964 



account of which was given in Gleanings 

 for April 1 and May 1, 1914, February 15 

 and March 15, 1915. 



Mr. Smith mentions having very small 

 yards. He might with profit have had larg- 

 er ones; nor was it necessary for them to 

 have been so far apart, unless there was 

 difticulty in tinding a suitable location. Mr. 

 0. 0. Poppleton made a success of the out- 

 yard business on this river some years ago. 

 He secured health and pleasure both. 



Distance Bees Fly in Quest of Stores 



The two Millere, page 966, on the ques- 

 tion of how far bees fly in quest of stores, 

 are at loggerheads. While we must admit 

 that bees will fly from three to five miles 

 for nectar when conditions are favorable, 

 it is our opinion, from considerable obser- 

 vation, that they very often do not go much 

 over a quarter of a mile. Very recently 

 we had occasion to move the Watei-works 

 yard scarcely a mile in an airline to the 

 Blakeslee yard. 



Our man was asked to see whether 

 any bees returned to the WaterAvorks loca- 

 tion next day. Not a one. Apparently the 

 bees of the moved yard had not been in the 

 habit of going more than half a mile, and 

 they might have been going less. This was 

 in the aster bloom. ' 



We shall have to conclude that there is 

 no invariable rule. It is wide of the truth 

 to say that bees will not fly five miles some- 

 times; and it is equally erroneous to say 

 they will not go more than a c]uarter of a 

 mile. That they will generally not go more 

 than a mile in average localities and sea- 

 sons we believe is not far from the truth. 



Outdoor vs. Indoor Wintered Colonies 



There is a general belief among our best 

 beekeepers that, while colonies wintered 

 indoors consume less stores, colonies of 

 equal strength wintered outdoors will be in 

 better condition for the harvest. This belief 

 is founded on the fact that outdoor-wintered 

 bees will begin rearing brood earlier than 

 those indoors. Breeding causes consump- 

 tion of stores. Young bees in the spring 

 are a big asset. If so, the greater consump- 

 tion of stores has been a good investment. 



In this issue, in liis department of Stray 

 Straws, Dr. Miller says that, since he has 

 put a furnace in his cellar, and allowed 

 the door to be open much of the time, he 

 thinks his bees are just as vigorous in the 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



spring as those wintered outdoors, and he is 

 probably right. Since he put in the fur- 

 nace he has better ventilation and a uni- 

 formly higher temperature. 



Outdoor air, it is said, has a tendency to 

 favor breeding. Some years ago one au- 

 thority on indoor wintering made the state- 

 ment that he did not want too much fresh 

 air in the cellar because it started breeding; 

 that such breeding would cause a larger 

 consumption of stores, and dysentery. 



There may be something in this; but we 

 believe that Dr. Miller is on the right track 

 in giving an abundance of ventilation, and 

 with it a higher temperature. If the out- 

 door colonies have any more vigor than 

 indoor colonies it is because they have 

 young bees; and young bees, of course, 

 mean early brood-rearing. We are perfect- 

 ly well aware that early breeding in the cel- 

 lar is attended with some risk, especially 

 to beginners ; but this is not saying that an 

 expert cannot avert dysentery. 



Honey-crop Conditions and Prices 



It is dearly evident that there was a 

 shortage in the yield of honey in the Im- 

 perial Valley and clear up thru California. 

 There was also a shortage in Idaho, where 

 such a large crop of comb honey was pro- 

 duced last year. There was likewise some- 

 thing of a shrinkage in Colorado and other 

 mountain states. 



However, the big crop of honey, both 

 comb and extracted, in the East at this 

 writing, will in all probability more than 

 otfset the shortage in the West. The honey- 

 market quotations given in our last issue 

 and in this issue, confirm this in that they 

 show a slightly easier market than last 

 year. Taking everything into considera- 

 tion, it is quite remarkable that the mar- 

 ket is as firm as it is. 



While the quotations over the country 

 generally would seem to indicate a better 

 demand for both comb and extracted, the 

 demand at Medina is certainly brisk, and 

 prices are holding fairly firm. We do not 

 understand why this is so unless it is be- 

 cause of our publicity campaign in the 

 shape of some full-page advertisements in 

 the Ladies' Home Journal and Good House- 

 keeping. Our readers will notice that these 

 put strong emphasis on honey as a food and 

 condiment and on our own brand in par- 

 ticular. 



It is evident that producers are beginning 

 to unload their crops, and they are doing 

 it at their convenience. Too much un- 

 loading at one time demoralizes the market. 



