DECEMBER 1. 1915 



965 



Distance Bees Fly in Quest of Stores 



Wk desire to indorse what our corre- 

 spondent, F. M. Baldwin, has to say on 

 this subject in this issue, page 987. We 

 have traveled quite extensively over this 

 country ; and while we have found occasion- 

 al locations where bees would fly five miles 

 and sometimes even further, we are satis- 

 fied that they seldom go over IV2 miles, and 

 usually not over a mile. A great many 

 times our own bees at our oulyards seem to 

 go less than three-quarters of a mile; and 

 yet many j'ears ago we found our Italians, 

 that we were just introducing, more than 

 three miles from home. There were no 

 other Italians in the locality, and so we 

 knew they were our own bees. That they 

 do this generally in this locality' is not true. 



It has been stated that bees have long- 

 range vision. When the country is some- 

 what mountainous or hilly they are known 

 to fly from one hill to another, the distance 

 aggi-egating five miles. Similarly they will 

 go across a body of water ; but on ordinary 

 level wooded country they will flv scarcely 

 over three-fourths of a mile. It is our 

 opinion that they seldom go more than 

 three-fourths of a mile. Our bees, at one 

 yard, at least, seem disinclined to fly over a 

 piece of woods half a mile away. They will 

 go up to it and into it, but will not fly over 

 it. 



The localities in and about Medina will 

 not support, either for comb or extracted 

 honey, much more than about 35 colonies 

 in a place; but there are places that will 

 support anywhere from 200 to 500 in one 

 location. The late E. W. Alexander's loca- 

 tion at Delanson, N. Y., was a case in point. 

 From that apiary site buckwheat fields 

 could be plainly seen three and five miles 

 away. When this is the case the bees have 

 an opportunity to see a long distance. If 

 on an elevation they will fly far across a 

 valley. If on a plain, as in the West, if no 

 shrubbery or wooded country is in the way, 

 they will go sometimes two or three miles, 

 and sometimes even five. We have cases of 

 this in some of the alfalfa country. 



The conditions in and about Bradentown, 

 Fla. . are not such as to favor long-distance 

 flights. The country in the wild state is 

 covered with pines, swamp lands, and ham- 

 mock land, and in the cultivated state with 

 citrus groves. Tliere is almost no territory 

 about Bradentown that is free from growth 

 of some kind, and that is the reason why 

 the range of flight is so short. 



If our theory is correct, that the flight of 

 bees in quest of nectar is dependent on the 

 distance they can see pasturage, it will help 



us to determine the distance and location 

 of our outyards, and the size and location 

 of apiaries will make all the difference be- 

 tween success and failure. The question is 

 a good one to discuss during the winter 

 months, in order that we may arrive at 

 some definite conclusion hy next spring. 



A $30,000 Damage Suit against a Silver- 

 smelting Company for Alleged Dam- 

 ages to the Beekeeping Interests in 

 the Vicinity 



For some time back there have been 

 rumors to the effect that a silver-smelting 

 concern in Canada was causing widespread 

 damage to the beekeeijers in the locality. 

 Attorneys from both sides have approached 

 us, asking for information concerning other 

 eases of this kind. The only one to which 

 we have been able to refer is the one re- 

 corded on page 616 of our May 1st issue 

 for 1907. At that time it appears that the 

 smelter people settled with the beekeepers 

 in the sum of $60,000. The case was long 

 drawn out, and after a long and severe 

 struggle the smelters in the Salt Lake Val- 

 ley, Utah, settled on the basis above men- 

 tioned. 



It was stated at the time that prior to the 

 advent of the smelters the Salt Lake Valley 

 was the banner bee country of the state; 

 that there had been kept up to that time as 

 many as ten thousand colonies of bees. At 

 the time the statement was made, it was 

 alleged that less than ten colonies were left. 

 One beekeeper lost a thousand colonies. It 

 appears that each of the smelting com- 

 panies paid $15,000 each, or $60,000 in all, 

 Avhich amount was probably distributed 

 among the beekeepers claiming damage. 



In several trips we have made in various 

 parts of the western country, we heard 

 complaints of the destructive action of the 

 smelter gases on bees and vegetation. It 

 has been said also that the gases not only 

 kill the bees but destroy the plants that 

 furnish the nectar supply. 



Within the last few years we have heard 

 nothing about any further complaints ex- 

 cept the one originating in Ontario, Cana- 

 da. How the beekeepers of Salt Lake Val- 

 ley came out at the time we do not know. 

 We certainly have subscribers in the Val- 

 ley now, and are under the impression that 

 the smelters are still operating. Whether 

 that settlement of $60,000 was a settlement 

 for all time we do not know. 



Some time last year we wrote to Lewis 

 Minor, one of the foremost beekeepers of 

 Ontario, Canada, for particulars concern- 



