524 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



July 



trees on Terry's premises, except around 

 the house. He does not tolerate a tree in 

 his grain-fields at all. 



PLAN FOR APIARIES. 



A UNIQUE WAY OF ARRANGING 80 HIVES. 



Friend Ernest:—! was very much interested in 

 the article by C. A. Hatch, and your own following, 

 page 374, May 15, as I have given this subject con- 

 sidei-able thought of late; and seeing that sugges- 

 tions on this are acceptable, I venture to offer 

 mine; but I shall not be offended, and order you to 

 stop sending Gleanings, if it never nppears there- 

 in. 



plan of my theoretical ideal apiary. You will take 

 notice that an apiary managed on this plan, con- 

 taining 4 groups each way (16 groups), .5 in a group, 

 would contain 80 hives— just about the proper num- 

 ber, and need not occupy a plot of ground to ex- 

 ceed 60 feet square, and still leave ample room. 



In regard to bees going to the wrong hive, I 

 should say that those at B would know their hive 

 was the center one, C the left, A the right of the 

 three facing one way; those at E and D would not 

 be at all likely to mistake another hive in the same 

 group (see diagram), and they would not be any 

 more liable to go to the wrong group than they 

 would if arranged rn the hexrgnnal or Mr. Hatch's 

 plan. You will notice that, when ihe grass in the 



S. E. miller's proposed APIARY. 



Our apiary is arranged hexagonally, and we are 

 pleased with it in nearly every way; but when it 

 comes to running a lawn-mower through it, I al- 

 ways wish it were arranged on a plan that would 

 admit of running the mower parallel with the hives 

 both ways. I have also noted what the senior edit- 

 or has to say on the subject. Of course, we can 

 have our hives in straight rows, and still be on the 

 hexagonal plan, and that is just how ours is ar- 

 ranged; but we are bound to run the mower diago- 

 nally one or two ways in order to cut the grass be- 

 tween the Lives in the rows. I herewith submit a 



main alleys is cut, the lawn-mower can be run be- 

 tween the hives in a group, though the distance 

 from A to B should be some greater than I have al- 

 lowed, in order to allow a large-gized mower to pass 

 E without varying from a straight line. E could be 

 set out so as to be on a line with A inside, but this 

 would ilirow it out of line on the outside, unless 

 the hives are square. 



Hives E and D would have tfceir entrances at 

 right angles to the alley for the operator, and he 

 might be in the way of some of the bees from said 

 colonies, but not more so than if arranged other- 



