642 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 15 



pieces >^xl%xllM; 10 long pieces >^xl>^x 

 15X- The lumber costs 20 cts. 



It will be noticed that the cross-pieces are 

 % inch deeper than the others, the reason 

 being that a tight fit is wanted under the end 

 of the hive so that the bees can not crawl 

 back. In use, the tray is set in the bottom- 

 board as far back as it will go, then the rack 

 goes in the tray to the front, leaving a blank 

 of about 3 inches at the rear. The hive is 

 then placed on the bottom-board with the 

 back resting on the rear of the rack. The 

 blank end of the tray is covered by a-board 

 4x14 or thereabout. It takes but a minute 

 to lift this board and pour in the syrup, 

 whether it be a pint or four quarts. 



TOP FEEDER. 



When the bees refused to take feed from 

 below I tried the top feeder used by Mr. J. 

 E. Chambers, of Texas, in raising queens, 

 which has been already described in Glean- 

 ings. It consists of a rim two inches or so 

 in depth that rests on the top of the hive. 

 In the center is placed a tray whose total 

 depth is % inch less than that of the rim; 

 width about 6 inches, length \2% inches. 

 Mine are made of wood from packing-boxes 

 rendered water-tight by working in beeswax 

 with a hot flatiron. The bottom of the tray 

 is set flush with the lower edge of the rim, 

 and across the top is nailed a couple of strips 

 of yi-inch lumber to prevent the sagging of 

 the protecting wire netting that is above. 

 This netting is, of course, 13>2 by 19>< inch- 

 es, and is tacked all round the frame. In 

 using the feeder one removes the cover and 

 pours the syrup into the tray through the 

 netting. 



Victoria, B. C, Can. 



HOW FAR DO BEES FLY? 



Some Evidence to Show that they do Not 



Work Profitably More than a 



Mile from the Yard. 



BY W. A. H. GILSTRAP. 



On page 286 the editor asks about how far 

 bees fly from choice. They do not fly one 

 mile for nectar when they can get plenty 

 nearer. As I am now in my twentieth con- 

 secutive year of keeping from 50 to 350 colo- 

 nies, I can not rank as an old or extensive 

 bee-keeper; but a varied experience has 

 taught me some things, and this is one of 

 them. 



In 1895, on my Chamberlain range 16 miles 

 south of Fresno, there were about 125 colo- 

 nies. My main flora was alfalfa and alkali 

 weeds. In the best of the honey-flow at dif- 

 ferent times it was nearly out of the question 

 to find bees on flowers three-quarters of a 

 mile from the apiary, while anywhere within 

 half a mUe of the yard bees were abundant. 



On the Esq. Ayer location in this (Stanis- 

 laus) county I had about 75 colonies in 1899. 

 There were some honey-producing flowers 

 and plenty of water near the bees in a west- 

 ernly direction ; but decidedly the main 

 source was alkali weeds, which grew rank 



for about a mile in an easterly direction . 

 Near the apiary the weeds were higher than 

 my head, and very dense. Under these cir- 

 cumstances bees might be expected to go up 

 to the Westport country and visit scattering 

 weeds from choice; but really few bees went 

 over a quarter of a mile from the apiary dur- 

 ing the best of the season. The record was 

 140 lbs. extracted, spring count, many colo- 

 nies being weak in early spring. 



While alkali is an extremely free and reli- 

 able bloomer at any season favorable to its 

 reaching warm weather, it is not as copious 

 a producer of nectar as basswood, the sages, 

 and some other plants. 



The same year I helped move about 80 

 colonies to a weed-patch, and it was worth 

 something to see the bees rush for the wil- 

 derness of bloom from early morning till 

 well toward noon, when we left. When 

 perhaps a fourth of a mile from the apiary 

 (distance was only a guess in this case), we 

 stopped and looked in vain for bees. 



Now let us look at the other side of the 

 question. A year or two after the experi- 

 ence noted at the Ayer yard we had a rather 

 dry winter and an early spring, with few 

 weeds the following summer. The honey- 

 flow was weak till well along in summer, 

 when honey-dew was stored at a fair rate. 

 A fairly good search was made for the new 

 El Dorado within the regulation \% miles 

 without finding more than a trace of honey- 

 dew. Near the close of the season two of my 

 neighbors took a trip about 3>< miles from 

 the apiary to a place where honey-dew was 

 so thick that it mussed their clothes, horses, 

 and saddles in a very provoking manner, and 

 the bees would have probably made a record 

 except for the long haul. 



Few men understand bees as well as Mr. 

 Doolittle; but he is evidently mistaken— clear 

 at sea — on this question, or else I have not 

 stated facts. That the Alexander bees gath- 

 ered honey so far from home only proves 

 that at that time the range was overstocked 

 near home. 



The foregoing applies to valley range; but 

 I have kept bees in the hills enough to sug- 

 gest that while, sometimes, they have a slight 

 advantage there, they are apt to be hinder- 

 ed by the hills. An ideal range would prob- 

 ably be in the form of a hopper several miles 

 wide with an apiary near the bottom, which 

 would give the bees a "down-hill pull" t© 

 their hives. 



Ceres, Cal. 



BEE-KEEPING IN NEW ZEALAND. 



Box Hives Being Done Away with on Ac- 

 count of Foul Brood. 



BY BURTON N. GATES. 



In New Zealand, bee-keeping appears to 

 be experiencing tremendous progress. Not 

 only are the apiaries increasing in number, 

 but they are also increasing in size. The 

 last census (1906) showed that the total har- 

 vest of wax and honey amounted to about 

 $111,175. In 1907, good authority assures 



