A.ND aA.ZETTE. 



EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WAGNER, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



VOB. II. 



A.I'I^IL, ISO^. 



No. 10. 



Bse-Culture in Cottage Hives. 



No. 10. 



Miicli has been written about the proper lo- 

 cation and arrangement of the apiarj^, and great 

 contrariety of opinion appears to i>revail among 

 bee-lieepers on tlie subject. Some thinli that a 

 bee-liouse is indispensable; others deem a simple 

 stand sufficient; while others again prefer plac- 

 ing their hives, singly, in any convenient spots 

 in their yards or gardens. 



On one point, however, they agree — that the 

 apiary should be near the dwelling-house, and 

 so placed as to be always in view. The erec- 

 tion of a bee-house is always attended with con- 

 siderable cx|)ense, andif it afterwards proves to 

 be ill-arranged or injudiciously located, it be- 

 comes a source of annoyance and vexation. The 

 sum it Avould cost had perhaps better be spent 

 in procuring hives built more substantially and 

 durably than those commonly used, and Avhich 

 will not need protection from the weather. 

 Mistakes made in locating these can then be 

 easily remedied; and a system of management, 

 requiring occasional removal or transposition, 

 may be adopted and followed with entire 

 freedom and ease. There is great advantage. 

 Too, in not being constrained to crowd the hives 

 closely together as stocks increase The more 

 isolated they stand, the more easily are thev 

 supervised, and the less apt are the bees to 

 interfere with each other or queens to be lost. 



The situation selected should be slightly ele- 

 vated, if possible, above the common level of 

 the surrounding grounds. It should be free 

 from dampness, and not exposed to strong cur- 

 rents of air or driving winds. If pai-iially 

 shaded by low-growing evergreens or dwarf- 

 trees, or by grape-vines trained on trellice.s, tlie 

 labors of the bees will be greatly facilitated in 

 warm weather, and a screen of evergreens v\'ill 

 greatly benefit them in the winter months. 



For the apiarian's convenience, it is well to 

 Isave the hives set on posts or pedestals four or 

 five feet apart, and elevated about eighteen 

 inches from the ground. They can then^be ap- 

 proached from all sides, and nearly all needed 

 operations can be performed among them with- 

 out stooping. Vermin, and insects in general 



except ants, are thus excluded; and even the 

 latter can more easily be kept out, when they 

 become so numerous as to be an annoyance. 



The aspect or exposure of the front of the 

 hives is a subject about which writers on bee- 

 ciilture differ greatly, though much the greater 

 number concur in recommending a south-east- 

 erly exposure as most advantageous. Where 

 cottage-hives are used, much depends on the 

 end the apiarian has in view. If he desires to 

 obtain the greatest number of swarms, a south- 

 ern aspect should be chosen. But if his object 

 is the accumulation of honey, an eastern or 

 northern exposure is to be preferred. 



We once had two apiaries — one with a south- 

 eastern exposure, where the sun shone on the 

 front of the hives till three o'clock in the after- 

 noon; another with a north-eastern exposure, 

 the sun shining on the fronts only till 11 o'clock 

 in the forenoon. This one was, moreover, in 

 the shadovv' of several large fruit trees. The 

 former produced numerous swarms; the bees 

 " hung out" idly on every warm day; robbing 

 and pilfering bees were continually hovering 

 about; and the yield of honey was very small. 

 In the latter, early swarms Avere produced by 

 the colonies designed for swarming, the bees 

 rarely hang out, ample surplus stores were ac- 

 cumulated, and few robbers were ever seen 

 about them. During the last four years we have 

 an apiary with a direct northern aspect. Here 

 also we obtained some early swarms, and the 

 honey product was quite as large as we could ex- 

 pect it to be according to the seasons. AVe have 

 likewise another apiary with an eastern expo- 

 sure, at which rather more swarms proportion- 

 ally were produced, and the yieul of honey from 

 colonies equallj' strong and similarly managed 

 was the same as at that with the northern ex- 

 posure. 



Staudmeister gave the northern exposure the 

 preference very decidcdh^, more than half a 

 cen'auy ago, and though Ehrenfels urged various 

 objections against it, our own experience fully 

 corroborates Staudtmeister's statements. There 

 is undoubtedly much truth in the Gorman 

 adage — " the bees love to labor in the sun, and 

 to dwell in the shade." That heat is a power- 

 ful agent in generating and stimulating the 



