8 BEES. 
The hives should be far enough apart to permit of free manipu- 
lation. If hives are too close together there is danger of bees entering 
the wrong hive on returning, especially in the spring. 
These conditions, which may be considered as ideal, need not all 
be followed. When necessary, bees may be kept on housetops, in 
the back part of city lots, in the woods, or in many other places 
where the ideal conditions are not found. As a matter of fact, few 
apiaries are perfectly located; nevertheless, the location should be 
carefully planned, especially when a large number of colonies are 
kept primarily for profit. 
As a rule, it is not considered best to keep more than 100 colonies 
in one apiary, and apiaries should be at least 2 miles apart. There 
are so many factors to be considered, however, that no general rule 
can be laid down. The only way to learn how many colonies any 
given locality will sustain is to study the honey flora and the record of 
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 determination 
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 apparatus. 
To the majority of bee keepers this problem is not important, for 
most persons keep but a small number of colonies. This is perhaps 
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 the location 
for the honey producer and more often spoil his market by the inju- 
dicious selling of honey for less than it is worth or by putting an 
inferior article on the market. 
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. 
447 
