OUT- A PI AMES. 



819 



OUT-APIARIES. 



TOOLS FOR OUT-APIARIES, AND WHERE TO 

 KEEP THEM. 



Whatever tools you use in the home api- 

 ary, you are likely to need the same in each 

 out-apiary. If a different person is in charge 

 of each apiary, then each one must have his 

 own set of tools ; and even if the same force 

 go in succession from one apiary to another, 

 it may be the more convenient to have a sep- 

 arate outfit kept at each place. We do not 

 think just now of anything' in the line of 



WESLEV dibble's TOOL, S3IOKER, AND FUEL HOUSE 



tools needed for an out-a])iary, different 

 from those that are needed at home, unless 

 it is a robber- cloth. We should not like to be 

 without one of these in the home apiary, but 

 they are specially valuable in out-apiaries 

 where, sometimes, notwithstanding robbers 

 are troublesome, your plans are such that 

 you want to force through a certain amount 

 of work. By having two or three robber- 

 clotlis we have sometimes been able to go on 

 with our work when, without them, we should 

 have been obliged to desist. We'll tell you 

 how to make one. Take about a square 

 yard of stout sheeting or cotton cloth : if 

 your hives are small, less will do. Lay one 

 of the cut edges on a piece of lath, about the 

 length of your hive. Lay a similar i)iece of 



lath on top of it, and drive wire nails 

 through both, at a distance of perhaps three 

 inches apart. Let the nails be long enough 

 to reach through and clinch. Then treat tlie 

 opposite edge the same way, and your rob- 

 ber-cloth is complete. 



This robber-cloth is exceedingly conven- 

 ient to throw quickly over any hive or super 

 that you want to cover up temporarily. You 

 can grasp a lath at the side with one hand, 

 and, with a single fling, throw it over a hive 

 making it instantly bee-tight. It 

 does not kill bees, if any happen 

 to get under it. If you have one 

 hand occupied with something 

 else, you can very quickly un- 

 cover and cover with the other. 

 We have sometimes worked with 

 a colony when robbers were so 

 bad they would pounce into every 

 opening ; but a, r(jbl)er-clotli on 

 each side covering the frames 

 allowed us to nuike an o])ening at 

 the frame we wished to take out. 

 Asa general rule, of course, we 

 would try to manage not to work 

 the bees at such times. 



But, to return. It would Ije 

 ery convenient, as you go altoiit 

 from one apiary to another, to 

 have a little tool-house at each 

 yard. We are not sure, Iiowever, 

 that it would pay. A hive or box 

 covered over water-tight (we use 

 a tin hive -cover) answers very 

 well. We would have one or 

 more of these at each apiary in 

 any case, for there are some 

 things you want to be sure of 

 having on hand, as smoker fuel. 

 Matches should also be kept un- 

 der cover in such a place, in a tin 

 box. A baking-powder box does well. Bee- 

 hats, smokers — in fact, a full set of every 

 thing can be kept in the same way. 



It is possible, however, to get on very well 

 by always taking your tools with you, pro- 

 vided you never forget them. One day we 

 went to the Hastings apiary, without any 

 smoker, and we realized then how impor- 

 tant a smoker is. Don't trust to memory. 

 In your record-book have a list of the things 

 you generally need to take ; and after you 

 are all ready to get in, read aloud the list 

 and be sure that every thing is in the wagon, 

 as: Hats, smokers, dinner (we never forgot 

 our dinner), chisel, etc. Our own practice 

 has been a sort of compromise between hav- 

 ing a f idl kit of tools at each apiary and tak- 



