Efir ^ 



VOL. II, 



FLIIT, MICHMN. AUHUST 10. 1889. 



NO. 



Inability to Foretell Honey Flows is the 



"Snag" in Migratory Bee-Keeping : 



Seek, Instead, a Location of 



Many Resources. 



U. L. TAYTjOU. 



ITr IS WELL KNOWN tiuit iiie lioney 

 ^fl) ll(jw at a yiveii time often varies greatly 

 (jjLj wiLliiu a tew miles, caused no doubt, by 

 dillereuces in tiie ruiu fall, in the soil, 

 and perliaps by differences in the atmos- 

 pliei-e. Only last fall, my south apiary t^ath- 

 ered iiothiu>,% uiy home apiary gathered, on 

 an average, half eiiou^di for winter ^stores, 

 wliile, in one case I know of twenty miles 

 north, one colony and what were nine nuclei 

 in July gathered more tiian 1,(KHI jiounds 

 and increased to forty colonies well sujiplied 

 with winter stores. \Vithout question, had 1 

 distributed lUO colonies in that locality in 

 •) uly 1 would liave obtained l.'ijCKH) pounds of 

 suri)lus honey and doubled the number of 

 culouib,s. But 1 didn't know it vntil flic sea- 

 nan was over. This is a case that exhibits 

 the advantage which " hindsight " has over 

 foresiyiit. And my want of foresight was 

 double : 1 could not say beforehand but the 

 home apiary would yield well and the other 

 nothing. 1 could have made $1,(KX) clear by 

 moving 1(X) colonies tliere last year, but I 

 might expend ^200 each year for the next 

 five years in moving bees back and forth 

 and tiud at the end of that time that I could 

 have o.btained more honey if I had not mov- 

 ed them at al). This, I admit, is not likely, 

 as the advantages of that locality for a fall 

 crop are so much greater tlian this, but it is 

 passible. 



What a bonanza we would have in bee- 

 keei)ing if we were gifted with perfect fore- 

 sitiht ! But we have it not. and that fact 

 discloses the chief objections that present 

 themselve.'? to the policy of " Migratory-Bee- 

 Keeping." The wiiole atmosphere of the 

 matter is thick with inscrutable risks. Is 

 tliere at present such a lack of the element 

 of cliance in the business that we may prop- 

 erly temi)t fortune further? Basswood is in 

 bloom but ten days at most, and only once in 

 three or four years does it yield bountifully, 

 and what the result of any day, not to say 

 season, is to be, no one can tell until he has 

 weighed the product. The season of fall 

 flowers is longer, and one may perhaps make 

 a better guess as to what ' the crop wSU be, 



but tlie weather is capricious, and the bright- 

 est promises of August may be blasted long 

 before ( )ctoljer. 



Then, again, of late, many liave been in- 

 sisting upon tJie necessity of reducing the 

 cost of producing honey, and bee-keepers 

 have generally agreed upon this point, but 

 migratory bee-keeping, I cannot doubt, 

 would be a long step in the opposite direc- 

 tion. Besides, it would be very laborious, 

 and the labor altogether uninviting. 



Is there not a better way? ( )nly those bee- 

 keepers who are specialists could think of 

 moving bees to seek new and better pastur- 

 age, and such are free to select for homes 

 those localities which combine the advanta- 

 ges of all the sources from which honey is 

 obtained, at least this is true in Michigan. 

 The lesson to be learned is, look u-ell to the 

 Jield tiefore inakiiKj it j/ours peniuoiejithj. 



Though tliere may be exceptional cases in 

 which bees may be moved to better pas- 

 tures with reasonable prospects of profit, I 

 am compelled to believe that, as a general 

 rule, it would be found vexatious and profit- 

 less. 



Lapeek, Mich., -July 21), 1889. 



No Profit in Moving Bees Long Distances, or 

 Up the Mississippi. 



O. M. BliANTON. 



^TTH THE present low prices of 

 honey, migratory bee-keeping 

 will scarcely pay. At long dis- 

 tances, either by railroad or wag- 

 on, it will be too expensive. For thirty or 

 forty miles, as practiced by Messrs. Dadants, 

 it may be profitable, but a bee-keeper must 

 be perfectly equiped with suitable frames on 

 his wagon for carrying twenty-five to thirty 

 colonies, tents and other outfits. There is so 

 little profit in it that I would not advise a 

 Northern bee-keeper to try it unless it be 

 for short distau'ces. 



In our country, where bees are wintered 

 in the open air, it is easy to find some per- 

 manent location with neighbors. Our roads 

 are so bad in spring that moving bees would 

 be very troublesome and expensive. I prac- 

 ticed the plan two years, then abandoned it. 

 I now have my bees in two permanent apia- 

 ries. 



Bee-keeping by water will not pay in this 

 country, as was fully demonstrated by Mr. 

 Ferrine. He admitted to me that he lost 



