THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



237 



>veipst®cl}liimtf Varies witli t'h.i 



BY M. A. GILL. 



"HDITOR REVIEW:— I read with 

 -L- ' much interest the article from Mr. 

 Alexander upon the question of over- 

 stocking'. I ag-ree with him in many 

 things, but wish to mention a few 

 points wherein I disagree, and g'ive 

 the reasons why. 



BEES GATHER MORE HONEY WHEN 

 PASTURES ARE NEAR BY. 



I agree with him and Doolittle that 

 bees do g"ather honey four miles from 

 home, but insist that they could gath- 

 er more surplus if they were within 

 one or two miles of the field. Four 

 years ago I had one apiary within 

 half a mile of a larg^e and productive 

 field of cleome, and another apiary 

 four miles away. Both worked on the 

 same field; but, in the fall, the colonies 

 close by had averaged two supers 

 of surplus more per colony than had 

 those that were four miles away. 



Overstocking does not show up dur- 

 ing a £'Ood flow, or, perhaps, what 

 might be called an unusual secretion, 

 but it is during a light honey-flow, or 

 dearth, that the bad effects of over- 

 stocking show up. I believe, with 

 Mr. Alexander, that, during a good 

 flow, the secretion of honey goes on 

 all the time, night and day; and it 

 matters not much /ww often the flowers 

 are visited, the honey is there at all 

 times for the bees to gather. But during- 

 a poor j'ield it is different. The bees 

 will lick up the field by ten o'clock and 

 then lie idle the rest of the day, or 

 spend their time trying to rob and pil- 

 fer. 



SOME EXAMPLES OF OVERSTOCKING. 



Three years ago, 1,000 colonies, here 

 at Longmont, that were located on 



one square mile, did as well during a 

 long, good flozv, as those farther out, 

 but during the next season, which was 

 a very poor one, 600 colonies, on the 

 same field did much less in storing 

 surplus than did apiaries farther out 

 and in naturally poorer fields. 



I think, with Mr. Alexander, that 

 often more bees can be kept upon a 

 given field than is laid down by the 

 law makers, but Nature, in this, as in 

 all other matters, has certainly placed 

 a limit, and I believe that limit is 

 under from 700 to 1,000 colonies, as 

 Mr. Alexander suggests. 



In the field in which I am now oper- 

 ating 1,000 colonies, and which is, 

 practically speaking, 10 x 18 miles in 

 size, is located over 5,000 colonies, in- 

 cluding my own. My apiaries run 

 from 75 to 150 colonies, in each apiary. 

 Two of my apiaries are located in the 

 center of this field, closely surrounded 

 by other bees, and these apiaries have 

 to be fed, both fall and spring, if the 

 season is not good, while my other 

 apiaries, located on the very outside, 

 or, rim, so to speak, of the field, get 

 some honey even in poor seasons, and 

 are nearly always in good condition. 



My average is much above the aver- 

 age for the whole field. In poor sea- 

 sons I think this is due to my advan- 

 tage in location, but in good seasons I 

 think it is, perhaps, due to the fact 

 that my bees have better care than the 

 average of the district. I feel certain 

 that some of my apiaries could be 

 be doubled in number, and the results 

 per colony be the same in good seasons, 

 but who knows, with any degree of 

 surety, when we are going to have 

 favorable or unfavorable seasons? 



