532 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



and in the right place, the more sure 

 that person is to attain the success de- 

 sired. Among these items, a thorough 

 knowledge of the location in which we 

 are situated, as to its honey-producing 

 flora, is by no means the least. Best 

 hives, best strains of bees, and best 

 locality, all play an important part in 

 the success of the apiarist ; but none of 

 these are more important than a knowl- 

 edge of our location. Some of the let- 

 ters received, alluded to above, show 

 that there is great ignorance along this 

 line among bee-keepers, and as long as 

 this ignorance remains, no one can ex- 

 pect to secure the best results. 



How are we to know when to com- 

 mence to build our bees up so as to have 

 our hives filled with bees and brood at 

 just the right time, when to put on sec- 

 tions, and when to have our swarming 

 all done up, unless we know which 

 flowers produce our honey ? The secur- 

 ing of bees at just the right time is the 

 great secret of success, and hives full of 

 bees at any other time amount to 

 nothing. 



When I first began bee-keeping I was 

 told by an old bee-keeper, that when he 

 lived in my neighborhood, his bees got 

 an early start by getting pollen from 

 the willow-buds when they first swelled 

 in the spring, as there was considerable 

 golden willow on his place. So I set it 

 down that golden willow produced the 

 first pollen. Soon after, I read in 

 Quinby's book that golden willow pro- 

 duced no pollen, but that the first came 

 from skunk-cabbage. About April iOth 

 1 saw the first pollen coming in, and I 

 at once went for the willows, but not a 

 a bee was to be seen about them. Next 

 I went to the swamp, around which the 

 skunk-cabbage grew, and there I found 

 the little workers rolling up the pellets 

 of bright yellow pollen and carrying it 

 home, thus showing that Quinby could 

 be safely followed, while my old bee- 

 friend could not. 



Then as every new variety of pollen 

 c^pie into the hive, I traced it out, and 

 kept in my diary the date of its bloom- 

 ing — from the skunk-cabbage in the 

 earliest spring to the witch-hazel in 

 latest fall. Then the same was done as 

 regards honey-producing plants and 

 trees, golden willow giving the first, and 

 selendine and a weed with white blos- 

 soms, in the woods, the last. This was 

 kept up for five years, and then notes 

 compared so as to give the average time 

 of the blossoming of all plants visited 

 by the bees. Thus, with this knowl- 

 edge, I could work the bees understand- 

 ingly, and if the season was early or 



late, vary operations accordingly. If 

 those entering, or those already in the 

 ranks of bee-keeping, would thoroughly 

 post themselves in this matter, they 

 would find it a great service by way of 

 receiviiig a good yield of honey. 



AGE WHEN BEES GATHER HONEY. 



Having thus looked over our location 

 until we have a full knowledge of the 

 time of blooming of the flowers in it, we 

 next have the age at which bees gather 

 honey. This may be thought by some 

 to be of little interest, but taken in con- 

 nection with the foregoing, it has much 

 to do with the surplus honey we secure. 

 Many seem to suppose that* the bee is 

 capable of going to the fields to gather 

 honey as soon as hatched, or in three or 

 four days, at least; but some facts 

 prove that they do not do so. Bees may 

 be forced to go into the fields for pollen 

 and honey at the age of from five to six 

 days; but when the colony is in a nor- 

 mal condition, as it always should be to 

 store honey to the best advantage, the 

 bee is 16 days old before it gathers 

 honey. 



If we take combs of bees just emerg- 

 ing from the cells, and place them in a 

 hive without any bees, as is frequently 

 done to introduce a valuable queen, we 

 will see young bees not more than five 

 or six days old go to the fields, being 

 compelled to do so for pollen, water, etc., 

 because there is none of an older age to 

 go : but this does not prove that bees of 

 that age usually do so. I have con- 

 ducted two experiments since I kept 

 bees, to ascertain the age at which they 

 first gather honey ; and as each proves 

 the same, I believe 16 days to be the 

 time when the bee brings her first load 

 of honey, when the colony is in a normal 

 condition. 



About the middle of June a black 

 queen was removed and an Italian in- 

 troduced in her place. The date was 

 kept regarding the time the last black 

 bee emerged from its cell, and when the 

 first Italian bee came forth. Then the 

 hive was watched, and not an Italian 

 bee was seen at the entrance until tVie 

 sixth day, when a few took their first 

 " play-spell," as it is termed. Every 

 pleasant day tjae number of Italians at 

 these play-spells increased, but none 

 were seen out of the hive at any other 

 time until the 16th day after th« first 

 Italian hatched. At this time a few 

 came in with pollen and honey, com- 

 mencing to work about 10 a.m. After 

 this, the number of Italian honey-gath- 

 erers increased, while the number of 

 blacks decreased, until on the 45th day 



