8 BEES. 
‘that place until the bee keeper can decide for himself the best number 
to be kept and where they shall be placed. 
The experience of a relatively small number of good bee keepers 
in keeping unusually large apiaries indicates that the capabilities of 
the average locality are usually underestimated. The determina- 
tion of the size of extensive apiaries is worthy of considerable study, 
for it is obviously desirable to keep bees in as few places as possible, 
to save time in going to them and also expense in duplicated appa- 
ratus. To the majority of bee keepers this problem is not important, 
for most persons keep but a small number of colonies. This is per- 
haps a misfortune to the industry as a whole, for with fewer apiaries 
of larger size under the management of careful, trained bee keepers 
the honey production of the country would be marvelously increased. 
For this reason, professional bee keepers are not favorably inclined 
to the making of thousands of amateurs, who often spoil a location - 
for a honey producer and more often spoil his market by the inju- 
dicious selling of honey for less than it is worth or by putting on the 
market an inferior article. 
Out apiaries, or those located away from the main apiary, should 
be so located that transportation will be as easy as possible. The 
primary consideration, however, must be the available nectar supply 
and the number of colonies of bees already near enough to draw 
on the resources. The out apiary should also be near to some friendly 
person, so that it may be protected against depredation and so 
that the owner may be notified if anything goes wrong. It is espe- 
cially desirable to have it in the partial care of some person who 
can hive swarms or do other similar things that may arise in an 
emergency. The terms under which the apiary is placed on land 
belonging to some one else is a matter for mutual agreement. There 
is no general usage in this regard. 
EQUIPMENT IN APPARATUS. 
It must be insisted that the only profitable way to keep bees is in 
hives with movable frames. The bees build their combs in these 
frames, which can then be manipulated by the bee keeper as neces- 
sary. The keeping of bees in boxes, hollow logs, or straw ‘‘skeps”’ 
is not profitable, is often a menace to progressive bee keepers, and 
should be strongly condemned. Bees in box hives (plain boxes with 
no frames and with combs built at the will of the bees) are too often 
seen in all parts of the country. The owners may obtain from them 
a few pounds of inferior honey a year and carelessly continue in the 
antiquated practice. In some cases this type of bee keeping does 
little harm to others, but where diseases of the brood are present the 
box hive is a serious nuisance and should be abolished. 
397 
