44 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



seasons for honey than flat and sheltered ones. We have 

 known hives placed in hiUy districts increase in weight 

 in such seasons ; 'whereas those standing in low sheltered 

 places could scarcely keep themselves, the flowers there 

 being hardly ever dry. 



How far will Bees go for Honey ? 



This question we cannot answer with accuracy. Our 

 experience in this matter goes dead against the wonderful 

 stories that are told in some books. We read of bees fly- 

 ing four, seven, and twelve miles for food ! Our bees wiR 

 perish and die for want of food within three miles of good 

 pasture. Our bees here never find the hundreds of acres 

 of heather which cover Carrington Moss within three miles 

 of them. In fine sunshiny weather bees go farther from 

 home than they do in dark cloudy 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 off. Moreover, the return of some 

 bees does not prove that they travel three miles in search 

 of food. It proves that some of them go a little more than 

 one mile and a half from home, and finding themselves on 

 known pastures within one mile and a half of the old place, 

 they return thither, forgetting, as it were, where they last 

 came from. I am therefore of opinion that very few bees 

 go more than two miles for food. 



It is very desirable to have bees near the pasture on 

 which they work. Short journeys are not only a saving 

 of labour to bees, but also a protection of their lives. 

 When compelled to fly far for honey they are often caught 

 by showers and destroyed. In warm genial weather, with 

 a superabundance of honey in flowers, bees ivill have it. 

 They go beyond the bounds of safety for it. Gentle 

 showers do not stop outdoor labourers. Black clouds 



