686 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



any knobs of wax not needed below will be used 

 in building combs in the sections. In this way 

 we kill two birds with one stone." 



General 

 Correspondence 



HONEY-HOUSES. 



A Description of Some of the Honey- 

 Houses in Northern Michigan and an 

 Outline of the Methods Used. 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



As our yards are all located on rented ground, 

 so that frequent moving is necessary, we build 

 the honey-houses in sections. The floor is in 

 halves; the sides and ends are separate, and bolted 

 together with two bolts in each corner, and each 

 side of the roof is built independently of the rest 

 of the building so a half can be taken off at a 

 time for moving. 



A 32-inch door is put in one end, without 

 screen or glass, for door-screens attract the rob- 

 bers so that some of them are sure to dodge in 

 when the door is opened. Centrally located on 

 both sides of the building, next to the plate, win- 

 dow-holes are cut, and covered with wire screen 

 nailed on the outside with lath strips to hold it 

 down. These window-holes are boarded up with 

 a framework which slides to one side to let in 

 the light. As all the work at the outyards is 

 done during warm weather, no glass is necessary. 



The framework above is of 2X4 material, 

 planed on all four sides, while that below the 

 floor is 2X6, not planed. The siding is of sin- 

 gle boards planed on both sides and nailed up 

 and down; the roof-boards are the poorest of the 

 same material. See Gleanings for Oct., 1906, 

 page 1242. 



TAR BUILDING-PAPER TO LINE BEE-PROOF HON- 

 EY-HOUSES. 



To make our honey-houses bee-tight we have 

 tried several kinds of building-paper, but have 

 decided that tar paper is the best. We put it on 

 with lath, being sure to have it lap well at the 

 joints, and to fit the corners perfectly. Wherever 

 there is likely to be a bee-space or opening we 

 are especially careful. We have never yet been 

 able to find a carpenter who would do the work 

 well enough, and we believe that the bee-keeper 

 should attend to the papering himself, therefore, 

 whenever possible. 



A honey-house papered April 1st will have lost 

 most of the smell of tar by the time much work 

 is done, so those who do not like the smell need 

 not hesitate, for it is of short duration. 



Bees, mice, and ants dislike tar paper, and hard- 

 ly ever go near it. The mice never gnaw it and 

 let in bees, as they will do if other kinds of paper 

 are used. Some of our honey-houses have not 

 had a mouse in since tar paper was used; but they 

 make nests of the white building-paper we used 

 to use, and some of the houses had to be repaper- 

 ed each year. The worst mistake we ever made 

 was to paste on the paper. The mice seemed to 



follow us and eat the paste as fast as we could 

 put it on — of course, tearing the paper mean- 

 while. When the house is lined with tar paper 

 we never see any ants. 



THE CHAPMAN HONEY-HOUSES. 



At his home yard Mr. Chapman has a fine new 

 honey-house and storeroom, with his bee-cellar 

 under it. As this is his headquarters, much of 

 his material is kept there until wanted at the out- 

 yard. While this house has all of the latest ap- 

 pliances to be found in most home-yard houses, 

 I want to talk most about the one at his outyard, 

 which is, perhaps, ten feet square. There is 

 room only for the operator, extractor, tanks, etc., 

 so the team is hitched to the big wagon, and the 

 honey-cans and such other things as will be need- 

 ed for extracting are hauled to this yard in the 

 morning. The honey is taken off the hives, ex- 

 tracted, strained through cheese-cloth, canned up, 

 and set out of doors until the day's work is done, 

 when the bees will have stopped flying. The 

 team may then be driven to the house to get the 

 honey, for it is drawn home each night. By this 

 plan the honey is canned as fast as extracted, so 

 all of the aroma and best flavor are retained. 

 Such a plan is a very good one where the out- 

 yard is so near that the honey can be drawn home 

 every day. Some of our own yards are worked 

 much on the same plan, although we do not have 

 to draw all the honey home each night, having 

 plenty of room at the house to store it. 



Mr. Chapman, not having room in the house 

 to store the combs after extracting, sets them out 

 for the bees to clean up immediately. A load of 

 the wet combs just extracted is taken out to one 

 side of the yard, and placed criss-cross for the 

 bees to clean. The writer happened on the scene 

 one July day when the extracting was going on; 

 and as the flow from raspberry had ceased, there 

 was nothing for the bees to do but to carry in 

 this honey from combs. While there seemed to 

 be quite an uproar, the honey was being taken 

 without any sign of robbing. 



When the season is over, as there is no place 

 in the extracting-house to store the tools over 

 winter they are all drawn to the main house at 

 the home yard, as are the empty combs after they 

 are cleaned of the honey that is left on them after 

 extracting. 



THE COVEYOU HONEY-HOUSE. 



Mr. E. E. Coveyou, like many of the outyard 

 bee-keepers of Michigan, uses some of the aban- 

 doned lumber-camp buildings for his honey- 

 houses. He does not try to keep the bees from 

 entering his honey-house, but plans to do the 

 work at a time when the robbers are not likely to 

 bother much. The honey is taken off the hives 

 during the day and piled up in the yard, being 

 covered so the bees can not get to it. Then, to- 

 ward night, after the sun has warmed the honey, 

 it is taken into the honey-house and extracted 

 with his big eight-frame automatic extractor. It 

 does not take long to do this, and the work is 

 done so late in the day that the robbers do not 

 get started much before it is too late for them to 

 fly. After all the honey that was taken off is ex- 

 tracted and canned the combs are piled up and 

 covered so the bees can not get to them. The 

 extractor and uncapping-box are also closed bee- 

 tight. This is not a very desirable way of han- 



