ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 131 



there is the preparation of a cellar for wintering- the bees, or they 

 must be carted home in the fall, and back in the spring, or else pro- 

 tected upon their summer stands. But when a man begins to 

 number his colonies by the hundreds, he knows that something 

 must be done. Even if out-apiaries are not so profitable as 

 home-apiaries, they are not usually run at a loss, while the removal 

 of the surplus bees at the home-yard, allows that to make better 

 returns. 



When it is finally decided to start an out-apiary, how far away 

 shall it be located ? We have been repeatedly told that, ordinarily, 

 three miles mark the limits of a bee's foraging grounds; hence, 

 if apiaries were placed six miles apart, there should be no encroach- 

 ment. But it must be remembered that the pasture ground of each 

 apiary is somewhat circular in form, hence they might be moved to- 

 wards each other to considerable extent without one encroaching 

 very much upon the other. Dr. Miller has given a very happy illus- 

 tration: Lay two silver dollars side by side. Lift the edge of one 

 and slide it over the edge of the other. Notice how far it may be 

 pushed over without covering a very large portion of the other. 

 Notwithstanding all this, those who have had experience in the mat- 

 ter are not inclined to place out-apiaries nearer together than four 

 miles, and prefer to have them five or six miles apart. When the 

 team is hitched up and on the road, a mile or two more travel does 

 not take so very much time, and the increased yield may more than 

 make it up. We cannot always secure the exact spot desired for the 

 location of an out-apiary, and it would probably be well to go a little 

 farther than really necessary, rather than to crowd some other 

 apiary. 



The mode of travel to and from out-apiaries will depend upon 

 circumstances. Some men have a honey house, with extractor and 

 kit of tools at each apiary; and ride a bicycle to and from the work, 

 storing the honey at or near the apiary, and hauling it home at their 

 leisure. A few men have been fortunate enough to be able to 

 locate out-apiaries near some trolley line by means of which they 

 can go and come any hour of the day. Probablj^ the majority find 

 horses the most desirable means of travel; in which case one set of 

 tools will answer for several apiaries; it is even possible to dis- 

 pense with honey houses at the apiaries, a tent being carried, and 

 slipped over a light frame-work kept standing at each yard. A 

 covered wagon is sometimes made to answer as an extracting 

 room. 



After locating an out-apiary, and deciding upon the mode of 

 travel to and from it, the matter of management brings up several 



