358 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



essential points here. People are un- 

 willing to eat the produce of an untidy 

 man. They don't like to buy extracted 

 honey from a dirty looking can, with 

 perhaps a fly or bee to be fished out oc- 

 casionall}'. Neatness here will be his 

 trade winner. His honey-house and his 

 honey-can can be his best advertisement, 

 or the ruination of his trade, if honey can 

 be secured from some other place. How 

 long would your store-keeper hold your 

 trade if his u. tidiness were so apparent as 

 to become offensive to you? You would 

 probably look elsewhere for you groceries 

 if such were the case. 



There are many clever ways by which 

 one can not only make their apiary beau- 

 tiful, but often time more convenient. 

 I have in my mind a bee-keeper whose 

 daughter is something of an artist. She 

 added to the beauty of her father's apiary 

 by painting over the entrance of each 

 hive a bit of scenery or landscape. The 

 effect was pleasing; but this, of course, is 

 not practicable for us all; but will serve 

 as an example of one of the many things 

 a person can do to make an apiary at- 

 tractive. 



In our own yard the hives are arranged 

 in two squares; or rather a square within 

 a square. All the hives face the centre of 

 the yard, at which spot stands a large hive 

 so arranged as to accommodate four 

 swarms of bees. This we have found a 

 very convenient hive to use. The flag of 

 our country floats from a staff on its roof; 

 and as our hives are painted red and 

 white, it adds to the beauty of the }'ard. 

 It is not only patriotic, but, as it floats on 

 the breeze, it has a tendency to accustom 

 bees to motion. It seems very reasonable 

 to me that it would have this effect; and, 

 although our bees are within a few yards 

 of the house, it is a very rare occurrence 

 for them to trouble us. The ground is 

 dug out where each hive is placed, eight 

 inches larger all around than the hive. 

 Four cedar .stakes are driven into the 

 ground for the hives to rest on. The 

 part dug out is then filled with coal cin- 

 ders and packed hard. This leaves a 



space all around the hives free from 

 grass, and allows room for the lawn- 

 mower to be run. We have found cedar 

 stakes more satisfactory than hive stands, 

 because the moles cannot work around 

 them to such an advantage, and change 

 the hives from their level. In driving 

 these stakes a square frame is used for a 

 guide, and a spirit-level to get them true 

 on top. Our yard has been laid out in 

 this way for twenty years, and during 

 this time the grass has always been kept 

 short, and we know that it pays. 



There is another fact that has a bearing 

 on the care of the apiary. Most bee-keep- 

 ers follow up this vocation in connection 

 with something else. The farmer with 

 his forty or eighty acres finds that his 

 bees add a good sum to his income, be- 

 sides furnishing his family with the 

 choicest of sweets. The market-gardener 

 also finds that it pays. The fruit-man 

 has his bees do a double duty by having 

 them fertilize his flowers. Professional 

 men find them a pleasant pastime for 

 leisure moments. Nearly all bee-keepers, 

 in fact, divide their time between the 

 bees and some other occupation, and be- 

 cause of this the bees often suffer for 

 want of better care. His other business 

 is liable to take the bee-keeper's attention 

 away from his bees, except to do what is 

 absolutely necessary to insure a fair crop 

 of honey; and sometimes results in their 

 getting less attention than this. How- 

 ever, the bees cannot furnish him with 

 employment at all seasons of the year 

 (not in this State, at least) as other work 

 is necessary if he is to be a busy man. 

 His bees at certain seasons of the year will 

 suffer worse from neglect than anything 

 else he has; but he will find it to his ad- 

 vantage to give them their share of his 

 time. 



In treating this subject, it would hardly 

 be doing justice to the bee not to give her 

 her due as to neatness and beauty. Who 

 has seen a better piece of workmanship 

 than that of the honey-comb ? Neat, be- 

 cause of its cleanliness, and its greatest 

 possible economy of space. It is tact 



