Evening star., 1939-08-20
Federal Ben Throw New Business of Producing H0nev
Science
Developedin
Various Lines
Lack of Basis for
DOmestication Is
Discovered

AlSCONCICQ
is nervous and afraid of the insects.
Apiarists are well aware that their
bees never get to know them. One
who understands bees. can work as
safely in another apiary as in his
own"
Sting Only in Defense.
Bee specialists also point out that
the worker bees, which do the sting
ing, do SO only in fense of their hive:
and even there, only a few assume
the responsibility of guards, leaving
the others free to go about their
work. If all bees rushed at once to
the defense of the hive and were Sue
| cessful in stinging their victim, there
would be no workers left, because in
singing, a bee loses not only its sting
but its life Away from the hive,
bees are intent upon their work and
can scarcely be induced to sting,
unless they are caught and crushed.
The average beekeeper will make
the most profit if he limits his busi-
ness to 400 colonies, the number he
can care for single-handed, the ex-
pertS point out. He may be first.
rate bee handler, but the tempera-
ment of good beeman generally is
not the temperament for managing
employees efficiently.
| One man can do practically all
the work required for $50 or 400 Colo
MES, even during rush seasons, the
Federal scientists learned by study.
ing for three years the records OF
beekeepers in widely separated sec
tions of the country. With an apiary
of this size, however, he will need
some additional means of income.
Beekeeping is at its best, generally, as
a supplement to farming. One man
in New York State, who farms 100
acres and cares for 10 colonies of
bees learned from experience that
70-colony apiary is equivalent to
about 40 acres of land in both in
come and labor.
Local conditions, soils and climate
seem to Influence the nectar supply
of plants from which bees gather
their raw material. Science has not
solved nearly all the problems raised
by the bees in their search for honey
material. w. j. Nolan. Federal api-
culturist, notes that alfalfa is good
nectar producer in the area west Of
the Mississippi River, but is of slight
Importance to the east. Buckwheat
honey is we'll known for its dark color
and characteristic flavor, but nearly
all of it comes from relatively small
area near Lakes Erie and Ontario:
elsewhere in this country buckwheat
is honey plant of only small i'm
portance. While clover is widely
grown and is flrst-class honey
source, in certain localities it gives
the honey bee little or no .sctar.
Many forest trees are as valuable
to beekeepers for their pollen as for
the nectar of their flowers. With
out pollen, for which no satisfac-
tory substitute has been found, bees
will fail to raise new brood. Pol
len furnishes meaty, nitrogenous
elements in the diet of the larvae.
many trees are often rich in pollen,
as we'll as in nectar. Willows, ma
piles, black locusts, tulip or yellow
poplar trees, tupelos, basswoods, sour
gums and wild plums are important
sources of both pollen and nectar.
Elms and aspens also are pollen
producers, although not considered
to be nectar plants. The presence
of certain hardwood pollen-bearing
forest trees thus becomes an i'm
portant consideration in the choice
of sites for apiaries.
Package" Bees Are Used.
Did you ever hear of package"
bees? Probably not. However, their
use for orchard pollination is a
recent development of much inter-
est to beekeepers and orchardists,
according to Federal specialists. For
many years, orchardists depended
upon the natural supply of bees and
other insects for pollination, but
modern farming and orchard prac-
tees have reduced the supply. and
it has been almost necessary to i'm
port bees during the pollination Pc
riod.
Orchardists need not be skilled
bee-keeperS nor keep supply of
bees They may either rent colo
nies of bees from beekeeper who
will look after them, or buy package"
Al ~,
boxes by beekeepers and sold to or
chardists. All the orchardist has
to do is to set the package In the
orchard, pull the cork from the box
and let the bees go. When the poll
linating season is over, he may dis
pose of the bees as he sees fit. One
strong package of bees an acre is
recommended. Package bees are
produced mainly in the Gulf States
and in California, whence they are
shipped long distances by express
or mail.
The mystery surrounding the sud-
den, seemingly capricious, shifting
of bees from one kind of plant to
another has been lifted, in part, at
least, by recent chronological studies
in California by the Department Of
Agriculture. The concentration Of
nectar seems to be the deciding fac.
tor in drawing bees to blossoms.
Apparently, the insects like their
nectar straight, the entomologists
say.
The bees observed in California
avoided fruit blossoms of open struc-
ture, such as apricot and some plum
blooms, during the time the nectar
was diluted with rain or dew. AL
mond blossoms, however, in which
the nectar was well protected, were
attractive to the insects at all times.
Apple blossoms, which in general
rank highest of all deciduous fruit
tree blossoms in California in attrac-
tiveness to bee visitors, do not enter
into competition with other fruits
because they blossom so late that
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