MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

148 DR. MILLERSand disadvantages. I used to envy Californians. I'm not sure Iwould care to be there now, since knowing more fully about it.In general, the place where one happens to be isas it might be."not so worse"Q. How far from the public highway does the law require anapiary to be to insure one from all damages?A. That depends altogether upon the local or state laws.Generally, I think, there is no law about it, but if you are wiseyou will not risk having your bees close enough to the highway toendanger anyone passing by. If your bees are very gentle it maybe safe to have them close to the roadside. Some bees are notsafe ten rods away.Q. As I want to move my bees this spring, would two feetapart be too close for each hive?A. That depends. If there are plenty of trees or other objectsto help mark their locations it will be all right. If the ground isperfectly level, and nothing to help locate the hives, there will bemistakes in entering hives. If you want to save room, instead ofputting them regularly two feet apart, put the first two close together,leave a space of three feet, then two more hives, and soon, putting the hives in pairs, with three feet between each, twopairs. With that arrangement you'll get more bees on the sameground, and at the same time there will be less mixing.Q. I have seven colonies of bees located in a valley, and aneighbor beekeeper has his bees on a high hill, perhaps 175 feethigher than mine. He says my bees have the advantage of his,as my bees go up hill empty and down hill loaded, while with hisit is just the other way.That is all right and true, as long as my bees go west or north,but when they go east they would have to go up first and thendown on the other side, and I notice that they don't go very farthat way. Now if I would place my bees on top of this hill Ithink they would go farther south and east than they do now.Most of the basswood is on the hillside, but the best clover is inthe lowlands. Do you think it would pay to move my beeshigher up for this reason?A. It surely must be easier for a bee or anybody else to carrya load down hill than up. In actual practice I have some doubtwhether the difference is enough so that a colony in the lowerlocation would show a distinctly larger yield than one higher up.But the matter of distance may be a much more important factor.Within a distance of perhaps a mile and a half it is doubtful thatdistance counts for much. Beyond that — possibly I should say