22 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



struct'on. He wi-hes to receive advice 

 in rt-gard to the geneiai arrangement, 

 the number of rcoms. tne size of ihe 

 building, v^hether to have a bee cellar 

 under the building or separate, ventilat- 

 ing, the extracting loom (its appoint- 

 ments) etc. 



It is intended to construct the building 

 for an apiary of 100 colonies. There is 

 is a slight slope to the land which may 

 allow both the cellar and the room above 

 to be entered from a level with the 

 surface of the ground. 



I will give some of the points that come 

 to my mind, and if subscribers think of 

 other points I should be glad to hear 

 from them. 



Where the ground slopes, it is advisable 

 to put the honey house at the lower side, 

 as in carrying in the honey one goes 

 down hill. If the cellar is separate from 

 the honey house, its location is not so 

 important, as if we can carry the colo- 

 nies down hill in the fall, we have them 

 to carry up hill in the springf. Of course, 

 they may be a trifle lighter in the spring. 



I see no advantage in building the 

 cellar separate from the honey house, 

 while the cost is lessened by putting it 

 under the house; besides, the cellar is 

 convenient when we extract honey, as 

 will be explained later. 



It IS a little difficult to decide upon the 

 best size for a cellar and bee house, but 

 this much I do know, that I never heard 

 a bee keeper complain that his honey 

 house was too large — 1 have often heard 

 him complain of lack of room. For an 

 apiary of 100 colonies 1 think a house 

 24 X 16 would be none too large, and 1 

 would have an attic or upper story at 

 that. About 14 feet is suflficient height. 

 As a honey house is not in use winters, 

 the walls may be of a single board. 

 Put the boards on in an upright position, 

 and batten the cracks. 



Concrete, stone or brick are the 

 rr.aterials of which cellar walls are likely 

 to be built. It may be only a notion, but 

 I am inclined to the belief that bees 

 winter better when the air has a free 



access to the surrounding earth. I like 

 walls of narrow boards supported by 

 posts. The only objection to such a wall 

 is the lack of durabil.ty; and of course, 

 this is a most serious, objection. If a 

 good building is to be placed above a 

 wall, the wall must be of a permanent 

 character. 1 once saw, in Northern 

 Michigan a cellar wall that, to me, 

 seemed an ideal wall for a cellar in 

 which to winter bees. It was built from 

 the waste from shingle bolts, laid up 

 with mortar. These pieces of pine or 

 cedar wood are about the size of an 

 ordinary stick of stove wojd. With the 

 cellar bottom "grouted," and the walls 

 of concrete, the bees put in there are 

 pretty nearly "bottled bees." I think that 

 the earth absorbs a large amount of 

 gases and moisture that come from the 

 bees, I think that brick is more ab- 

 sorbent than any other material from 

 which a permanent wall can be built. 



1 would leave simply the bare earth 

 for a floor in any case. I see no reasons 

 for having any partitions in the cellar. 

 Neither would I have any windows. 1 

 would have an upright, inside door, even 

 with the inside of the wall, and two 

 outside doors to the hatchway; these 

 doors having the same slant as the sur- 

 rounding earth. If the climate is very 

 severe, the space between the outside 

 and inside doors may be filled with straw. 



1 would ventilate the cellar through a 

 large shaft passing up through all of the 

 floors and roof, and covered on the 

 outside with a hood. I would have this 

 ventilating shaft at least a yard in 

 diameter. Let each side be separate and 

 in a single piece, and, when in place the 

 four sides can be fastened together at 

 the corners with hooks, or some similar 

 manner. The idea is that this ventilat- 

 ing shaft may be taken down out of the 

 way in the summer season. Possibly it 

 might be left in place up stairs, but we 

 want it out of the way on the lower floor 

 in the busy season; one reason being that, 

 when extracting, we wish to let the 

 honey drop down through the floor into a 



