Arrangement Jor Shade. 215 



way spruce, Austrian or other pine, or arbor vitse, each or 

 all are not only very effective, but are quickly grown, inex- 

 pensive, and add greatly to the beauty of the grounds. Such 

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

 street or highw^ay- 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, 

 inexpensive house, in the center of the apiary grounds is 

 indispensable. 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 XVIH and XIX.) 



PREPARATION FOR EACH COLONY, 



Virgil was right in recommending shade for each colony. 

 Bees are forced to cluster outside the hive, if the hives are 

 subjected 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 founda- 

 tion especially, are liable, in unshaded hives, to melt and 

 fall down, which is very damaging to the bees, and very 

 vexatious to the apiarist. The remedy for all this is to 

 always 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, tliere- 

 fore, to be discarded. 



If the apiarist 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 late, and thus the bees will work 

 more hours. Such a grove is also very agreeable to the 

 apiarist who often must work all the day in the hottest 

 sunshine. I always face my hives to the east. If no 



