NOVEMBER 1, 1914 



865 



good deal of space might be used in discuss- 

 ing the bad features found in the foregoing 

 illustrations; but I consider it far better, in 

 place of so doing, to give my idea as to the 

 points that should be observed in the ar- 

 rangement of the hives and the manner of 

 liandling the j^roduets. 



REQUISITES OF A PROPERLY ARRANGED APIARY. 



The first requisite in arranging the hives 

 is to have them so situated that it is always 

 possible to work toward the honey-house. 

 At some seasons of the year it is often nec- 

 essary to go over 15 or 20 hives before 

 securing a load of honey; and the distance 

 that the comjaleted load is to be conveyed 

 will amount to co^isiderable, dejDending on 

 whether the distance traveled is away from 

 or toward the honey-house. This problem 

 is easily solved by having the rows of colo- 

 nies radiate from the door of the honey- 

 house, and then always going to the far end 

 of the row and working back. Another 

 feature is to place the colonies, whenever 

 possible, in double rows, back to back, and 

 at a distance of 5 or 6 feet from the back 

 of one row to the back of the other. Al- 

 though this plan may not be feasible in 

 many northern localities, there is no reason 

 why a colony in any of the southern coun- 

 tries should be placed otherwise. Were I 

 to have the management of an apiary in 

 the North to-day I would at least try the 

 experiment of having rows of colonies 

 turned back to back during the summer 

 months, then turned so as to face east or 

 south during the winter months. I know 

 that many will object to the foregoing, there 

 being a prevalent idea that entrances open- 

 ing otherwise than to the sun, or if the 

 colonies are placed in the shade, they do not 

 give as good results; but I think this is in 

 a great measure a fallacy. I once paid 

 particular attention to some 150 colonies, 75 

 of whicli were in the sun and facing the 

 south, and the other 75 being in the shade 

 and facing north; and the result of my 

 observation was that one row of colonies 

 did just as well as the other. At another 

 time, in one of the Western States, I became 

 acquainted with a man who was, and still 

 is, an extensive producer of honey. He 

 had been a student under James Heddon, 

 and used often to tell the story of how 

 Heddon had a colony under an apple-tree. 

 The colony was absolutely worthless — never 

 did produce a pound of surplus honey. It 

 was the custom of Heddon to send the 

 students to examine that colony and then 

 ask for a report. On being told that the 

 colony was doing nothing, he would tell the 

 students that the reason was that the colony 

 was situated in the shade. On this same 



point, however, during the season of which 

 I speak, and at an apiary managed by a 

 former student of Heddon, strong evidence 

 was brought to this man to show that there 

 is very little in the shade theory. As it 

 liappened, he took an apiary belonging to a 

 farmer to run on shares. The farmer had 

 started his apiary by catching runaway 

 swarms, and knew nothing of beekeeping. 

 However, he had bought hives already fitted 

 with foundation starters, and his bees had 

 fairly straight sets of combs. All the colo- 

 nies Avere placed beneath apple-trees — big 

 spreading trees which had never been prun- 

 ed. In fact, the hives were situated in 

 about as dense shade as it is possible to 

 find. Now, whether it was the fact that 

 these bees were situated in the shade, or 

 whether it was a good honey locality, or 

 whether they were a particularly good strain 

 of bees, is something I cannot definitely 

 state ; but I do know as a fact that these 

 bees, per colony, produced about double the 

 yield of those of the other apiaries managed 

 by the gentleman in question, and he man- 

 aged some 14 apiaries. Not only that, they 

 continued to do so over a period of years. 



HANDLING HONEY PROM THE HIVE TO THE 

 HONEY-HOUSE. 



In the manner of handling honey, the 

 l^lace where system and appliances count 

 the most is in a yard that is run for extract- 

 ed honey. The first thing to be considered 

 is the vehicle, as I do not consider the Arm- 

 strong (Alexander) method worthy of con- 

 sideration. To my mind, there is nothing 

 that is to be compared with a wheelbarrow 

 of the Daisy type. The average man can 

 with ease handle four full ten-frame supers 

 of honey, and can go over the gi'ound with 

 more speed and ease than is possible with 

 any wagon or cart. In some apiaries I have 

 found it the custom to wheel one super at a 

 time, in others two, and, again, I know some 

 husky fellows who never think of starting 

 for the honey-house without six full supers 

 of honey as their load. The best manner 

 of arranging the super on a wheelbarrow 

 that I know (and I think I have seen and 

 tested every possible arrangement) is to 

 place the supers in two tiers, the combs run- 

 ning crosswise of the wheelbarrow. If an 

 ordinary Daisy wheelbarrow is used a brace 

 should be placed perpendicular to the bed 

 of the wheelbarrow against which the 

 supers rest, and should extend about two 

 inches above the second super. 



Perhaps it will not be out of place to 

 describe the method of filling the supers. 

 To start, remove the top super of the front 

 tier, thereby exi3osing the bottom super. 

 Shove all the combs to the back of the 



