Texas Beekeeping. 



41 



will fall to the ground exhausted, and, both they and the fruits of 

 their labors, be lost. The apiary shoiild be kept clean and neat and the 

 bees aided in every way, as they will amply repay their owner for 

 all care given them. 



Common coarse salt thrown in front of the hives will aid in keep- 

 ing down weeds and grass. 



The hives should never be set in long rows with equal distance be- 

 tween them, as it results in much confusion of the bees and fre- 

 quently causes them to return to the wrong hive, on account of look- 

 ing alike in the rows. The greatest trouble arises from the queens 

 returning to the wrong hives, where they are killed, and their own 

 hives are then left queenless. If the hives must be in rows they 

 should be arranged in pairs or not more than three placed together, 

 and then the bees will be able to locate their own hive by its position 

 in relation to its next neighbor. The most practical and economical 

 arrangement is to arrange them in groups of five hives in the shade 

 of a tree, so that three hives will face southeast in front of the tree, 

 and, a little distance behind these, one that will face to the left and 



^t,\v.oVV 



A -well arranged apiary plan. 



one that will face to the right, with all the entrances away from the 

 tree. This gives a passageway behind the hives, in the main shade 

 of the tree and out of the way of the flight of the bees, making it 

 convenient for the apiarist to work in the shade from the rear of 

 the hives, and use the trunk of the tree to set the hive covers against, 

 within easy reach. It is an ideal arrangement that permits placing 

 more hives properly in a given space than any other ; also fewer trees 

 are needed to shade a given number of colonies. Furthermore, it is 

 easier to manage apiaries in groups of five hives in a systematic man- 

 ner, and the apiarist becomes used to performing many operations 

 on five hives at a time, and saves much valuable time thereby. 



