June, 1908. 



American ^ae Journal 



of the early part of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury used in securing the land that is 

 now considered the Land of the Free, 

 should make all Americans blush with 

 shame. How about it, Doctor, are you 

 willing to give up your home which 

 without any question was in possession 

 of the Indians 3'ears ago? Seems as if 

 they had some "priority rights." Still 

 we drive them farther and farther away 

 from their true state of living. I have 

 talked to Indians that said, "Me never 

 had backache till me try to live like 

 white man. Me rather live in teepee 

 and have ponies and hunt than study 

 white man's books what no good to me 

 after white man quit feeding me, like 

 brother." 



Suppose we ask for legislation in re- 

 gard to the keeping of enough bees for 

 one to work profitably to himself, by 

 his own labor. Why should one be en- 

 titled to reap the benefits of the nectar 

 ofif of other people's pasturage when the 

 labor is done by some one else? If we 

 will restrict the number of colonies that 

 any one can keep, and run with his own 

 labor, I assure you there will be very 

 few locations overstocked. 



In conclusion I will say that the bee- 

 keeper that has not energy enough to 

 prevent the encroachment of some fel- 

 low that has the idea that there are 

 tons of honey going to waste in a local- 

 ity that the bee-keeper already has well 

 stocked, and feels like there is not room 

 for some one else, either by gentle per- 

 suasion or a pecuniary consideration he 

 should prevent the encroachment. There 

 is no danger from the practical bee- 

 keeper setting an apiary beside you if 

 he realizes that there are bees enough 

 already to gather the yield of nectar in 

 that locality. 



College View, Neb. 



Locating an Apiary— Ques- 

 tions Answered 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I am requested to give an article in 

 the American Bee Journal on locating 

 an apiary, several questions being asked. 

 As they are quite to the point, I will 

 take them up one by one, and give my 

 views regarding them. The first is, 



"In what position should hives be 

 placed so that comb-building can be done 

 to the best advantage? I expect to use 

 only starters in the frames and sections, 

 as I have not the necessary capital to 

 buy comb foundation just at present." 



That depends upon whether you have 

 the sections run with the frames in the 

 brood-chamber, or crosswise. In either 

 event, the hive should stand level from 

 side to side, else the combs which are 

 built from the starters in the frames 

 will not be true in the frames, as the 

 bees always build their comb perpendicu- 

 larly. There is little about bee-keeping 

 that is so exasperating as having the 

 combs built untrue in the frames. If 

 starters are put in the center of the 

 top-bars of the frames, and the hives 

 stand perfectly level from side to side, 

 you should have little trouble in having 

 the combs built down to the bottom 

 of the frames so they will be "true as 

 boards." 



Now, if the sections run the same 



way as the frames, you will get just as 

 good results in comb-building if the 

 rear of the hive is raised 2 or 3 inches 

 higher than the front or entrance end 

 of the hive, and as this does not inter- 

 fere with the comb-building, it has the 

 advantage of shedding all water from 

 the entrance to the hive, and helps the 

 bees in removing any foreign substance, 

 such as dead bees, dirt, etc. But, if the 

 sections run crosswise of the frames, 

 as quite a few prefer they should (be- 

 cause such position allows the bees to 

 pass up into the sections from any space 

 between the frames below) then the 

 hive must set level both ways, else the 

 combs built in the sections will not be 

 true in them, the lower end often being 

 attached to the separators, which makes 

 bad work when the sections are gotten 

 ready for market, as in separating the 

 sections from the separators the comb 

 in the sections will be broken more or 

 less, on account of the brace-comb at- 

 tached to the separator being stronger 

 than the comb in the section. This will 

 cause leakage of honey, and a deface- 

 ment of the comb, which will make your 

 No. I or fancy honey go down into 

 a lower grade, providing it does not 

 spoil it for market altogether. 



In case the hive must be level while 

 the sections are on, then it is well to 

 make the hive stand perfectly level both 

 ways, and at all times when the sections 

 are not on, raise the rear of the hive 

 two inches by putting a half brick or a 

 piece of 2 X 4 scantling between the bot- 

 tom-board to the • hive and the hive- 

 stand. This will throw the water out 

 and away from the entrance, and help 

 the bees about dragging out the dead 

 bees and dirt during^the fall, winter and 

 spring, just when it is needed most; 

 for during the summer months there is 

 little trouble from any of these sources. 



