AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



105 



them with eggs. The bees will care for 

 the combs as regards keeping the moth 

 from them, just as well beyond the 

 division-board as they would if no 

 division-board were there. 



When the last little colony is made I 

 use nearly three times the bees in 

 making it, and give, when hiving them, 

 two or more frames of hatching brood, 

 so that in a week or so I may again have 

 a fair colony to rear queen-cells from — 

 for, at the expiration of about two weeks 

 the same operation is to be repeated, 

 and 8 or 10 more colonies formed. 



Again, in two or three weeks, or as 

 soon as the original strong colony is in 

 fine condition, more are formed ; but as 

 it grows later in the season, a quart or 

 more of bees are taken to form the 

 colony, instead of a pint. Finally, as 

 Fall draws on, the first formed little 

 colonies are strong enough to spare bees. 

 At this time I take bees from 3 or 4 colo- 

 nies, thereby getting bees enough to 

 make a good, full colony at once. 



By the above plan it is easy to build 

 up a depopulated apiary again, es- 

 pecially if you are willing to feed 

 liberally when honey is not coming in 

 from the fields ; and I believe it is far 

 cheaper than to buy bees by the pound, 

 and queens to be put with them, as 

 many do. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Arrangement of Hives and Bniiilinss, 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



In a small apiary, the matter of 

 arrangement is not of great importance ; 

 but as the number of colonies begins to 

 approach a hundred, the question of 

 arrangement becomes one of consider- 

 able moment. Two things need consid- 

 eration — the convenience of the opera- 

 tor, and the giving of such an individu- 

 ality to each hive that each bee can 

 readily distinguish its home. 



Before discussing these points, it 

 might be well to say a few words about 

 the location of the apiary. First, it 

 ought to be some distance from the 

 highway. What this distance should be 

 depends upon what there is between the 

 bees and the street. If there are build- 

 ings or trees, or even a high fence, the 

 bees may be quite near the road, as, in 

 their flight, they rise above these ob- 

 structions, and thus pass over the heads 

 of the passers-by. 



If there is nothing between the apiary 

 and the highway, the arpiary ought not 



to be nearer the street than 10 rods, 

 and 15 or 20 rods would be better. It 

 is possible, with a small apiary, to avoid 

 trouble, even if it is located quite near 

 the street. If it is necessary to handle 

 the bees when no honey is coming in, 

 and the handling is likely to irritate 

 them, such work can be done just before 

 dusk, when the bees will not fly far from 

 the hive ; but in a large apiary there is 

 too much work that must be done when 

 the bees may not be in an amiable mood 

 to enable the operator to perform it 

 during the twilight of evening. 



If necessary, the bee-keeper can pro- 

 tect himself with a veil, and, armed with 

 a smoker, he can go on with the work, 

 even if the bees are a little " cross," but 

 the apiary must be isolated. 



Nearly level ground is preferable for 

 an apiary. If it slopes gently to the 

 south or east, so much the better. It 

 should never be in such a location that 

 water will stand upon the ground. 



I have tried placing the honey-house 

 in the center of the apiary, and having 

 the hives in long double rows, ,that 

 radiated from the honey-house as the 

 spokes in a wheel radiate from the hub. 

 In each double row a space large enough 

 for a wheelbarrow is left between the 

 rows, and the entrances of the hives are 

 turned away from the path left for the 

 operator and his wheelbarrow. 



So far as reducing the labor of going 

 to and from the hives is concerned, this 

 arrangement is excellent, but it has the 

 very serious objection that only part of 

 the apiary can be seen at one glance 

 from the honey-house. In watching for 

 swarms it is necessary to look in four 

 different directions in order to ascertain 

 if a swarm is out. When the honey- 

 house is at one side of the apiary, the 

 whole apiary can be taken in at a 

 glance. 



Other things being equal, the south 

 side of the apiary is preferable for the 

 honey-house. In looking for swarms the 

 bee-keeper does not look toward the sun, 

 but has the clear northern sky for a 

 background, while the shady side of the 

 building, which will be naturally sought 

 by the tired bee-keeper as the best spot 

 in which to take a breathing spell, is 

 toward the apiary. 



It is universally admitted that it is 

 best that the honey-house be upon the 

 side of the apiary, and most bee-keepers 

 are in favor of having the building two 

 stories high, using the upper story as a 

 store-room for hives and fixtures, the 

 lower story for work-shop and honey- 

 room (the latter being partitioned off by 

 itself), and the cellar under the building 



