APIARY 
apiary of 80 colonies can be accommodated 
on a plot 75 feet square, or in the back 
yard of an ordinary town lot. One advan¬ 
tage of this grouping plan is, that the api¬ 
arist can sit on one hive while he is work¬ 
ing on another; and his tools, such as 
smoker, honey-knives, bee-brushes, etc., are 
right at hand for the whole five hives. 
Where there is only one hive on a stand, the 
tools have to be carried to each hive. 
The objection to the S. E. Miller ar¬ 
rangement is that one row of hives may 
have to face prevailing winds, or north or 
west exposure. In the northern climates 
this should be avoided. • It is best, there¬ 
fore, to put hives in pairs and threes, and 
facing either the south or east. 
One can crowd more colonies on a given 
area on the S. E. Miller plan (and yet 
leave room to run wagons or carts among 
the hives) than with any other. It is spe¬ 
cially well adapted to a location in a grove: 
but as trees vary in size and the foliage 
is sometimes lopsided or scant on some of 
the trees, hence it is neither practicable 
nor advisable to put five bives at each 
tree. It is our practice to place beside 
the smallest trees qnly one hive; beside 
those a trifle larger, two hives; those still 
larger, three hives; and, when they are of 
. fair size, five, as in the Miller plan. Ar¬ 
ranging the hives thus gives each group of 
one, two, three, or five, as the case may be, 
an individuality of its own, thus affording 
the bees a better chance to distinguish their 
own group. In every case the precaution 
must be observed of placing the hives bn 
the north side of the tree. Where there 
are two or three in a group, the beekeeper 
can have the entrances facing toward the 
south; or, if there are only two in a group, 
he can have one hive with its entrance 
facing toward the south, and the other 
hive toward the east. In any case he should 
avoid having hives face the north and west. 
This is very important from the standpoint 
of wintering. 
KEEPING DOWN THE GRASS AT ENTRANCES 
OP THE HIVES. 
If the bees are located in a town or city 
in some back lot it is desirable to have the 
grass kept down with a lawnmower for 
appearance sake if nothing more; but, in 
large commercial yards, especially outyards 
(see Out-apiaries), it is hardly practic¬ 
able to do this. If the grass or weepls get 
very long or in the way, enough to impede 
travel thru the yard, they should be cut 
with a scythe. During the time when 
honey is coming in freely it is very impor¬ 
tant to have the grass kept down for a foot 
or two around the entrances of the hives, 
as otherwise bees coming in heavily laden 
with honey will get tangled more or less 
while getting to their entrances. At the 
same time, these obstructions wear out 
their wings. No good beekeeper can af¬ 
ford to allow his entrances to become 
clogged, and so he should cut away the 
grass around the entrances with a pair of 
grass-shears or a sharp sickle; but he 
should not attempt to do this without first 
blowing a little smoke into the entrance. 
Many, however, as a matter of economy of 
time, prefer to use a rough board of the 
cheapest lumber, as long as the hive is 
wide, and from 12 to 18 inches wide. If 
this reaches from the ground to the en¬ 
trance it Avill leave an easy runway for the 
bees to get into the hive, and at the same 
time keep away the grass and weeds from 
the immediate front of the hive. Salt is 
sometimes used for killing off all kinds of 
vegetation around the entrances. It must 
be liberally applied in front of every hive 
at the beginning of the season. 
Sheep are very good for keeping down 
the grass in the whole beeyard. Unlike 
cattle or horses they will not knock over 
a hive; and should they be stung around 
the face or nose they will push their heads 
into a bush where they will be perfectly 
safe. Their heavy coat of wool protects 
their bodies. 
THE HOUSE-APT ARY 
This is a term that is used to designate a 
building to enclose a whole apiary. The 
hives are usually arranged on shelves next 
to the outside walls and having direct com¬ 
munication with the outside. 
As a rule, an outdoor apiary is cheaper 
and more satisfactory than one in a build¬ 
ing. For the house-apiary, the capital to 
put up the building must be furnished in 
addition to that necessary to get the hives. 
But there are conditions under which the 
building may be and is used to advantage 
— in fact, affords the only method of keep- 
