APRIL 1, 191G 



267 



derstand there was no pasture near the 

 apiary, owing to the drouth having burned 

 everything up. And yet right here in York 

 County for years our bees would get noth- 

 ing during August, when less than four 

 miles away there was quite an acreage of 

 buckwheat and bees near it were storing 

 surplus. Clearly this matter of how far 

 bees fly in search of nectar is a complicat- 

 ed one. [As we have stated, bees have been 

 known to go seven miles, and a gi'eat many 

 times two and three miles; but our conten- 

 tion is (see page 149), when flora is within 

 a mile or a mile and a half, bees will not go 

 further as a rule. It is only in peculiar 

 eases that they go from two to three miles. 

 Then, as Dr. Miller points out elsewhere, 

 the matter of odor probably has some bear- 

 ing. The aroma from clover or buckwheat 

 fields probably can be carried by a breeze 

 several miles; and if there is no clover or 

 buckwheat in the immediate locality bees 

 will keep on flying in the direction of odor 

 mellifluous until they arrive at its source. 

 The question then of how far bees fly for 

 stores depends on the locality and condi- 

 tions. See editorial. — Ed.] 

 « « » 



Bees have had no flight to amount to 

 anything, altho bright sunshine is coaxing 

 many to leave the hives, never to return. 

 Present indications are that there will be 

 quite a loss in many apiaries from dysen- 

 tevy. Colonies were unusually full of young 

 bees last fall; and altho the latter part of 

 winter has been cold, yet we have had cold- 

 er seasons more than once. The cause would 

 seem to be bad stores, probably caused by 

 excessive moisture during late summer and 

 fall. Another reason advanced to explain 

 the cause of dysentery is that January was 

 so mild that much brood-rearing was start- 

 ed, and then so much cold weather followed, 

 with no chance for a flight, that naturally 

 such conditions would follow. Personally 

 I noticed young bees in the pupa stage be- 

 ing cast out of a number of hives early in 

 February. That was prima facie evidence 

 that brood-rearing was going on in January 

 all right. Whether that is the correct di- 

 agnosis as to the cause of dysentery or not, 

 I am not sure; but certainly for some rea- 

 son we have more of the disease in our 

 York Co. yards than we have had for a 

 number of years. As to the north yard, as 

 we have not been there since last October, 

 and do not expect to visit the apiary for a 

 few weeks yet, we know nothing as to its 



condition. 



* * * 



Any beekeeper knows that, wlien cold 

 weather comes, the bees in the hive form 



a cluster, the size of said cluster being de- 

 termined by the severity of the weather. 

 No doubt many a beginner has turned back 

 a quilt of a colony known to be strong, and 

 if the temperature was down below zero the 

 smallness of the cluster would cause him to 

 think that the colony had become very 

 weak. On the other hand, if the weather 

 moderated to the freezing-point or higher, 

 a look in the hive again at that time would 

 make things appear that the colony had just 

 as suddenly become very strong again. This 

 is orthodox, and up to the present season 

 I think that possibly I would have said 

 there are no exceptions to this rule. Early 

 in the winter my attention was called to one 

 particular colony in the home apiary when 

 I noticed cappings, dead bees, etc., on the 

 fresh snow in front of the entrance when all 

 other colonies had no such evidence of activ- 

 ity. The colony was in a hive equal to 12 

 Lang-stroth frames in capacity, a single 

 packed hive having an entrance five inches 

 wide and one inch deep. Looking in this 

 deep entrance I was surprised to see the 

 bees quietly hanging below the frames, even 

 tho the thermometer was but a few degrees 

 above zero. This was unusual, to say the 

 least; and when I next lifted off the cover 

 of the hive and took a peep under all four 

 corners of the quilt, and found bees in 

 every corner, it is needless to say my sur- 

 prise increased. Altho they were not at all 

 uneasy I prophesied that there would be 

 something doing before spring. To make a 

 long story short, scores of times during the 

 winter T examined that hive ; and, no matter 

 how cold the weather, the bees could be seen 

 from the entrance, quietly hanging below 

 the frames, and every corner of the hive 

 would be packed full of bees, as would be 

 revealed when packing was lifted up and 

 the quilt carefully turned back. I am not 

 sure whether this queen will prove to be a 

 genuine " find " or whether the colony will 

 yet go to pieces during the spring; but the 

 fact is, they have been as described for over 

 three months; and today, March 13, the 

 colony is quiet, sweet, and clean when other 

 colonies in the same yard are showing signs 

 of dysentery. Probably about ten per cent 

 are thus affected. 



The queen in this colony is a dark Italian, 

 and was purchased last July from one of 

 our well-known breeders. Don't ask me any 

 questions about her for a while yet. Tor a 

 month or two, perhaps, I shall not want to 

 mention the matter at all if the colony 

 should yet prove to be a " four-flusher." 

 However, you may be assured that this hive 

 will get its share of my attention for the 

 next few weeks anyway. 



