254 THB bbb-kebper'S guidb ; 



and will be eschewed by the apiarist who has an eye to 

 esthetics. Evergreen screens, either of Norway spruce, 

 Austrian or other pine, or arbor vitae, each or all are not only 

 very effective, but are quickly grown, inexpensive, and add 

 greatly to the beauty of the grounds. In California eucalyp- 

 tus is very desirable shade. The species grow vigorously, 

 stand drouth, and if wisely selected afford much honey. Such 

 a fence or hedge is also very desirable if the bees are near a 

 street or highway. It not only shuts the bees away, as it 

 were, but it so directs their flight upward that they will not 

 trouble passers-by. If the apiary is large, a small, neat, inex- 

 pensive house in the center of the apiary grounds is indispen- 

 sable. This will serve in winter as a shop for making hives, 

 frames, etc., and as a store-house for honey, while in summer 

 it will be used for extracting, transferring, storing, bottling, 

 etc. In building this, it will be well to construct a frost-proof, 

 thoroughly drained, dark and well-ventilated cellar. (See 

 Chapters XVIII and XIX.) 



PRBPARATION FOR BACH COI,ONY. 



Virgil was right in recommending shade for each colony. 

 Bees are forced to cluster outside the hive, if the bees are sub- 

 jected to the full force of the sun's rays. By the intense heat 

 the temperature inside becomes like that of an oven, and the 

 wonder is that they do not desert entirely. I have known 

 hives, thus unprotected, to be covered with bees, idling outside, 

 when, by simply shading the hives, all would go merrily to 

 work. The combs, too, and foundation especially, are liable, 

 in unshaded hives, to melt and fall down, which is very dam- 

 aging to the bees, and very vexatious to the apiarist. The 

 remedy for all this is always to have the hives so situated that 

 they will be entirely shaded all through the heat of the day. 

 This might be done, as in the olden time, by constructing a 

 shed or house, but these are expensive and very inconvenient, 

 and, therefore, to be discarded. 



If the aiarist has a convenient grove this may be trimmed 

 high, so as not to be damp, and will fulfill every requirement. 

 So arrange the hives that while they are shaded through all 

 the heat of the day, they will receive the sun's rays early and 



