THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



201 



contMins :i slovo, but has no outer 

 door. It. is for eomb honey, for 

 :in ollicc, ami lias trap-doors to 

 cellar stairs. 1 liiid that some are 

 not in favor of this room, hut I 

 think it very (k^sirahle. 



The entire nortii side of the 

 biiiidini;' is for a shop. Tiiis is 

 12 X 30 feet. It has a [Mimp from 

 the cistern below and stairs to the 

 chami)er aliove. It has an ontside 

 door, four windows and a door in- 

 to each of the otiier rooms. There 

 will also be a stove in this room. 

 In winter, then, when we have a 

 fire in either room, the chimney 

 will be heated, and the air drawn 

 from the bee cellai'. The wind, 

 too, passing over the chimney, 

 will suck the air from the cellar. 

 In both cases the air is siii)})lied 

 through the long, sub-earth [)iiH', 

 and so is tempered liy the tempor- 

 tnre of the earth and is kept sweet 

 and pure. This is l)oth theory and 

 demonstrated fact. This room is 

 large enough so that asmall engine 

 and some machinery can be intro- 

 duced if desired. I find that this 

 house, large enough for a large ap- 

 iary, can be built for S500.00 ; and 

 for safety and convenience I be- 

 lieve it fills the bill. I cannot 

 agree with Mr. Ileddon that we 

 had better have double-walled 

 houses above ground. I think the 

 cellar far belter and more conven- 

 ient. I shall be very glad to have 

 this plan criticised in the next 

 number of "Gleanings," for, as stat- 

 ed before, this is a matter of great 

 importance to all beekeepers in the 

 northern states and in Canada. 



Agricnhural College, Mich. 



[ProlesRor Cook forwrirdoj Uk; above ar- 

 ticle to lis I'or iMililii'jilioti. (Criticisms on 

 tlie same aie now in older. Tliose disposed 

 to sive tlieir oiiiiuons ui the aljove jdan for 

 a bee liouse and worii-sliop are invited to do 

 so lor the "Api."] 



For the American Apicnlturi.il. 



BEE MATTERS GEN- 

 ERALL Y. 



G. W. I'OUTEK. 

 A GOOD WOIM) KOR TIIK API. 



I congratulate the manaiier on 

 the improvement visible in all the 

 late numbers of the Apicultu- 



KI.ST. 



The progressive bee master who 

 desires to keep abreast of the times 

 cannot fail to appreciate it. You 

 deserve the thanks of all. 



The best thoughts of the liright- 

 est workers in the field of scien- 

 tific apiculture as it is now being 

 developed, conveyed in clear type, 

 must ever be welcome to tliose who 

 are seeking for new light. 



Our friend Demaree in the .Jul} 

 issue says he finds that "the advice 

 given in the standard works on bee 

 culture are misleading when tliej' 

 advise building up weak colonies." 



In this I think he is open to the 

 same cu'iticism, for it will be apt to 

 mislead some who are not experts. 



It is excellent management to 

 deplete strong swarms und(M' cer- 

 tain conditions : as, for instance, 

 when forage is not sufficient to sus- 

 tain new swarms ; and, when queens 

 can be had, the "ne'er do wells" 

 can by such aid, and with young 

 queens added, be made very pro- 

 ductive colonics. 



He well says, "it pays me best 

 to depend on the sirong colonies 

 for surplus." But, we want to in- 

 crease the number of such colonies 

 and it can be done very frequently 

 in that way. 



A general movement for equali- 

 zation, without the precaution of 

 providing good queens, wonld be 

 detrimental and in that way I take 

 friend Demaree's words. 



All agree that success depends 

 upon the queens. We all know 

 that, tinker as we may, and coddle 