"What distance should the hives stand 

 from the ground?" is the next question. 

 Forty years ago, when I first commenced 

 to keep bees, everybody thought that 

 the hives must be up from 12 to 18 

 inches from the ground, but it was found 

 that much loss resulted during cool days 

 in early spring from many bees which 

 were partially benumbed with the cold 

 coming a little short of the entrance 

 and dropping in the shade under the 

 hives, where they would soon become so 

 chilled that they never gained the hive 

 till they succumbed to the cold. From 

 this and other reasons, all of our prac- 

 tical bee-keepers of today make the hive- 

 stands not more than from 2 to 4 inches 

 high, running an "alighting-board" from 

 the entrance of the hive to the ground, 

 so that any bee which is too chilled or 

 too heavily loaded to fly again after once 

 dropping on this board, can "travel" into 

 the hive on foot. This alighting-board 

 is also a great help to the bees in a 

 windy day, for if they are able to reach 

 it during a little lull from the wind, 

 they can hang on and crawl into the 

 hive, while without this, many efforts 

 must be made, till often the bee is worn 

 out before an entrance to the hive can 

 be gained. The objections to the low 

 stands and this alighting-board, are that 

 toads will sit at the entrance to the 

 hive evenings and catch the heavily- 

 laden, belated bees as they return home ; 

 and the ants will annoy them, but I 

 don't consider that either of these is any- 



where nearly equal the first in real dam- 

 age to the apiarist. 



The next question is, " How near 

 should the hives stand to each other?" 



When I was a boy I do not remember 

 seeing any bee-hives but what were set 

 on boards or planks, about as many as 

 could be crowded together. I well re- 

 member my father having trouble with 

 colonies running together, because the 

 hives were only 2 or 3 inches apart on 

 thescN planks, with each hive standing 

 on 4 ^-inch blocks, one at each of the 4 

 corners. I now suppose that where they 

 did this, it was because of some of the 

 colonies becoming queenless, when the 

 queenless bees would join those having 

 queens, for this running together almost 

 always happened two or three weeks af- 

 ter the colonies had swarmed. But to- 

 day things are very different, for we 

 find all practical apiarists giving each 

 colony a separate stand, and, as a rule, 

 these stands arc from 4 to 10 feet apart. 

 My apiaries are laid out on the hexa- 

 gon plan, the hives being 10 feet apart 

 in the rows, from center to center, and 

 the rows 10 feet apart. I know that 

 very many place them closer, but I 

 think where the ground can be had 

 without too much expense, the saving of 

 queens when going out to be fertilized, 

 and the less mixing of bees, more than 

 pays for all of the extra travel which 

 this distance makes. 



To get the hives arranged in the 

 hexagonal form, procure a line of the 

 desired length, and near one end tie 

 a white piece of yarn. Five feet from 

 this tie a piece of scarlet yarn, and 

 then a white one 5 feet from the scarlet, 

 and so on till you have red and white 

 yarn alternating at s feet from each 

 other the whole length you wish your 

 apiary. Now stretch the line where you 

 want the first row of hives, and place 

 a stand at every white thread. 'Then 

 move the line ahead 10 feet and place 

 the stands at the red threads. Then 

 move 10 feet again, placing tjie stands 

 at the white, and so on till you get as 

 many stands as you wish in your apiary. 

 When you get it all laid out, and a hive 

 on each stand, you will see that you can 

 go through the apiary at almost any 

 angle, and each angle gives a straight 

 path, while for convenience and beauti- 

 ful appearance you will have something 

 which is superior to anything ever be- 

 fore thought of. 



"Toward what point of the compass 

 should the entrances of the hive face?" 

 is the last question. 



This is optional, providing they do not 

 face north of an east and west direc- 

 tion. I have mine face south, but 

 many think southeast should be the di- 

 rection, for then the morning sun will 

 entice the bees out to gathering stores 

 earlier in the day than they otherwise 

 would do. However, after experiment- 

 ing quite largely, I see little difference 

 in favor of any southerly direction ; but 

 the facing of hives to the north is ob- 

 jectionable, as it nearly precludes the 

 flight of the bees during winter, and al- 

 lows the cold north winds to blow in 

 at the hive-entrance, which is by no 

 means helpful to the bees, especially 

 during the spring, when it is necessary 

 to economize all the heat possible for 

 early brood-rearing. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



