1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



159 



First, I, too, prefer tin to wood separators, after us- 

 ing hundreds of both. I claim that our non-separa- 

 tored sections are belter to ship long- distances than 

 those built with separators, because the combs being 

 about li in. thicker (if the same width sections are us- 

 ed in both instances) have a greater breadth of attach- 

 ment, according to weight of the comb, the size of 

 the section otherwise being the same. Either kind, 

 when crated, does not and can not touch each other 

 as long as they do not break loose from the section. 



Regarding my supers being light to handle, the 

 ones I made Bro. Miller (to his order, and I also made 

 a few of the same to test here), were twice as heavy 

 as my regular super or case. Though the principle 

 otherwise i ■ just the same, I want no more of them. 

 We last year used uSO one-story brood-frame supers, 

 with (i broad frames each, holding four 4 J4 sections 

 each, and six Iz-lb. sections each. Of course, we us- 

 ed narrow top-bars, and can not see why Bro. Miller 

 should allow himself to be encumbered with tight- 

 fitting ones. We found we could remove lOG lbs. 

 quicker, clenncr, and with less damage, from the 

 cases than 50 lbs. from the broad frames. Surely the 

 doctor has not yet caught on to our method of re- 

 moval. 1 know that is the worst feature of all, till 

 understood, and then 'tis the best. 



James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Feb. 4, 1884. 



Eriend II., I like your article (Irst rate, but 

 it seems to me you are a little rouKh-sliod on 

 our friend Doolittle in accusing? him of being 

 behind the times with his tixtures. My im- 

 pression is, if you will allow nie to put in a 

 word here, that friend Doolittle, with his fix- 

 tures and management, would get more hon- 

 ey from a colony than you would ; but 1 am 

 also inclined to "think tiiat perhaps the extra 

 labor his plan involves might not pay for the 

 excess of honey. You make a good point 

 where you contrast the difference between 

 trying to get the largest surplus per stock, 

 and trying to get all the honey the field pro- 

 duces, without much regard to the number 

 of stocks required to do it. I presume more 

 labor will be required to get a given amount 

 of honey from a large number of colonies, 

 than to get the same from a few. Modern 

 farming aims to get as much produce from 

 one acre as has been secured heretofore from 

 two or more acres, and I believe that modern 

 farming saves labor by so doing. Perhaps 

 your plan may be pushed to too great an ex- 

 treme to be profitable. By the way, 1 wish 

 you and friend Miller and others, in men- 

 tioning these different cases, would tell about 

 how "many pounds of honey a certain case 

 would be likely to average. 



HOW FAR WILL. BEES FLY IN SEARCH 

 OF HONEY ? 



ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT HOW F.A.ST THEY FLY. 



I SEE, in the bee-papers, considerable on the above 

 points; but as much of it appears to bee guess- 

 ' work, I feel like saying a few words. In my 

 younger days I lived on the north side of Oneida 

 Lake, in New York. The lake was 4 miles wide, at 

 the place I speak of, and I know that the bees flew 

 across the lake in great numbers, to gather honey 

 out half a mile from shore. There was a small Is- 

 land, and one mile from shore there is another is. 

 land. It was a great resort for tho viUag-e folks to 



go out to those islands to catch fish, and I went out 

 there a great many times fishing; and while sitting 

 in my boat, anchored out a few rods from the island, 

 fishing, 1 saw bees flying past, some going one way 

 and some the other. They flew from four to eight 

 feet above the water, and sometimes one would 

 alight on me, rest a minute, and then go on. There 

 were 50 or 60 colonies of bees kept in and near the 

 village, on the north side of the lake, and I believe 

 the bees got nearly half of their honey across tho 

 lake, as the feeding-grounds were very much the 

 best over there. Those islands had no flowers on 

 them, and the bees did not stop there, and very like- 

 ly they occupied the ground a mile or two from 

 shore, on the south side, after they got over the 

 lake. I have no doubt but many perished in the 

 lake, but not so many but that bee-keeping was a 

 fair success there, and swarms would often go across 

 the lake. 



I could give several proofs of bees going 6 miles 

 for honey, but I want to say a few words about how 

 fast they will fly when at work. 1 have hunted wild 

 bees a good deal— so much so that 1 got to be an ex- 

 pert at the business, and by repeated tests I found 

 they flew 30 miles an hour, or one mile in 2 minutes, 

 in good weather, and 1 could tell very near by that 

 rule how far off they were, by timing them after I 

 had my line well started— mark a bee, note how long 

 it took to fill up with honey, allow the same time to 

 unload, and 2 minutes to go in and out of the hive 

 or tree, and then divide the remainder of the min- 

 utes it was gone by 4 minutes, and I would have the 

 distance in miles to the tree. I ran a bee-line in 

 New York State •> miles, and it took me a week to do 

 it. It took a bee just 30 minutes to make a trip that 

 distance, 6 miles. There was only one bee that 

 would come back to my first station, or starting- 

 place. I marked the bee, and it stayed with me un- 

 til I got through the woods, miles. Usually when 

 we start a bee-line, other bees from the same colony 

 will come back with our first ones, and help carry 

 the honey; but I left this one all of one day, when I 

 found it had no help. 



There was an old chopping, 1'/4 miles on the line. 



1 moved that one bee to that place 3 times, before it 

 would return to the new place. Then I moved It i4 

 mile. I was now 3 miles ahead on the line, and the 

 time that my bee would be gone would averages 

 minutes less than at the first position. I now left it 



2 days, to increase its working force, when I found 

 my one bee had increased to 4, and all making about 

 the same time. 1 now made a move of 2 miles ahead 

 on the line to another old clearing in the woods; 

 and after they were fairly at work I found I had 

 gained, on an average, 16 minutes in time for the 

 bees to make a trip, and I was now getting plenty 

 of bees to come back with my workers at this dis- 

 tance, which proved to be 2 miles. The bees could 

 then bring others wit h them quite fast. The next day I 

 worked them through to their home in a hive, in time 

 to take supper with their owner,;and.we did not have 

 honey for supper eithei". But I learned that In this 

 case the bees fiew one mile in 2 minutes on an aver- 

 age, both ways, and that my one bee could not get 

 another bee to follow her half the whole 6 miles. At 

 4 miles there wfis n gain of only 3 bees in 3 days; 

 and at 2 miles they gainpd fast, and the last mile 

 they just swarmed ipto my box. _ 



Edwin France. 

 Platteville, Grant Co., Wis. 



Many thanks, friend F., for your very prac- 



