150 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



The beekeeper of 

 the East does not have 

 the chance to observe 

 the long distances of 

 flight -which we have 

 here in the West, and 

 I can look back now 

 upon the misgivings J 

 had years ago about 

 where my bees were 

 securing nectar in 

 quantities, and point 

 to the very source 

 from which they were 

 gathering, altho at 

 that time I did not 

 think it possible for a 

 bee to fly the distance. 



Mr. Baldwin sets 

 some very convincing 

 observations before us, 

 all of which seem ir- 

 refutable; yet if such 

 is the ease with him I 

 would surely try an- 

 other strain of bees, 

 for I cannot believe 

 the average bee would 

 not go two or three 

 miles almost as quick- 

 ly as one. 



As to the theory of 

 the flight of bees de- 

 pending on the dis- 

 tance they can see the 

 flora, I have no faith 

 in the idea, but believe 

 the scent of nectar has 

 far more to do with 

 locating of profitable 

 fields than the sight. 

 As a matter of fact, a 

 bee when not loaded 

 can fly several miles at a speed that would 

 make an automobile exceed the sjDeed 

 limit if following her, and to take a little 

 trip across country to search for nectar 

 would hardly be classed as a laborious task. 

 It is a well-known fact that, Avhen one bee 

 finds a source from which a load can be 

 secured quickly, it is soon made known to 

 others of the hive. The line of flight is 

 followed by other colonies as the excitement 

 is increased, until the entire apiary is in a 

 wild msh for the source from which the 

 goods are being secured. I should not be 

 at all surprised if the crossing of the flight 

 of other bees nearer the source has not 

 often led to the directing of the forces of 

 a distant apiary to the new fields. The fact 

 that the distance a bee will fly is generally 

 underestimated is proof that the source 



This illustration shows an elm-tree which stands very near Washing- 

 ton's tomb at Mount Vernon. On one of the main limbs of the tree will be 

 noticed a peculiar growtli which contained a colony of bees last spring. 



Irving W. Davis, New Haven, Ct. 



from which honey is gathered is indeed far 

 too often misjudged. 



Redlands, Cal. 



[In an editorial Dec. 1, p. 965, and else- 

 where in our columns for several years 

 back, we have stated that bees as a rule in 

 mountainous or hilly country, especially if 

 the apiary is located on high ground over- 

 looking a big valley, will fly much further 

 than in territory where the ground is level, 

 and more or less thickly wooded. This 

 alone would explain the difference between 

 Mr. Chadwick's observations and those of 

 Mr. Baldwin. But it occurs to us that there 

 are other factors to be considered. When 

 there is absolutely no nectar which the bees 

 can gather less than three and five miles 

 away, it is not an uncommon thing for them 

 to fly that far. But thev do not always do 



