APIARY 
65 
APIARY OF 190 COLONIES OWNED BY L. F. HOWDEN IN THE TOWN OF FILLMORE, N. Y. 
This apiary, while located in town, is apparently on one side of it, and remote from any highway or 
driveway and off in the corner of the lot. The first criticism is that the hives are in long straight rows, one 
hive to a spot. There would he considerable confusion in the flight of the bees and more or less drifting. 
It would he better to put the hives in irregular groups of twos, threes, and fours, so that the-bees can better 
recognize their entrances. Every hive should have an identity of its own. Otherwise there will be danger 
of robbing and drifting. The second criticism is that it has no windbreak. 
tageously behind barns and other outbuild¬ 
ings on the farm; but as a general rule 
an enclosure of this kind is used for win¬ 
tering and feeding stock. 
Where the bees are located out on a 
prairie in the North with a wind-sweep for 
miles, it is quite essential that there be a 
barrier of some sort to cut off the wind. 
Quick-growing shrubbery should be placed 
around the yard. In the meantime a screen 
of brush may be used. If a fence is erect¬ 
ed, one made of pickets, so that the wind 
can filter thru and not glance upward and 
downward, as explained, will be better. A 
vertical trellis may be made for quick¬ 
growing vines; but the vines should be of 
such a nature that the intertwining 
branches will make a filtering screen even 
when the summer leaves are off. Evergreens 
make the best windbreaks of all, but it 
takes years to get them. See windbreak.!?, 
under head of Wintering Outdoors, 
iiive-stands. 
While a hive can be set directly on the 
ground, yet on account of the danger of 
the rotting of the bottom-board and damp¬ 
ness, it is advisable to set it on pieces of 
3 
board, bricks, or common drain tiles. 
Bricks or tile, if six-sided or square, are 
very commonly used, and answer an ex¬ 
cellent purpose. Pieces of board, scant¬ 
ling, or plank may be used; but it is far 
better to nail them together and place 
them on the ground edgewise. Shallow 
boxes without top or bottom, or old dis¬ 
carded shallow hive-supers, are very often 
employed. The front boards should be a 
little shallower than the side ones to per¬ 
mit of downwardly projecting cleats of 
the bottom-board. 
The hive-stands—brick, tile, or boards 
—should be firmly imbedded in the soil in 
such a way that the front end of the hive 
will be lower than the back. The purpose 
of this is to allow the water to run out of 
the entrances from beating rains or from 
condensation’ during winter within the 
hive. 
The TIeddon liive-stand seen in the illus¬ 
tration shows how the four boards should 
be nailed together. It will be noted that 
the front board connects with the end of 
the bottom-board, leaving no gaps nor 
spaces. An unobstructed runway from the 
