234 miner's AMERICAN 



RIVERS AND LAKES DETRIMENTAL. 



If the apiarian reside on the banks of a large river, 

 lake, or very near the ocean, he should place his apiary 

 as far from the water as possible ; as the bees are liable 

 to be forced down and drowned when returning heavily 

 laden. Such results occur when the bees cross the 

 water. If the bee-pasturage be abundant back of such 

 river or lake, they will seldom venture across, where the 

 distance is half a mile and over ; yet there are instances 

 where bees have been known to pass several miles over 

 water to obtain honey. I should not suffer a close 

 proximity to the water, in any case, to deter me from 

 keeping bees ; yet what I would inculcate most deeply 

 is, that an apiary immediately on the banks of a river, 

 or of any other body of water, where but a few feet 

 intervene between the hives and the water, is objec- 

 tionable. Two hundred feet from the bank is a safe 

 distance. 



HOW SITUATED IN REGARD TO THE DWELLING. 



It is an important consideration to so place the apiary, 

 that during the swarming season, the swarms will be 

 readily observed, as the bees will not always await their 

 owner's motion to hive them. If it be convenient to 

 place it where the servants about the kitchen, in their 

 running in and out, would be likely to observe the bees 

 in such instances, it would be the best position, perhaps. 

 When bees swarm, the noise created by them may be 

 heard many rods, where but few hives exist ; but when 



