole surface, being just as i>lentiful near 

 the circumference as near the center. But do not 

 the bees become more and more scattered as we 

 a])proach the circumference, so that the further we 

 go f rom an ajiiary the fewer bees we shall find? I 

 know that bees seem instinctively to iirefer to tiy 

 some little distance when going in search of nectar; 

 or. at least, 1 think 1 have seen it so stated; but is 

 this not true only to a limited extent? and i.« not 

 the general rule that, when j^ou go to their utmost 

 limit of flight, you will find the bees very scattering? 

 Another thing is, that the time and strength in- 

 volved in making these distant flights counts for 

 something, so that, even if the bees were evenly 

 distributed over the field, an acre taken from near 

 the circumference would count for less in the sur- 

 plus crop than an acre taken nearer the center. I 

 think, however, we are safe in saying both that the 

 bees are more scattering as we apiiroach the cir- 

 cumference, and also that their labors are of less 

 value than when working nearer the center. This, 

 of course, is merely a general statement, and on the 

 supposition that the field is homogeneous through- 

 out, as if it were one unvarying field of clover from 

 center to circumference. Of course, in actual 

 practice there is no such uniformity, for there may 

 be a fine yield from basswoods near the outside, 

 and nothing yielding near the center. But taking 

 the general view, the field may be considered, not 

 as a distinctly defined circle, equally valuable in all 

 its parts, but as a circular field densely occupied 

 near the center, and gradually fading away to noth- 

 ing as the distance from the center becomes great- 

 greater and greater. 



Fig. 3. 



Fig. 4. 



Fig. 3 represents the idea. With this view of the 

 case, it will be seen that the interference is much 

 less when the apiary B is placed three miles from 

 the apiary A, as at Fig. 4, than we have previously 

 considered. Just what the precise amount of in- 

 terference is, I can not give in exHct figures. 



Now, some good friend will likely haul me over 

 the coals for dealing so much in speculation, and 

 ask me why I don't deal in facts My good friend, 

 the subject is such a slippery one that it is a very 

 hard matter to get hold of any thing very positive. 

 But the subject is one we must think about, and we 

 must come to some kind of a conclusion when we 

 come to establish an out apiary; ^nd I will gladly 



yield the floor to you if you will give us positive in- 

 formation. 



So much for theory. As to my actual experience 

 in the matter, I confess it has been such that my 

 views have undergone considerable change. My 

 Wilson apiary is just about three mili's from home, 

 in a bee-line. I thought this was too near, but it 

 was convenient and desirable on several accounts. 

 Without knowing any thing about it myself, I took 

 the testimony of others that three miles is about a 

 fair distance for bees to fly, and so they should be 

 six miles apart, to avoid all intei-ferencL'. Making 

 allowance for their scattering flight at the outside, 

 T decided that there would be hardly enough lost by 

 putting them a mile nearer to pay for traveling the 

 extra mile in going back and forth to the out apia- 

 ry; so I settled upon five milt^ as about the most 

 desirable distance But, as I said, the Wilson apia- 

 ry was distant three miles; and after s<•^•cral years' 

 experience I now seriously doubt if any thing 

 would be gained by placing it further away. At 

 different times, and many times, I have taken col- 

 onies from one apiary to the other, and in no case 

 have I ever known the bees to fly back to their old 

 locality. Now, if any of them, in their flight, got 

 back upon their old field, would they not, from 

 sheer force of habit, finding themselves on familiar 

 ground, fly back to their old homes? The shaking- 

 up of the journey, and also the strange appeai-ance 

 of the locality, would make them mark the new lo- 

 cation, I know; but still I think the old habit would 

 take them to the old home if they were on the old 

 ground. On the other hand, when sweet clover was 

 in bloom, bees were found on it along the road 

 throughout the whole of the middle mile between 

 the two apiaries, and they would hardly happen to 

 meet just at the middle i)0int between the two 

 apiaries and not overlap. However, thtse middle 

 bees may have been from some (ith(;r apiary. 1 

 merely give it as my present guess, that three miles 

 is far enough apart for my apiaries, and make no 

 promise to adhere to that opinion for any specified 

 length of time. Have others any experience that 

 will help toward a guess in the matter? 



At different times T have asked questions of oth- 

 ers, and, without exception, received answers some- 

 thing after the following fashion : 



" Suppose an out apiary is established at a proper 

 distance north of the home apiary, in what direc- 

 tion would you plant a third apiary?" 



"South." 



" Where would you plant n fourth a)(iary?" 



" East or west." 



"Well, sui)pose we .«ay east, then where would 

 you plant a fifth?" 



•' West." 



" And a sixth?" 



"Well, somewhere further out." 



In every case the idea was that a circle, or row 

 of four apiaries, would be planted about the home 

 apiary, something like Fig. .5. 



\ 



|Fig. 5. :Fig.;H. 



This is well itjpough if onh five apiaries are to be 



