THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



29 



world," a year or two later, since 

 which I have had no others except to 

 try a few of each nr w race as they 

 came into the United States. 



From the above it is entirely evident, 

 to my mind, that those who claim that 

 bees do not ^o over I'i miles from 

 home are not fully informed on what 

 they are claiming'. To tlie objection 

 that it is not profitable for bees to fly 

 so far, I wish to g'we a little more of 

 my own experience and observation : 



To tiie southeast of mj^ home the 

 land rises graduall}' for 5 or 6 miles, 

 and at the end of this distance it is 

 800 to 900 feet higher than at the 

 apiar3'. Unless interrupted by a long 

 rain the bees follow the receding bass- 

 wood bloom till the top of this hill is 

 reached, when I frequently have them 

 work from 5 days to a week on the 

 bloom on the top of this hill, and as 

 far as I have ever been able to see, 

 they do so to nearly or quite as good 

 advantage as they did when the bloom 

 was open all about the hives. Of 

 course there is a chance to be deceived 

 a little here, for the same amount of 

 nectar coming in the hives at the close 

 of a long harvest, will count for more 

 than it will at the commencement; for 

 in the commencement much more nectar 

 is used in the construction of comb, 

 and in the commencing of business, 

 than there is when the combs are 

 nearly completed, and the bees are 

 capping up the last honey put in nearly 

 finished cells. 



Now about my choice of a location : 

 If I were at liberty to choose a loca- 

 tion where I desired, and could find 

 such a one, it would be in a place 

 where the land sloped gently to the 

 southeast, with pasturage as follows : 



Some willow to stimulate early 

 breeding, with sugar or hard maple to 

 follow; then apple-blossoms as an 

 assurance of plenty of stores from 

 apple-bloom to white clover, which 

 latter, should be in abundance. Next 

 I would want plent3' of basswood, and 

 that on a hillside, or extending from a 

 vallej', in which the bees were situ- 

 ated, up the sides of hills or mountains, 

 with plenty at the top, so as to prolong 

 its bloom; and, lastly, where buck- 

 wheat and fall flowers were in 

 abundance. 



But the most of us have other ties 

 besides the bees that fix our location, 

 and so we have to put up with such a 

 one as we have, and the man or woman 

 is to be honored that can be contented 

 and bring about good results with 



only limited bee-pasturage at his own 

 home, where duty calls him or her to 

 remain. 



If I could have but one of the above- 

 named sources for honey, I would 

 select basswood first, clover second, 

 and buckwheat as third. From all 

 sources of information I can gather, 

 basswood is the greatest honey-pro- 

 ducer of any nectar-secreting "flower 

 there is in the United States, for the 

 length of time it is in bloom; and if the 

 foot of a mountain, the sides of which 

 are covered with basswood trees, can 

 be our location, we shall have no 

 reason to complain of the length of 

 time it is in bloom. Then basswood 

 comes in bloom so late in the season 

 that nearly all colonies can be brought 

 up to their maximum strength, before 

 the first bloom opens, which cannot be 

 said of its rival, white clover. 



I think it possible to overstock a 

 location, but think there are very few 

 locations in this country that are over- 

 stocked. Even after the yield per col- 

 ony is lessened on account of overstock- 

 ing, a /o>/^ time after, it would still be 

 profitable to increase the number of 

 colonies, as the cost of management is 

 reduced in proportion as the number 

 of colonies in an apiary is increased. 



I agree with Mr. Doolittle that there 

 is no plant that equals the basswood 

 as a honey yielder when the conditions 

 are right, but the basswood remains in 

 bloom only so short a time, that its 

 period of bloom is likelj' to pass with- 

 out the conditions being suitable for 

 honey secretion. The period of bloom 

 in the white clover is so much longer 

 (five or six times as long) that there is 

 almost certain to be some da3's, or 

 weeks, when the conditions are favor- 

 able to honey secretion. For this 

 reason, my preference would be the 

 clover if only one kind of plant was to 

 be secured in choosing a location. 

 That is, clover would be my choice out 

 of the list mentioned b}' Mr. Doolitlle, 

 but I believe that the wild, red rasp- 

 berry is less afliected b^' the weather 

 conditions than is the clover — that is, 

 a more sure yielder. 



