74 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



drained lands yield more honey than those grown on cold 

 heavy soils. Even in the case of heather this is true. 

 In ordinary seasons heathery hills yield more honey than 

 heathery swamps. And the good sense of every bee- 

 keeper will tell him that hiUy exposed pastures and dis- 

 tricts are, in showery seasons, much better for honey than 

 flat and sheltered ones. We have known hives placed in 

 hilly districts increase greatly in weight in such seasons ; 

 whereas those standing in low sheltered places could 

 scarcely keep themselves, the flowers being hardly ever 

 dry. In very droughty seasons the low sheltered parts 

 may be the better of the two for honey-gathering. 



HOW FAR WILL BEES GO FOE HONEY? 



This question we cannot answer. Our experience in 

 this matter goes dead against the wonderful stories that 

 are told in some books. We read of bees flying four, 

 seven, and twelve miles for food ! Our bees will droop 

 and die within four miles of rich pasture. In the finest 

 of weather they fail to smell or taste it. In fine sun- 

 shiny weather bees go farther from home for food than 

 they do in dark cloudy weather. "We find this out by 

 removing hives to a distance of two or three miles at such 

 times. In cloudy weather very few bees will return two 

 miles to their old stand. Considerably more return when 

 removed in bright weather. But even in the best and 

 brightest of weather in June and July, very few, if any, 

 find their way home to their old stand if removed three 

 miles. But even the return of some bees does not prove 

 that they travel three miles in search of food. It proves 

 that some of the bees travel a little more than one mile 

 and a half from home, and finding themselves on known 



