232 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



above, the hive over which the first brood 

 was placed can be set in its former posi- 

 tion, and it will be seen that a batch of 

 cells has been built, and a number of 

 nuclei formed without stopping a queen 

 from laying or removing her from her 

 hive. 



Creek, N. C. June 22, 1898. 



ARRANGEMENT OF HIVES. 



Objections to the Hexagonal Plan; Advantages 

 of Proper Grouping. 



J. E. CRANE. 



Where order in variety we see. 



And where, thougli all things differ, all agree. 



POPE 



JUDGING from 

 gJ the many il- 

 JL m lustrations of api- 



M m aries in our 



*• -^sm ^taHkM i^gg journals, 



there seems to be 

 about as many 

 ways of arrang- 

 ing the hives as 

 there are persons 

 to do it. Some 

 are arranged in 

 two or three long rows, while others are 

 very compact. Others are without order 

 or system of any kind. Of course, the 

 location and surroundings make some 

 difference; as a steep side-hill, or a cramp- 

 ed enclosure- or perhaps an immense 

 boulder in the middle of the yard, are 

 "circumstances that alter cases." 



If possible, a yard should be out of the 

 wind. One who has not had experience 

 will find it hard to realize how much 

 damage a strong draft of air through a 

 yard of bees will do. I have, in one or 

 two instances, had almost every colony 

 die, during the winter and .spring, on one 

 side or end of the yard where there was a 

 strong draft of air. In one such yard, 



where once I lost heavily, I last winter 

 wintered nearly 100 colonies without the 

 loss of a single colony; and, with the ex- 

 ception of two or three, every colony was 

 in good condition in the spring; and 

 these exceptions came on and made good 

 stocks a little later; but the wind is now 

 headed off by an arbor vitse hedge across 

 an end and part of one side; while the 

 other side is enclosed by a high picket 

 fence. 



I know of no way to arrange an apiary 

 that looks better on paper, than the hex- 

 agonal plan recommended by A. I. Root; 

 especially when each hive is shaded by a 

 neatly trimmed grape \'ine; but, unfortu- 

 nately, grape vines will not grow in every 

 place as they do in Medina; and, even if 

 they did, we have little time to care for 

 them in out-apiaries. Some twenty years 

 ago I started a yard on the hexagonal 

 plan, without the vines, only to find the 

 next spring the central part of the 

 yard greatly weakened from bees miss- 

 ing their own hives or mistaking another 

 for their own. There was also a large 

 loss of queens. My hives were all one 

 color, which, doubtless, made matters 

 worse. 



After various trials I have found noth- 

 ing so satisfactory as placing hives in 

 groups of ten. If you can have a tree 



6 7 



planted in the center of each group, and 

 each group painted a different color, so 

 much the better. A basswood tree grows 

 quickly and looks well, and I have one 

 planted in most of the groups of one yard. 

 This is the way I would make a group: 



