The _apiary_, or stand of beehives, should be placed in a sheltered situation with a southerly aspect, and care should be taken that there are no bad smells near it; such, for instance, as those proceeding from a pigsty or a dog-kennel. There should, on the contrary, be a garden full of pleasant flowers as near as possible to the bees, as, though they will occasionally go even miles in quest of food, it is much better for them on every account to have it close at hand. Bees are particularly fond of the flowers of buck-wheat, and, though other plants may be more abundant in honey, none are more useful in affording what is called bee-bread, or the substance on which the bees live while they are laying up their winter store. The working bees, indeed, manufacture three distinct substances from the juices they obtain from the flowers. These substances are, the wax of which they make their combs; the honey which they store in them, for consumption during winter; and the bee-bread on which they feed, and a portion of which they lay up in the cells in which eggs are deposited, in order that the young bee may feed upon it while in its larva state.
When you want to form an apiary, it is necessary at first to decide upon what design you will prefer, and then to adapt your bee-house to it; the bee-house itself being a wooden closet with shelves in it, each large enough to hold two or more hives. The holes for the entrance of the bees must be in front of the apiary; and they are generally made three inches long, and a quarter of an inch high, with a little shelf before each for the bees to alight upon before they enter the hive. Many kinds of hives have been recommended, and Nutt's hive is a very good one, where the bees are kept merely for an amusement, and it is wished to see them at work; but, where honey is an object, I believe the common straw hives are found to answer best. I may observe, however, that where Nutt's hives are used, no ornamental front is required to the apiary, as the hives are quite sufficiently ornamental in themselves.
When a hive of bees is to be bought, the person who selects it generally taps it to see if it is full of bees, and, if he is satisfied in this respect, a thin board is slipped under it, and it is left quiet till night. When it is dark, the board is gently raised by having a person on each side of it, so as to keep it as level as possible. A cloth is then slipped under the board, and drawn up and tied closely over the hive. When thus secured the hive may be easily carried to any distance that may be necessary; and, when it is placed on the board where it is finally to stand, the cloth must be taken away from the lower part of the hive before it is placed; as, when it is once fixed, it should not be moved again if it can possibly be avoided.