752 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Deobmbeb, 1921 



OVERSTOCKING A LOCATION 



When Good Yields From 

 Apiaries May be Expected. 

 Locations Change 



By E. F. Atwater 



FEANK COV- 

 DALE'S ex- 

 cellent and 

 thought-inspiring 

 article i n re- 

 gard to the size 

 of apiaries, on 

 page 403 of 

 Gleanings for 

 July, 1920, serves 



to call attention to one of the most impor- 

 tant questions connected with commercial 

 honey-production. I believe, with Mr. Cov- 

 erdale, that we all too often underestimate 

 the honey-producing powers of our apiary 

 locations. 



C. A. Hatch of Wisconsin told many years 

 ago, how he had decided that 100 colonies 

 would be the best number in one of his api- 

 aries; bvit later a competitor located as large 

 a yard within a very short distance, and yet 

 there was no material reduction of the yield 

 per colony. Such instances have occurred 

 in the experiences of very many extensive 

 jjroducers. 



Some Former Large Apiaries Now Greatly 

 Reduced. 



From about 1904 to 1910 or later Geo. E. 

 Dudley and his brother, H. C. Dudley, kept 

 from 200 to 400 colonies, operated for comb 

 honey, in one location near Middleton, Ida., 

 and secured good crops; but, during recent 

 years, many less bees in the same locality 

 usually produce far less honey per colony, 

 owing to a reduction of the acreage of al- 

 falfa, and the cutting up of the large 

 ranches into small farms which are prob- 

 ably more efficiently farmed, the alfalfa not 

 being allowed to bloom so much as former- 



Near Arcadia, Ore., some years ago, W. 

 H. Pennington operated a single large apiary 

 for many years, having from 300 to 500 

 colonies in one yard, and some of his yields 

 were phenomenal, but changes have taken 

 place and now the location is a poor one. 

 Before selling his business, Mr. Pennington 

 increased the number of his colonies but 

 kept them in small apiaries of perhaps 100 

 colonies or less. 



Near Payette, Ida., E. D. Bradshaw for 

 several years operated a large apiary of 300 

 to 600 colonies; but, owing to the increased 

 number of apiaries in the locality, as well 

 as the smaller fields of alfalfa, his apiaries 

 are now of moderate size. 



Some years ago one of my apiaries of 180, 

 spring count, was- increased to 260 colonies, 

 and produced over two-thirds of a carload 

 of honey. This apiary was then gradually 

 increased to a final limit of 540 colonies, 

 but never yielded a good crop after passing 

 the 180 colonies, spring count. Was the lo- 

 cation overstocked? No, but the ranchers 

 found the growing of red-clover seed so 

 profitable that the acreage of alfalfa was re- 

 duced very greatly. Even the largest num- 



Large 

 Why 



ber of colonies 



in this apiary 



always bred up 



nicely, and went 



into winter 



quarters heavy 



in stores, but the 



nectar for a 



large yield was 



not to be had. 



Reduced Yield Result of Reducing Size of 



Ranches. 



In a good alfalfa location, overstocking 



is probably seldom the cause for reduced 



yields, but rather the change which occurs 



sooner or later in the breaking up of the 



large ranches into smaller tracts with such 



diversified farming that there is no alfalfa 



in large tracts, the small fields of alfalfa 



being so quickly cut that the bees cannot 



gather a large surplus. 



At this time I have only one apiary in the 

 old-time locations of 10, 15, or 20 years ago, 

 as the change described above has rendered 

 beekeei^ing unprofitable except in the newer 

 regions. 



In the location where I formerly had the 

 large apiary described, there are reports 

 that the ranchers are no longer securing 

 the large yields of red-clover seed which 

 were secured when there were millions of 

 eager workers ready to help pollinate the 

 blossoms. Perhaps you may retort that the 

 honeybee does not pollinate the red-clover 

 blossoms, but when the alfalfa has all been 

 cut, and the bees are seen all over the red- 

 clover fields, the writer will believe until 

 the contrary is proved, that much of the 

 seed crop is due to the work of our honey- 

 bees. 



One who has never heard the great roar 

 of the flying bees in yards of 500 colonies or 

 more, would be jmzzled, when quite a dis- 

 tance from the yard, at the roar of flight of 

 these hundreds of thousands of pairs of 

 tiny wings. 



The writer for several years had a comb- 

 honey yard of 200 to 300 colonies and never 

 observed evidence of overstocking. Yards 

 of 150 to 200 colonies, run for extracting, 

 have given good results. 



It has occasionally happened that some 

 one has located an apiary very near one of 

 ray yards; yet, if he has been a good bee- 

 keeper, both have had good crops, but no 

 one has ever located near any of our largest 

 yards. Eecently, an exceptionally good bee- 

 keeper located a yard between two of ours, 

 yet one of these yards was, that season, one 

 of the most profitable of our apiaries. I 

 never abandon a location because of crowd- 

 ing by others, but instead I increase the 

 number of colonies in that locality. In poor 

 seasons, even the very small yards do poorly. 

 Some Disadvantages of Large Apiaries. 

 The large apiary of 200 colonies and up- 

 ward has many advantages in economy of 

 operation, yet for other reasons there are now 



