The Arrangement of Hives and Buildings. 



N a small apiary, the matter of ar- 

 rangement is not of great impor- 

 tance, but as the number of colonies 

 ■'-^ begins to approach loo, the ques- 

 tion of arrangement becomes one of con- 

 siderable importance. Two things need 

 consideration: the convenience of the 

 operator and the giving of such an in- 

 dividuality to each hive that each bee 

 can readily distinguish its home. 



Before discussing these points, it might 

 be well to say a few words about the lo- 

 cation of the apiary. First, it ought to 

 be some distance from the highway. What 

 that distance should be, depends up- 

 on what there is between the bees and 

 the street. If there are buildings, or 

 trees, or even a high fence, the bees may 

 be quite near the road; as, in their flight, 

 they rise above these obstructions, and 

 thus pass over the heads of the passers- 

 by. If there is nothing between the 

 apiary and the highway, the apiary 

 ought not to be nearer the street 

 than ten rods, and fifteen or twenty rods 

 would be better. It is possible with a 

 small apiary to avoid trouble even if it is 

 located quite near the street. If it is nec- 

 essary to handle the bees when no honey 

 is coming in, and such handling is likely 

 to irritate them, such work can be done 

 just before dark, when the bees will not 

 fly far from the hives; but in a large 

 apiary there is too much work that must 

 be done when the bees may not be in an 

 amiable mood, to enable the operator to 

 perform it during the twilight of evening. 



If necessary, the bee-keeper can protect 

 himself with a veil,. and, armed with 

 a smoker, he can go on with the 

 work, even if the bees are a lit- 

 tle "cross," but the apiary must be 

 isolated. Nearly level ground is prefer- 

 able for an apiary. If it slopes gently to 

 the south, or east, so much the better. It 

 should never be in such a location that 

 water will stand upon the ground. 



I have tried placing the honey house in 

 the center of the apiary, and having the 

 hives in long double rows that radiated 

 from the honey house as the spokes in a 

 wheel radiate from the hub. In each 

 double row a space large enough for a 

 wheelbarrow is left between the rows, 

 and the entrances of the hives are turned 

 away from the path left for the operator 

 and his wheelbarrow. So far as reduc- 

 ing the labor of going to and from the 

 hives is concerned, this arrangement is 

 excellent, but it has the very serious ob- 

 jection that only part of the apiary can 

 be seen at one glance from the honey 

 house. In watching for swarms it is 

 necessary to look in foicr different di- 

 rections in order to ascertain if a swarm 

 is out. When the honey house is at one 

 side of the apiary, the whole apiary can 

 be taken in at a glance. Other things 

 being equal, the south side of the apiary 

 is preferable for the honey house. In 

 looking for swarms the bee-keeper does 

 not look towards the sun, but has the 

 clear northern sky for a background, 

 while the shady side of the building, 



