158 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



March, 1921 



bees, roughly represented by a circle having 

 his hives for its center, and sweeping aronnd 

 on all sides on a radius of — say from a 

 mile and a half to three miles, usually. In- 

 definite? Yes, but the statement is no more 

 so than the fact itself. It depends on so 

 many things — what there is to gather near 

 and far, hills, forests, water, winds, and 

 other things. Bees are supposed usually to 

 make a flight of about a mile and a half 

 average. Claims of seven and eight miles 

 have been made, more or less well supi^orted 



— but conditions being nlways unusual. It 

 is really quite simple. They can and will 

 fly very far if there is nothing near to gather 

 and no great obstacle in the way; when 

 there is pasture nearer, they are wise enough 

 to forage there instead of flying further. 

 Wordsworth knew that: 



" Bees that soar for bloom 



High as the highest Peak of Furnese Fells 

 Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells" 



that are nearer home, and be content. So 

 the question, "How far will my bees fly?" 

 can not be answered in one word. 



The succession of main nectar -bearing 

 bloom in the average white clover area is 

 about like this. Early in the spring, indeed 

 even while it is still wintry, the earliest 

 maples and willows and elms will come 

 into bloom, and in those fringy tree-tops the 

 bees will find abundant pollen and some 

 nectar. These early sources, and usually all 

 that precede the white clover, will be of 

 value only for what the beekeeper will learn 

 to call "building up the colony," that is, 

 for feeding the thousands of young bees 

 that must be reared before the main flow 

 comes on, so that they may be ready to rush 

 out to gather it in all its profusion. Then 

 in March or April, according to latitude 

 and season, orchards and scattered fruit 

 trees will burst into bloom. From all these, 

 apple chiefly but likewise peach, plum, pear, 

 cherry, the bees will gather varying 

 amounts of both nectar and pollen. The 

 beekeeper will fairly hold his breath — aye, 

 and the apple orchardist may well hold his 



— in his eagerness for good weather during 

 this period, that his bees may have full ad- 

 vantage of this bloom. Then there may be 

 a dearth, until May or June spreads out the 

 clover bloom. When it comes, it will last 

 perhaps three weeks, perhaps eight, prob- 

 ably averaging six weeks. This is the golden 

 period of the beekeeper's season, the time 

 when the bees rush in and out, and cram 

 the new thin nectar into thousands of waxen 

 cells to ripen into honey. The wise beekeep- 

 er never lets them become cramped for stor- 

 age space, for from this flow he will take 

 the surplus honey for himself. After this, 

 summer often drags in another dearth, in 

 late July and August - — tho of course what 

 happens in one month in one latitude hap- 

 pens in another mouth in anoth(>r latitiide. 

 Tlicn crime the flowers of autumn, diiefly 

 wild asters and goldenrods, gay and gen- 



erous composites. Of these two the golden- 

 rod is the gayer while the aster is the more 

 generous, and therefore more important to 

 the beekeeper. And again the bees make 

 merry, gathering what they will need for 

 food during the long silent winter. 



This, then, very briefly, is the general suc- 

 cession of the flora of the white-clover 

 region — early trees and fruit bloom to 

 build up on, white clover for the main flow, 

 the flow for surplus, and fall flowers for 

 winter stores. 



Yet to this inust be added many things. 

 Some localities are favored with certain 

 additional sources of nectar in sufficient 

 quantity to coimt, and other locations with 

 still others. In the spring, dandelions may 

 make the earth a veritable "Field of the 

 Cloth of Gold," where the bees will gather 

 both pollen and nectar, more pollen than 

 nectar. How they reel in with their loads, 

 dauntless buccaneers that they are! In some 

 places, between fruit bloom and white clo- 

 ver, the black locust tree hangs out her 

 graceful clusters of fragrant white blos- 

 soms, heavy with nectar. In other sections 

 thru the spring or early summer come other 

 tree nectars, basswood, one of the heaviest 

 yielders when it yields, sourwood in the 

 mountains, and tulip poplar, with its great 

 blossom-bowls filled with insect guests. In 

 some places farmers may have extensive 

 acreage of alsike and crimson clover, that 

 spread their brilliant bloom for the bees in 

 spring or early summer; while bees elsewhere 

 will gather midsummer riches from the 

 heavy yielding buckwheat. Over wide areas 

 sweet clover blossoms in July and lasts till 

 fall. In some places late summer sees hearts- 

 ease and Spanish needle giving of their 

 sweets, or a little later, boneset spreading 

 her feast. There are some sections where a 

 second surplus may confidently be expected, 

 from sweet clover perhaps, or buckwheat 

 or boneset. 



Among the countless minor sources of 

 either nectar or pollen, which in certain 

 favored places or seasons may become im- 

 portant, are wild raspberry and fireweed 

 (willow-herb), especially in the burned-over 

 forest lands of the North, sumac, wild sun- 

 flowers, milkweed, pennyroyal, manzanita, 

 persimmon, barberry, horsemint, thyme, and 

 many others, including in lesser degree even 

 our humble garden friends, asparagus, car- 

 rot, mustard, and turnip. Corn gives pollen, 

 and some people claim nectar too. from the 

 tassels (at least one beekeepers' convention 

 has had a sample of "co'n tossel" honey 

 proudly displayed). Wayside weeds like 

 cocklebur and ragweed give pollen and the 

 Canada thistle, nectar. Even the parasitic 

 mistletoe brings its gifts, blooming in Texas 

 in January and February, and thus giving 

 the bees of the Lone Star State their first 

 nectar and pollen of the season. And. oh, 

 the many, many others! 



