THE APIARY. 
135 
ns the right. Probably they would not go over twenty 
feet, and very likely not that, unless the new situation 
was very conspicuous. If a person had but one stock, 
very likely the loss would be less, as every bee finding 
a hive, would be sure to be home, and none killed, as 
is generally the case when a few enter a strange hive. 
CAN BE TAKEN SOME DISTANCE. 
When bees are taken beyond their knowledge of 
country, some two miles or more, the case seems to be 
DANGER OF SETTING STOCKS TOO CLOSE. 
somewhat different, but not always without loss, espe- 
cially if many hives are set too close. They leave the 
hive of course without knowing that the situation has 
been changed; perhaps get a few feet before strange 
objects warn them of the fact. When they return, the 
immediate vicinity is strange, and they often enter 
their neighbors’ domicil. A case in point occurred in 
the spring of ’49. I sold over twenty stocks to one 
person. He had constructed a bee-house, and his ar- 
rangement brought the hives within four inches of 
each other. The result was, he entirely lost several 
stocks ; some of them were the best ; others were ma- 
terially injured, yet he had a few made better by the ad- 
dition of bees from other hives; (sometimes a stock will 
allow strange bees to unite with them, but it is seldom, 
unless a large number enters — it is safest to keep 
each family by itself, under ordinary circumstances). 
These stocks, before they were moved, had been col- 
lecting pollen, and had their location well marked 
