176 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Feb., 



clover is in blossom, whereas they continue to 

 gather honey during a moderate rain in bass- 

 wood blossom time. To come to an answer of 

 my question, it is not necessary to investigate 

 the influence of the weather on the secretion of 

 honey in flowers. This is a matter we cannot 

 change. We have to take the season as it is— 

 whether it be a good one, or a poor one. Tlie 

 location of my home apiary is doubtless a poor 

 one, so far as gathering white clover honey is 

 concerned ; but honey in basswood blossoms is 

 as abundant here as anywhere ; and I have satis- 

 fied myself that I can secure a fair amount of 

 surplus honey, if I aim at that, instead of work- 

 ing for an increase of stock or jjure queen bees. 

 Five years ago w^as a good season for basswood 

 honey. My bees — at that time numbeiing three 

 hundred and ninety-three colonies in my home 

 apiary, after swarming^worked fully as lively 

 as they did this season. The weather was as 

 good during the time of basswood blossoms, as 

 it was this season, and basswood flowers were as 

 abundant also. After gathering for a week, a 

 number of stocks were examined, and while the 

 combs were nearly all filled with honey, the bees 

 had jiist commenced sealing it. This season, 

 when 1 commenced with only one hundred and 

 thirty-seven colonies in the spring, and had 

 during basswood blossoms only about two hun- 

 dred stocks at my home apiary, the stocks I 

 examined on the third day after they commenced 

 gathering from basswood blossoms, had sealed 

 quite a quantity of honey. All stocks that were 

 supi^lied with boxes gave a fair amount of 

 honey ; and a number of double hives that I had 

 erected, could be emptied every three or four 

 days, having commenced to seal their honey. 

 Five years ago, only a small number of stocks 

 had made box honey, most of the hives had just 

 commenced, when basswood blossoms were 

 over ; and on examination a week or two after- 

 wards, I found that nearly every stock had more 

 empty combs in the brood chamber than they 

 needed. No doubt the thin honey had shrunk 

 much in thickening, and the consequence was 

 the bees had to empty some of the combs, to 

 -prepare others for sealing over. In my northern 

 apiary, where I had only about one hundred and 

 fifty hives that season, the brood chamber of 

 the hives was full, and I got a satisfactory 

 amount of box honey. Being fully convinced 

 then that I had too many stocks in my home 

 apiary, I concluded to start my southern apiary, 

 with one hundred stocks taken from the former. 



Last year, when I had more than two hundred 

 hives at home, after swarming, my average yield 

 of honey was only about nineteen pounds per 

 hive. This year, by using empty combs enough 

 to fill twenty double hives, and some boxes 

 partly filled with combs, I got two thousand 

 and fifty (2,050) pounds of box honey, and a 

 little over four thousand (4,000) pounds of 

 extracted honey — or an average of about forty- 

 four pounds per hive ; and I had taken from tliose 

 one hundred and thirty-seven hives I started 

 with, fifty-six divided colonies and swarms to 

 my northern apiary, thirty-three to a location 

 four miles east, and twenty-nine three miles 



south. Tliese one hundred and eighteen colo- 

 nies gatliered and stored a little over twenty- 

 three hundred (3300) pounds of honey in the 

 comb in boxes, and gave seventeen maiden 

 swarms saved, besides several that went off" and 

 were lost. This amount, added to that gathered 

 at home, would increase the average yield of the 

 original one hundred and thirty-seven stocks at 

 home, to nearly sixty-one pounds, by an increase 

 of one hundred and ninety-eight new colonies. 



The thirty-three colonies moved east from my 

 home apiary, were a vei-y weak and poor lot o.' 

 stocks that had either been queenless last springi, 

 or artificial stocks with only three or four comb*. 

 They gave eight swarms and a little over eigU 

 hundred (800) pounds of box honey. I am fuly 

 satisfied, tliat most of them^'ould have been 

 unable to store a winter' supply if kept at 

 home. But where I had pt^tliem, they lad 

 'nearly the wliole field to themselves, as mly 

 twelve colonies besides were kept by oiher 

 parties, in their range of flight. 



I have often watched bees gathering )oney 

 from flowers in locations where bees were jienty. 

 They went over them very fast, and oftei were 

 followed in half a minute by otliers, that 

 did not even stop for an experiment of cclecting 

 honey from the same flowers. Such bef> neces- 

 sarily lose much time in their search foi flowers 

 that contain honey, even if it be concded that 

 honey is secreted continuously duing the 

 blooming of the flowers ; and then oo, such 

 honey will not have had time to th'^ken, and 

 the bees will in addition, lose mufi time in 

 waiting for the thickening of such 'oney after 

 it has been gathered. 



I well know that bees fly two, tli'ee, or four 

 miles, in a time of scarcity, but I lave noticed 

 that the stocks gain little if any at such a time. 

 Five years ago my Italian bees -ere found in 

 great numbers in a field of whi'J clover, three 

 and a half miles from home. Atfhat time they 

 gathered just enough to sustrn thcm.selves ; 

 while about a dozen colonies kept only one- 

 fourth of a mile from the samcfield were work- 

 ing actively in boxes. In former days I 

 sometimes stated that during^a^sswood time, a 

 thousand colonies could be kpt in one location, 

 and all would do well. have somewhat 

 changed my mind on that I'int. The bees of 

 tho.se thousand colonies, ifin good condition, 

 would perhaps gather honj enough to winter 

 on ; but they would lay uvery little honey for 

 their owner. They wouhga'ther the honey, in 

 their range of flight, as '■st as it was seci-eted, 

 and many bees would -sit blossoms that had 

 already been rifled onlvi moment before. The 

 honey gathered woul be a very thin article, 

 subject to large shrinigP) after collection ; and 

 instead of still findig luxury ten days after 

 basswood blossoms -re over, every drop would 

 be gathered when i cea5ed to flow. I am fully 

 satisfied that a bee^eepa would not get as much • 

 surplus honey froi a, tlousand colonies kept in 

 one location, as ne wodd from one hundred. 

 And then, outsice of tb basswood season, they 

 would not be abe to co'ect enough to feed their 

 brood and sustain tfemselves. They would 

 continually lu'k aroun among their neighbors, 



