Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1898-06-23


tance from the highway, writes W. q.
Hutchinson, of Michigan. What this
distance should be depends upon what
there is between the bees and the
street. If there are buildings, OF
trees, or even high fence, the bees
may be quite near the road, as in their
| flight the bees rise above these OBJ.
structions, and thus fly over the heads
of passers-by. If there is nothing
between the bees and the highway,
the apiary ought to be not nearer the
street than ten rods, and fifteen or
twenty rods would be better. 1t is
possible with small apiary to avoid
trouble even ii it is located near the
street. If it becomes necessary to
handle the bees when no honey Is
coming in, and such handlingis likely
to irritate them, the work can be done
| just before dark, when the bees will
not fly far from their hives, but in o
large apiary there is too much work
that must be done when bees may not
be in an amiable mood, to enable the
operator to perform it during the
twilight of evening. If necessary,
the beekeeper can protect himself
with veil, and armed with smoker
he can go on with the work, even if
the bees are little cross, but in such
cases the apiary must be isolated.
Nearly level ground is preferable for
an apiary. If it slopes gently to the
south or east, so much the better. 1t
should never be in such location
that the water will stand upon the
ground.
have tried placing the honey house
in the center of the apiary, and hav.
ing the hives in long, double rows that
radiated from the honey house as
spokes il a wheel radiate from the
hub. In each double row is left a
space between the rows large enough
for wheelbarrow, and the entrances
are turned away from the path left for
the operator and his wheelbarrow. So
far as reducing the labor of going to
and from the hives is concerned, this
arrangement is excellent, but it has
the very serious objection that only
part of the apiary can be seen at one
glance. In watching for swarms it is
necessary to look in four different di-
rections in order to ascertain if q
swarm is out. When the honey house
is at one side of the apiary, the whole
apiary can be taken in at glance.
Other things being equal, the south
side of the apiary is preferable for the
honey house. In watching for swarms
the beekeeper does not have to look
toward the sun, but has the clear
northern sky for background, while
the shady side of the building, which
will naturally be sought by the tired
beekeeper as the best spot in which to
take breathing spell, is toward the
apiary.
Most beekeepers are in favor of a
two-story building for a honey house,
using the upper room for storing hives
and fixtures, the lower story for work
shop and honey room, the latter being
partitioned off by itself, while the cell
lar under the building is used for win
tering the bees. The honey room
ought to be located in the southeast
corner, ant some even paint the out
side walls a dark color where they
come next to the honey room, in or
der that as much as possible of the
SUMS heat may be absorbed. The
idea is that honey must be kept as
warm Gs possible. Ii there is any un-
ripe or unsealed honey, this high tenn
perature causes evaporation and i'm
provement, By keeping honey in q
warm room all winter it has actually
improved by the keeping. New Eng
land Homestead.