BEEKEEPING IN ARKANSAS 9 



may in some localities not be very large. If possible the apiary 

 should be located in the heart of a region yielding an abundance 

 of at least one or more of the important plants of the state from 

 which surplus honey can be produced. Among these are sweet 

 clover, fruit bloom, white clover, Bidens (Spanish needle), and 

 holly. Bees will travel four or five miles in search of nectar, but 

 they will probably not lay up any surplus honey when obliged to 

 go more than a mile. 



In the regions of Arkansas most favorable to honey produc- 

 tion, such as the counties of the northeastern corner and the 

 counties lying in the holly belt in the southern part of the state, 

 an apiary may consist of 100 or perhaps more hives. In the re- 

 mainder of the state apiaries would perhaps better be limited to 

 about 50 colonies. Different apiaries should be about two miles 

 apart. 



BUYING BEES 



Bees may be bought by the pound from dealers. The names 

 of such dealers can be obtained by writing to the Experiment 

 Station, or by referring to such periodicals as the "American 

 Bee Journal" published at Hamilton, Illinois, or "Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture" published at Medina, Ohio. 



It is, however, much more economical to buy bees from a 

 beekeeper in the neighborhood. A colony of good Italian stock 

 in a frame-hive can often be bought for two or three dollars. A 

 beginner in beekeeping should buy only a few colonies, five or 

 six, and if possible should secure these in modern 10-frame hives. 

 If the bees are in box hives they should be transferred to modern 

 hives as soon as possible (see p. 11 for transferring bees.) In 

 transporting bees on a wagon or truck, if the weather is cool, the 

 bottom and cover are fastened by means of a rope or wire and the 

 entrance is closed by nailing over it a piece of screen wire. If 

 the weather is hot, hauling should be done at night, and the top 

 cover should be replaced by a piece of screen wire. On the 

 wagon or truck the hives should stand crosswise to the length of 

 the wagon bed. This will help to prevent the combs from break- 

 ing loose on account of the jarring on the road. 



If the bees are in hives with movable frames, the buyer 

 should insist on examining all the colonies that he intends to 

 get. If the cappings of the cells appear to.be sunken or show 

 irregular holes in them, or the larvae in the cells have any other 

 color than pearly white and appear shrunken, the bees are very 

 likely to be infected with foul brood and will die out in a short 

 time unless the proper treatment is administered. (See p. 25 for 

 foul brood). If bees are moved into another locality over a 

 distance of more than two miles, no precautions need be taken 

 to prevent them from going back to their former location. If 



