642 
OUT-API ARIES 
to be planted, it is probably best to go in 
the direction of the best pasturage—a thing 
not always easy to determine. Sometimes 
one location proves to be better than an¬ 
other, year after year, altho no apparent 
reason for it can be seen. It may even be 
worth while to vary a location a mile or 
more for the sake of having it where pleas¬ 
ant people live. But one can do much 
toward making the people pleasant by be¬ 
ing pleasant himself. As little trouble as 
possible should be made, and one should be 
still more careful than at home to avoid 
everything that may invite robbing, for 
robbing begets cross bees on the place. 
Since the days of the automobile and the 
automobile truck it is feasible to locate 
beeyards much further apart than was 
practicable under the old plan of horse 
and buggy or team. While it is true that 
bees often do not fly more than a mile, and 
sometimes not over half a mile, it is equally 
true that some seasons they will go five 
miles in the same location. As already 
stated, the general lay of the land, the con¬ 
dition of the roads, etc., will determine to 
a great extent the location of the outyard. 
As far as possible, apiaries should be lo¬ 
cated remote from macadam, stone, or brick 
roads. They should also be placed in sight 
of some dwelling house. While this is not 
absolutely essential, yet the fact remains 
that thieves are less inclined to meddle with 
the bees when the apiary is in sight of some 
dwelling house. 
It is desirable to have the apiary located 
where there are suitable windbreaks. (See 
Apiary and Wintering.) This is especial¬ 
ly important if the bees are wintered on 
their summer stands; for good wintering 
cannot ordinarily be secured outdoors when 
the hives, no matter how well packed, are 
exposed to piercing winds. 
HAULING BEES AND BEE SUPPLIES TO 
OUTYARDS. 
Out-apiary management demands some 
sort of conveyance, not only to carry the 
beeman and his helpers to and from the 
outyards, but to haul the bees and the sup¬ 
plies. Formei’ly a horse and buggy or a 
team and wagon were used exclusively for 
the purpose; but the rate of travel was so 
very slow that the time lost on the road 
was considerable of an item. With a horse- 
driven vehicle it is not practicable to han¬ 
dle more than one or two outyards in one 
forenoon or afternoon, and generally about 
half the time is spent on the road. If a 
beeman’s time is worth in the height of 
the season one dollar an hour, and his 
helper half that, and if the time of the 
team is worth $5.00 a day, it makes the 
net cost $2.00 an hour. 
On the other hand, an automobile will 
make the trip to the yards in one-fifth or 
one-seventh of the time. A safe average 
running speed is about 15 miles an hour, 
altho on good roads one can run as high as 
20 or even 25 miles. It costs anywhere 
from 5 to 20 cents* a mile to operate an 
automobile if depreciation of the machine 
itself, wear and tear, tires, gasoline, and 
oil are included. But even on this basis the 
automobile is considerably cheaper, pro¬ 
vided, of course, there is a series of not less 
than three or four outyards, or, better, five 
or six. The self-propelled vehicle makes it 
possible to have yards further apart; and 
this makes it feasible to have a less num¬ 
ber of colonies to the yard, and a larger- 
average yield. If a yard is overstocked it 
will not, of course, give as large an average 
per colony. 
It is not necessary to buy an expensive 
truck. An ordinary light machine selling 
for less than $400 with a wagon-box on the 
back will handle practically 95 per cent of 
the out-apiary work provided there are not 
more than four or five yards. For very 
heavy hauling, a big truck can usually be 
hired at an expense of about 20 cents a 
mile, including driver; and this will be far 
cheaper than for the beekeeper to own the 
machine. Or a trailer can be hitched on 
the light machine and carry 750 lbs. in 
addition to 500 or 750 lbs. on the truck 
itself. The automobile without a trailer 
can carry 750 lbs. to the trip, and thus do 
practically all the work, even to hauling 
the bees home in the fall, altho there is an 
increasing tendency on the part of out- 
apiary beekeepers to winter their bees at 
outyards in large quadruple winter cases. 
(See Wintering Outdoors.) In that 
case the small machine can do all the haul¬ 
ing provided the owner manages to take a 
*A Ford willl run for from 3 to 5 cents as against 
a ton automobile truck at 15 to 20 cents per mile. 
