CHAPTER IV 
ARRANGEMENT OF THE APIARY 
Tne location of the apiary as regards shade, windbreaks, and 
convenience is very important. The questions of windbreaks and 
shelter will be considered more particularly in the chapter on 
Wintering. A suitable shelter from the prevailing winds of 
early spring is of great importance, and the reader is referred 
to Chapter XIII for a consideration of this phase of the subject. 
If one is starting from the beginning and can plan accord- 
ingly, he will be able to so place the hives as to provide both a 
suitable situation and a convenient one. To keep down expenses 
is one of the essentials of successful bee-keeping, and to do so 
every operation should be performed with a minimum of labor. 
If one will but take the time to visit several bee-keepers, he will 
find that some have the apiary so arranged as to enable them to 
do the work with little more than half the labor necessary in 
others. Neatness and a fine appearance are desirable, but they 
are of secondary importance to convenience. If possible, the 
apiary should be on slightly higher ground than the honey house, 
and as near as possible. This will enable the operator to wheel 
the heavy loads of supers to the house with a minimum of effort. 
Various plans of moving the honey from the hive to the 
honey house have been recommended, but a common garden 
wheelbarrow is perhaps as good as any. It is inexpensive, and 
can be pushed over rough and uneven ground easier than a cart. 
Shade.—Bee-keepers are not fully agreed as to the value of 
shade in the apiary (Fig. 19). Something depends, perhaps, 
on the locality and the temperature during the heated season. 
While no shade is necessary in the spring and fall, or in early 
morning or late afternoon, shade during the heat of the day in 
mid-summer is yery desirable. Comparisons of returns from 
colonies in the shade and in the open sun fail to show decided 
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