APIAEY. 



23 



APIARY. 



v^~-\ 



ISIDE AND END VIEW OF THE .SA3IE APIAUY. 

 Tlie side-braces shown are necessary to prevent a heavy wind from blowing the structure over. It 

 should be noted that these sheds are almost indispensable in hot countries. In dry atmospheres 

 they should be arranged east and west; in the humid they should be placed north and south, to 

 dry out the hives after a tropical i-aln. 



available to all. An apiary so situated 

 that there is a clump of woods on one side 

 and buildings on the other two sides, leav- 

 ing only a southern aspect, is well sheltered 

 from the prevailing winds. But, as already 

 stated, if there are woods or buildings 

 around the east side of the bee-yard, enough 

 so as to shade the hives until about noon, 

 the bees will not build up as fast in the 

 spring as those that can get the morning sun 

 up to ten or eleven o'clock. In the absence 

 of any natural or ar-cidental protection what- 

 ever, it is quite essential that some sort of 

 windbreak be iirovided. If it is desirable to 

 put up something iiermanent, and some- 

 thing which would not rot out or require re- 

 pairs, outskirt the apiary with rows of hardy- 

 growing evergreens, such as are seen in our 

 own apiary in the following pages. These, 

 for the first few years, would atford but a 

 scanty protection ; but in 10 years'time they 

 answer their purjiose admiral ly. In 1879, 

 we enclosed our api try with evergreens. 

 They have proved to be very thrifty, and 

 now (1910) are quite good-sized trees. 



niVE-STANDS. 



It will be next in order to consider wheth- 

 er we shall put tlie hives directly on the 



ground or on some sort of stand. Many 

 bee-keepers use four half-bricks, so arrang- 

 ing them that they will come directly under 

 the four corners of the bottom-board. To 

 secure a proper level, it will be necessary to 

 use a spade or pickax to cut down the soil 

 in spots sutficiently to let one or more bricks 

 come down to the grade of the others. It is 

 desirable, however, to have tlie forward 

 In'icks a little lower than the rear in order 

 that the water may run out of the entrances. 

 Other bee-keepers use short strips of old 

 boards or pieces of scantling, cut off in 

 lengths equal to the width of the hive, and 

 leveled in the same manner as the bricks. 

 But the bricks and old boards allow the 

 hives to come too near the ground— enough 

 so to cause dampness, and, sometimes, when 

 the bricks settle, the rotting of the under 

 side of the bottom-board. 



Mr. R. C. Hollins. of Sladenville, Ky., 

 drives four notched stakes into the ground, 

 made of stuff three inches wide, one inch 

 thick, and one or two feet long. The inirt 

 driven into the groimd should be dipped in 

 creosote, linseed oil, or, better still, car- 

 bolineum, a kind of wood preservative used 

 by railway'companies to preserve ties. The 



