A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to the Interests of Honey Producers. 

 $L00 A YEAR. 

 W. Z, HUTCHINSON. Editor and Proprleioi. 



VOL. XVI. FLINT, MICHIGAN, NOV. 10, 1903. NO. 11 



A 







NEAT APIARY, BEE- 

 HOUSE AND SHED. 

 BY JOHN P. TUIvL. 



^^ ^^ a^^ 



Friend Hutchinson — 

 I am sending you per 

 this mail, two views of 

 mv apiary, taken from 

 opposite sides of my lot. 

 The apiary contains 30 

 hives, and is situated 

 about 350 feet back of my house; there- 

 fore we are never annoyed there by the 

 bees. 



One view shows my bee-house, 8x 12 

 feet in size, which is very convenient. It 

 has three windows and a door, which are 

 covered with copper screens to keep out 

 all flies and bees, when .same are opened 

 for ventilation when working inside. 

 The floor is about 18 inches above the 

 ground, with benches on two sides of the 

 building. Under these I can store about 

 40 supers. Overhead I have racks upon 

 which to hang brood combs when not in 

 use. The house is made of German sid- 

 ing boards, with slate roof, and is painted 

 a cream color. Connected with the 

 bouse is a bee-shed 50 feet long, having a 

 slate roof, with sides of plain boards. 

 The back of the same has two doors; and 

 a beard a foot wide is dropped on hinges 

 the whole length, and there are two open- 

 ings the same on the front; this gives 



plenty of ventilation and light, and 

 makes a cool place in summer. In the 

 winter these openings are all closed. This 

 shed and house also afford great protec- 

 tion as a wind-break to the other hives 

 which are on platforms in the open air. 

 Between the platforms the grass is kept 

 well cut, and the trees and branches you 

 see are peach trees. Last year I had a 

 fine crop of honey all in sections, but 

 this year was an entire failure on account 

 of the unfavorable weather. A little 

 honey is coming in now for winter use, 

 but will have to feed also to have suf- 

 ficient stores. 



For convenience in keeping a record 

 of my hives, you will notice they are all 

 numbered with brass numbers on the 

 covers in front. If a colony swarms I 

 simply remove the cover and place it on 

 the new hive on the old stand, and put 

 another cover with the old hive on a new 

 stand. This still keeps all the hives in 

 their original position. 



In the winter the openings in the bee- 

 shed front are closed at the two upper 

 openings, by simply pushing up the 

 boards, which are hinged at the bottom 

 and are hooked at the top. These boards 

 or doors also have chains on, which en- 

 ables me to open them early in the 

 spring from an inch to the full width by 

 simply hooking a link of the chain onto 

 a nail. 



Lawndale, Penn., Sept. 23, 1903. 



