As a rule, it is not considered best to keep more than 100 colonies in
one apiary, and apiaries should be at least 2 miles apart. There are so
many factors to be considered, however, that no general rule can be laid
down. The only way to learn how many colonies any given locality will
sustain is to study the honey flora and the record of that place until
the bee keeper can decide for himself the best number to be kept and
where they shall be placed.
The experience of a relatively small number of good bee keepers in
keeping unusually large apiaries indicates that the capabilities of the
average locality are usually underestimated. The determination of the
size of extensive apiaries is worthy of considerable study, for it is
obviously desirable to keep bees in as few places as possible, to save
time in going to them and also expense in duplicated apparatus. To the
majority of bee keepers this problem is not important, for most persons
keep but a small number of colonies. This is perhaps a misfortune to the
industry as a whole, for with fewer apiaries of larger size under the
management of careful, trained bee keepers the honev production of the
country would be marvelously increased. For this reason, professional
bee keepers are not favorably inclined to the making of thousands of
amateurs, who often spoil the location for the honey producer and more
often spoil his market by the injudicious selling of honey for less than
it is worth or by putting an inferior article on the market.
Out apiaries, or those located away from the main apiary, should be so
located that transportation will be as easy as possible. The primary
consideration, however, must be the available nectar supply and the
number of colonies of bees already near enough to draw on the resources.
The out apiary should also be near to some friendly person, so that
it may be protected against depredation and so that the owner may be
notified if anything goes wrong. It is especially desirable to have it in
the partial care of some person who can hive swarms or do other similar
things that may arise in an emergency. The terms under which the apiary
is placed on land belonging to some one else is a matter for mutual
agreement. There is no general usage in this regard.
=EQUIPMENT IN APPARATUS.=
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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