Apiary

An apiary (also known as a bee yard) is a location where beehives of honey bees are kept. Apiaries come in many sizes and can be rural or urban depending on the honey production operation. Furthermore, an apiary may refer to a hobbyist's hives or those used for commercial or educational usage. It can also be a wall-less, roofed structure, similar to a gazebo which houses hives, or an enclosed structure with an opening that directs the flight path of the bees. Beekeeping#History Apiaries have been found in ancient Egypt from prior to 2422 BCE where hives were constructed from moulded mud. Throughout history apiaries and bees have been kept for honey and pollination purposes all across the globe. Due to the definition of apiary as a location where hives are kept, its history can be traced as far back as that of beekeeping itself. First known usage of the word "apiary" was in 1654. The base of the word comes from the Latin word "apis" meaning "bee", leading to "apiarium" or "beehouse" and eventually "apiary." Beekeepers may rarely be referred to as "apiarists" or "ones who tend apiaries." By definition an apiary is a location where beehives are kept; although the word is also used to refer to any location where bees swarm and molt. The word apiarist typically refers to a beekeeper who focuses on just one species of bee. The word apiarist first appeared in print in a 1940 book written by Walter de Gruyter. It was a phrase coined by apiarists to describe how apiaries were maintained. Apiaries may vary by location and according to the needs of the individual operation. Typically, apiaries are composed of several individual hives. For more information on specific hive structures see the beekeeping and beehive articles. In the case of urban beekeeping, hives are often located on high ground, which requires less space than hives located at lesser altitudes. To direct the bees' path of flight in populous urban areas, beekeepers often construct tall fences which force the bees to fly higher and widen their search for food or place the hives in an enclosed apiary with an opening that directs bees’ flight path up overhead.