128 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



right way, it may be made a (jrand success. 

 No, if couditious and seasons are unfavor- 

 able and one of no experience attempts it. 



Would I advise any one to attempt it 

 again? That depends. I feel sure that some 

 man of pluck, energy and ability, one who 

 dearly loves his chosen pursuit and is will- 

 ing to endure hard-ship and privation, and to 

 risk the loss of consideral>le money in case 

 of failure, will yet some day undertake it 

 and make of it a ivondcrful success. 



Upon reading again your "migratory" 

 editorial, I was struck with the force of your 

 remarks as illustrated here last season. The 

 very dry weather of the previous year had 

 killed all the white clover and nearly all the 

 red clover. Some localities were favored 

 with good showers, and there the red clover 

 revived. Here at my home apiary there was 

 scarcely an acre of red clover within 

 range. Six miles east it was quite plentiful, 

 and one bee-keeper having some thirty colo- 

 nies took eighty pounds of comb honey per 

 colony and had his hives well tilled for win- 

 ter. Directly west of me, about the same 

 distance, .another bee-keeper with forty col- 

 onies secured nearly ninety pounds per colo- 

 ny. My knowlede of these localities is such 

 that I know the grearter part of the surplus 

 came from the second crop of red clover. 

 Now, had I been prepared to move my bees 

 quickly and safely to tlie above places, I too 

 might have had an excellent harvest. The 

 distance was trilling, the roads good, and a 

 place to keep the bees easily obtained. 



I now have an out-apiary of 100 colonies, 

 and am making preparations for starting 

 two more to which I exi)ectto move my bees 

 in a short time for the fall crop. 



Belleville, 111., July 25, 1889. 



The "Wandering" Bee-Keepers of Germany; 



Some "Well Considered Views Upon 



Migratory Bee-Keeping. 



L. STAOHELHAUSEN. 



jHE EARIiDOM of Luenburg Prov- 

 fsp ince, Hannover, Germany, is a sandy 

 plain, buckwheat being about the only 

 crop grown. The rest of the plain is 

 covered with heather, upon which rough- 

 haired sheep barely keep themselves from 

 starving. This is the country where bee- 

 keeping is an occupation, and a well i)aying 

 one too, and has been for hundreds of years. 

 In the spring, the heather bee-keeper moves 

 his apiary of i")0 to 100 hives to rich, alluvial, 

 bottom lands along the rivers. Here they 

 get honey from fruit blossoms, clover, etc., 

 and the colonies increase to 200 or .'500. 

 About the first of July, the bee-keeper wan- 

 ders back to his home, where the buckwheat 

 is l)eginning to blossom. After buckwheat, 

 hi'ather gives a good How until late in the 

 fall. The bee-keeper whose home is on the 

 bottom lands, moves his bees, the first of 

 July, to the heather, then home again late in 

 the fall after the buckwheat and heather 

 honey flow has .ceased. 



For this transportation, the old straw 

 skep is an excellent hive, and is mostly used. 

 Does it pay? Surely it does to the heather 



bee-keeper. His crops of honey are counted 

 by the tons, while bee-keepers with all the 

 better appliances, such as movable frames, 

 extractors, etc., in other localities, count 

 theirs liy the pounds. He is conservative in 

 adopting movable frame hives, because his 

 hive and its management give him more 

 profit than the movable frames and their 

 management, without wandering. Only Mr. 

 Gravenhorst's hive is suitable for wandering, 

 and it is gaining friends more and more 

 among these bee-keepers. 



By the experiments made in this country, 

 I think migratory bee-keeping can be made 

 profitable if the bees are moved from a lo- 

 cality having spring flowers only, to one 

 abounding in fall flowers, the moving being 

 done after the first flow has closed. A dift- 

 erence in rain fall sometimes causes quite a 

 difference in the honey flow of the same 

 kind of blossoms, but I scarcely think ihe 

 moving of bees will pay in this case. By the 

 time we have found out where the better 

 honey flow is, and made preparations for 

 moving, the best of it may be passed ; and 

 then an unexpected shower in our own local- 

 ity may start a better flow, and we would be 

 obliged to move back at once. We are de- 

 pendent upon the weather in all localities. 



Migratory bee-keeping may be recom- 

 mended if we can secure a honey flow in the 

 new locality at a time when none would Le 

 gathered in the home apiary. In some 

 years, unfavorable weather, or other circum- 

 stances, may cause a failure, but, in other 

 years, it will pay twice. The distance and 

 number of colonies to be moved must also 

 be considered. It is clear that the transpor- 

 tation of a few colonies to a far distant pas- 

 ture would be unprofltable. In short, tlie 

 whole matter re([uires the right manage- 

 ment and calculation, the same as any other 

 business. 



One difficulty is the loss and expense of 

 moving. For this i)urpose we need a hive 

 of special construction. The Langstroth is 

 not a good hive for this purpose. It requires 

 too much preparation, such as fastening 

 frames, clos-ing up the top and entrance. If 

 we take a straw skep, for instance, it may be 

 turned up side down , a cloth tied over the 

 opening, then set on the wagon, and all is 

 done. A movable comb hive for this pur 

 pose, ought to be as easily and quickly pre- 

 pa red. 



It would be foolish to bring newly gather- 

 ed honey to the new location where we 

 expect another crop, hence the old heather 

 bee-keeper utilizes the early flow to increase 

 his apiary as much as possible, depending 

 upon buckwlieat and heather for the main 

 crop, and he gets a big fcrce of workers just 

 before they bloom. 



With movable frame hives, we can easily 

 take ott' the supers for transi>ortion, and 

 give new empty ones in the new location. 

 The whole management must nect s ai ily be 

 ditferent. Very correctly, iMr. Doolittle says 

 that all depends upon having our force of 

 workers at the right time : and a colony that 

 has gathered a big crop of honey (say in 

 May and June) is not generally in condition 

 to do the best work in a second crop in .luly 

 and August or later. The queens of such 



