[8] Climate and soil are so variable, it is impossible to give the sources of honey so as to apply minutely to every locality. I shall strive to designate the principal sources. The bee keeper will very soon learn from experience and observation, what are the principal sources of honey in that particular locality. Many different flowers, trees and shrubs are found in one section yielding honey profusely which do not exist in another.
When the distance a bee will go for honey is so well established, and having found from repeated tests that the flowers, when yielding honey, may be visited many times each day by the bee, and yield at each visit a bountiful supply, we can form some idea of the vast amount of honey now permitted to go to waste, which might be collected by bees, stored in nice boxes, and thus add wealth and enjoyment to the human family.
The question is often asked, "Which is best for bees, a wet or dry season?" I think either extreme of very wet or very dry season is bad. A warm, medium wet spring, followed by a summer of light and frequent showers, will usually give a good yield of honey; while a cold wet, or a cold dry spring, followed by a dry or very wet summer, produces a light crop of honey from flowers.
The bee keeper sometimes finds his bees idle, when the flowers are in bloom in profusion, the sun shining brightly, and to the superficial observer, everything indicating honey in abundance. And yet the bees are dormant, and scarcely one flying about the hives, notwithstanding the hives and boxes are full of them. The truth of the matter is, there is no honey in the flowers, although they are in full bloom. The air is dry and clear. Suddenly there is a change, the atmosphere becomes moist and charged with electricity, with occasionally light showers. Immediately all is activity about the hives. The greatest show of industry is manifested; scores of workers, and in some cases a hundred, coming into each hive every minute, loaded with honey, many of them so heavily weighted that they fall to the ground before they reach the hive, where they rest a moment, and then try again, usually succeeding in entering with their load. I have seen a change, as here described, brought about in a half-hour's time in the middle of the day, viz: The bees pass from an idle, almost an entirely dormant state, to the greatest activity and industry. And all because a change in the atmosphere had caused the flowers to secrete honey. The question arises—How did the bees know at that particular hour there was a change, and that the flowers, which a few minutes before were destitute of honey, were now bountifully supplied? I answer, the bee was aware of the change almost the moment it took place. The bee is very sensitive to all atmospheric changes. A case in point will show this: The bees are collecting honey abroad in the fields. The day is warm and balmy. Suddenly there is the appearance of a shower, and distant thunder is heard. Immediately the bees come rushing in from the fields, in clouds. They cover the entire front of their hives, in their eagerness to gain a shelter from the approaching rain. Again, if the morning is cloudy and dark, with every appearance of rain, and you find the bees leaving their hives for the fields, you may be quite certain that rain is not near, and may expect soon to see the sun break forth and the clouds disperse. If on the other hand there is an appearance of rain, and the bees are quiet in their hives, it is quite sure to rain in a very short time. How wonderful are the workings of nature. How great the sagacity of the little, busy bee. Who dares say that this wonderful little insect does not possess the power of reasoning? But I am digressing from the subject.
Bees, in their journeys to collect honey, seldom visit more than one species of flower, plant or shrub at one excursion; and this is a wise provision of nature, for were it otherwise, and any and all species visited promiscuously, the vegetable world would be thrown into chaos, by the fertilizing dust of one species being imparted to another, through the medium of the bee.
Pollen as fast as collected is deposited in little basket-like cavities on the inside of the bee's posterior legs. It is packed in little pellets, varying in size from that of a pin's head to a small pea. In color it is usually yellow, but sometimes green or red. Hundreds of bees may be seen entering the hives, with pollen, at almost any time in the honey season, particularly in the morning before the dew is off the grass. It is easier for the bees to collect it at this time, as the moisture causes it the more readily to adhere to the cavities of the legs. Honey when collected is deposited in the stomach of the bee, in which it is borne to the hive, and there deposited in cells in the comb. The bee has the power of raising this honey from its stomach, in the same manner that all ruminating animals raise the cud.
Some have contended that bees cause an injury to all kinds of fruit, such as apples, peaches, plums, etc., by taking away the substance and sweetness, in the form of honey, which otherwise would be absorbed, and eaten with the fruit. This is a great mistake. The provisions of nature are wise in this respect as in all others. There is the strongest evidence to prove that honey, once secreted in the cups of the tiny blossoms, never returns to the flower or fruit, but evaporates and passes into the air. Who, in passing an apple or peach orchard in full bloom, has not noticed the delicious fragrance, which is undoubtedly honey, which has evaporated from the myriads of blossoms. It is very plain to the close observer that nature has placed in the cups of flowers this honey, expressly as food for the honey bee, and that it is in harmony with all her great and wonderful works.
CHAPTER XIV.
LOCATION OF HIVES.
IN locating your hives, place them on the south side of buildings, or a close board fence facing south, southeast or south-west. If possible, locate in the shade of trees, where they will be shaded from the sun from nine o'clock in the forenoon until one in the afternoon, or a little later. If no trees afford shade, arrange a roof over each hive, which shall shade the entire hive, and especially the front, in the summer season. But in spring and fall it is better to let the bees have the full benefit of the sun's rays shining directly upon the hive. Construct a separate stand for each hive, as follows: Cut boards about three feet long, and joists three by six inches square (two pieces of the latter two feet long;) nail the ends of the boards to these pieces, so as to form a stand when placed on the ground, three feet long, two feet wide and six inches high. This gives a free circulation of air beneath the stand. Set your hive on this stand, the rear of the hive even with the rear of the stand, which leaves the stand projecting a foot or more in front, making an admirable place for the bees to alight before entering the hive. Set your stands three feet apart, and make them perfectly level before placing your hive upon them.