THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 391 



surrounded by mesas that were just as dry. But three quarters of 

 a mile away we had another apiary located right anionc^ the fields of 

 alfalfa and beside irrigation ditches lined with sweet clover. The 

 last named yard gathered from a third to a half more honey each 

 year until finally the yard surrounded by dry hills was moved to a 

 better district, when it immediately came up to the average, and I 

 believe went ahead a little the first year. 



vSecond, the kind of flora. Alfalfa is our source of nectar, and 

 the acreage has to be very large within the bee range to support the 

 bees, more acres being required, I believe, to support a hive of bees 

 than any other important honey plant such as white clover, bass- 

 wood, buckwheat, etc. 



Xow this be;ng the case, it is easy to see that Ijees can go much 

 farther (profitably) in gathering nectar from a profuse yiclder than 

 they can to gather nectar from a more scanty yield of nectar. A 

 mile and a half I would say would be about the limit for al-alfa. 

 Alfalfa is a slow yielder and its redeeming feature is that it lasts 

 from sixty ot ninety days. 



The third element entering into the question is one of the direc- 

 tion the wind blows, and how hard it blows during the honey hor- 

 vest. Our wnnds here in the west practically all come from the 

 west, both summer and winter. But we have few winds during xhe 

 summer strong enough to hinder the flight to and from the fields. 

 The bees are no doubt enticed to new pastures by the perfume borne 

 to them on the breeze and also when there is a brisk brec/e blowing 

 they may be prevented go'ng in a direction they have formerly 

 traveled and forced to explore newer fields in a dircct'on more eas- 

 ily reached. It would be interesting to know whether the bees 

 know that it wnll be more difficult coming home loaded against the 

 wind than to fly out empty against the wind and let the wind help 

 them home with the load. ^Ve cannot credit the bee with very high 

 reasoning powers, and the bee most probably niove? generally in 

 the line of least resistance. There seems to be some evidence that 

 the bee is possessed with telescopic vision, but I will not dwell on 

 that. I think topography and the kind of flower furnishing the nec- 

 tar are the two principal elements determining the distance bees 

 will go profitablv in search of nectar. A mile and a half would be 

 about the limit for alfalfa and it might (I'm guessing here) run np 

 to three miles in a fa\'orably located section where buckwiv.^at 

 abounds. 



Illinois State Bee-Kccpers' Association, State House, Spring- 

 field. AYednesday and Thursday. November 5 and (1, 1913. You are 

 cordially invited to attend. This promises to be one of the best 

 meetings ever, as Illinois has a good honey crop. A good attend- 

 ance is expected. 



Bobt. E, Fostw H^lJSirjr I4fe4^*v; 

 State Plant B<i-r<3 c_ .iQrl^' 



