The Townsend Bee Book 61 
No two of our yards are arranged on the same plan, for the 
hives are so located as to take advantage of the particular lay of 
the ground. As far as possible we locate our extracting-houses in 
the lowest part of the yard to facilitate the wheeling-in of the 
honey. Wheelbarrow paths are chosen, leading from different 
parts to the house. At our Pine Lake yard, however, as shown in 
the engraving, we were obliged to place two of the rows of hives 
on the ground that was lower than the door of the honey-house. 
The main path for these two rows is at the upper side of both rows, 
where the ground is on a level with the honey-house door. In this 
way, by loading the wheelbarrow at the back of the upper row it 
is not necessary to run up hill after reaching the path. When the 
load is taken from the lower row the wheelbarrow is placed so as 
to be pushed directly up the short hill into the path. We have 
found that it is easier to push a load up a short steep hill than to 
push it all the way to the honey-house up a hill that is very much 
longer, although not nearly so steep. 
On level ground it is not difficult to arrange the yard so that 
it will be convenient to wheel in the honey from all parts; but 
where the ground is uneven, a little planning must be done in 
order to make the work easier. If the ground is very uneven it is 
not best to try to keep the hives in rows, but to group them to some 
extent; for the first thing to do is to secure good wheelbarrow 
paths, of which there should be three or four leading to the honey- 
house. These paths need not necessarily be straight, for it is many 
times much easier to travel a little further in order to avoid a 
grade. 
Having these main paths selected, the yard will thus be 
divided into three or four groups of hives. I prefer to have the 
hives placed facing the south or southeast. But in the majority of 
our yards we can pay but little attention to the direction, and the 
hives, therefore, face every way except the north. We see no 
difference in results, and it is possible that the colonies would do as 
well if the entrances were toward the north; but we always avoid 
that direction, perhaps from the force of habit. 
Parallel with the lay of the ground we level pieces of ground 
20 inches wide and 4 feet long, which is large enough for two hives 
placed side by side. The 2 x 4’s 4 feet long are laid down flat, and 
leveled. In this way the foundation is made for two hives. The 
front of the hives should preferably be 14 inch lower than the back 
so that water will run out of the entrance. We formerly laid great 
stress on having our hives in rows all facing the south; but we find 
that this plan, in the majority of instances, was not satisfactory, 
