APIARY. 



25 



APIARY. 



illustration here given will show the idea. 

 The stakes should project up above the 

 ground from one to six inches. Four inches 

 will ordinarily be high enough. In that 

 case the stakes need not be more than 18 

 inches long. The length of them, however, 

 will depend a good deal on the character of 

 the soil and the preference of operator— 

 whether the hive shall be high or low. 



The stakes should be driven by line, and 

 accurately measured off and afterward level- 

 ed with a bottom-board and spirit-level. If 

 the stakes stick up six inches above the 



the obvious advantage of a slanting front 

 from the ground to the V)Ottom-board. 



ground it will add greater convenience to 

 the handling of the bees ; but in cool spring 

 weather there should be some sort of board 

 reaching from the ground up to the alight- 

 ing-board, so that bees coming in somewhat 

 chilled may crawl from the groiind up into 

 the hive. 



Another arrangement that has been used 

 to a considerable extent is what is known 

 as the Ileddon hive-stand. It is made of 

 four rough boards of cheap lumber from 

 four to six inches wide, and one inch thick. 



HEDDUlSr HIVK SJ AND. 



The dimensions should, of course, be of the 

 size of the bottom-board. The manner of 

 patting together will be plain from the cut. 

 This stand is preferred by a large number of 

 bee-keepers. 



A modified form, and a much better one, 

 is shown at the top of next column. It has 



Another arrangement that is favored by a 

 good many is a double hive-stand made as 

 shown in the accompanying illustration. 

 The legs should not be less than two inch- 

 es square, and the ends to come in contact 

 with the ground should be dipped in tar, 

 or some sort of wood-preservative. The 

 side-boards, if the legs are a foot long, may 

 be anywhere from three to six inches wide 

 —four inches will be a nice compromise. 

 The whole should be securely nailed and 

 made to conform to a level tloor. When a 

 sufficient number have been made they 

 can be spaced off and leveled up in the yard 

 ready to receive pairs of hives, or even three 

 if thought necessary. 



This arrangement has much t^iecommend 

 it. It permits keeping the hives in gruui s 

 of two or three, so that they may be operat- 

 ed at a convenient distance from the ground. 

 It also allows carrying out the general plan 

 of shaking swarms, as explained further- on 

 under the head of Swarming; of formiig 

 nuclei, or doubling up in the fall. Say there 

 are two hives on the same stand, and both 

 of them weak, and neither of them strong 

 enough to go through the winter. Place all 

 the combs and bees in one hive, and put it 

 in the space exactly between where the tsvt) 

 stood. Now move the other hive away en- 

 tirely. The flying bees of both hives will go 

 back to the one now at a point midway be- 

 tween where the other two stood. 



