28 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



OVERSTOCKING. 



How Far Bees Will Fly After Nectar, and 



Some Hints on Choosing a 



Locatton. 



In these days of out-apiaries, the 

 question of overstocking, and how far 

 bees can fly, and profitably gather 

 nectar, are points of decided interest. 

 It is not possible to say accurately how- 

 many colonies may be profitably kept 

 in any given locality. The seasons 

 and conditions are too variable for 

 that. The best that we can do is to 

 get at the matter approximately. To 

 this end, every bit of evidence becomes 

 valuable; and the following article 

 contributed by Mr. Doolittle to the 

 American Bee Journal is not only valu- 

 able but interesting. Mr. Doolittle 

 says : — 



A correspondent wishes me to give, 

 in the American Bee Journal, my 

 views on overstocking a location with 

 bees, and also what kind of a location 

 I would choose for successful bee-keep- 

 ing. My views on overstocking may 

 not be considered quite othordox by 

 all, yet I think I can give facts to prove 

 my position. If I had a really good 

 location I would not fear overstocking 

 it with from 300 to 400 colonies, but I 

 think that from 150 to 200 would be as 

 many as an average location would 

 support to the best advantage, while 

 there are doubtless places that SO colo- 

 nies would be as many as would give 

 good results to their owner. 



When we take into consideration that 

 bees fly from choice, from 2 to 4 miles, 

 from liome, and are led on by receding 

 bloom to 5, 6 and even 7 miles, this 

 matter of overstocking is not so much 

 to be feared as some seem to suppose. 

 I know that we have often been told 

 that bees do not go more than l^i miles 

 from home, and, if they did, it could 

 not be made profitable, as so much 

 time would be consumed in flying, that 

 it would not pay. But plenty of proof 

 can be given that bees fly more than 

 that distance. Allow me to give some 

 of the experience along this line which 

 has come under my observation. 



When the Italian bee was first intro- 

 duced into these parts, the man who 

 bought them lived fully three miles 

 from my home in a "bee-line." That 

 year he Italianized all the colonies he 

 had, so that the next spring his apiary 

 numbered .from 40 to 50 colonies of 

 Italians — the only bees of that kind 

 there were within 50 miles of this 

 place. I was exceedingly interested 

 in these bees, but did not think I would 

 invest in them till I found out what his 

 would do. 



One fine morning during apple-blos- 

 som I went into the orchard to see the 

 bees at work on the blossoms, as the 

 orchard was young, and the limbs low, 

 so that the bees were in easy reach of 

 my vision. The second bee which 

 came under m}' notice was an Italian 

 bee. I now became all interest, and I 

 found by actual count that ever}' 5th 

 bee at work on those blossoms was an 

 Italian bee, when an average was taken 

 in counting 100. And this with apple- 

 blossom in profusion everywhere, and 

 200 to 300 colonies of black bees within 

 152 miles of this orchard. These facts 

 I jotted down in my diary, where I 

 find them today, under the date of May 

 24, 1870. This fact influenced me still 

 more favorably toward the Italian 

 bees, and I went to see these bees at 

 work in their own apiary. I found 

 them at work industriously, and very 

 pretty to look at, but concluded not to 

 be too hasty in purchasing them. 



About this time it was told in the 

 "Old Reliable," that Italian bees 

 would would work on red clover to 

 much better advantage than did the 

 blacks. As we tlien had thousands 

 and thousands of acres of red clover 

 around us, I was again interested. 

 The next day, after reading this, I was 

 at work cutting red clover in a 10-acre 

 field, for ha}'. Tliis field was one mile 

 from home, and that mile was so much 

 further from this apiary of Italian 

 bees, or this particular field of red 

 clover was 4 miles in a direct line from 

 these bees. When I thought tlie horses 

 needed a little rest, I went into the 

 standing clover, and the first count of 

 the bees at work on the blossom was 10 

 Italian bees to 4 blacks out of a count 

 of 14; and this with fields red with 

 clover in every direction. I hesitated 

 no longer, but went to see the owner of 

 these bees, and before night of that 

 day I had 2 Italian queens in intro- 

 ducing cages in two of my best colo- 

 nies, wliich led to my adoption of the 

 Italian bees as "the best bee in the 



