Tm AMERICAN 



* * * 



Apiculturist. 



A Journal Devoted to Practical Beekeeping 



VOL. X. 



FEBRUARY, 1892. 



No. 2. 



HOUSE APIARIES. 



HOW AN EXPERIENCED UHEKEEPEU WOULD 

 CONSIUUCr A HOlSI<. APIAKY. 



I have read over carefully, the edi- 

 torial article in December Api and de- 

 scription of the house apiary and am 

 sure the idea will work. I should like to 

 try a house apiary myself. I imagine it 

 would be very nice on some accounts. 



Were I building one I think I would 

 preserve about the same proportions 

 that you have. I would arrange the 

 roof somewhat like the roof of a passen- 

 ger car having windows and bee-escapes 

 in the upright part of the roof. I would 

 make the walls double and pack with 

 sawdust to the roof. I would have the 

 sides on a wall as nearly as possible 

 level with the surface of the ground, then 

 put on six or eight inches of gravel in- 

 side for a floor, having everything tight 

 at the botton, around the wall. I would 

 have a bench about twenty inches f;om 

 the gravel running lengthwise through 

 the building, leaving about a foot on 

 each side between it and the lower tier 

 of hives, so as to sit on it when working 

 with these hives and stand on it when 

 manipulating the "upper berth" of bees. 

 I would I think have a larger entrance 

 than your inch hole in the side of the 

 building and would arrange it so as to 

 regulate it from the interior as well as 

 ventilate, as you do, from the warm air 

 inside the house. I would have over 

 each hive, at least in the lower tier, a 

 three inch hole with cone bee-escape 

 on the outside and fitted with a ''bung" 



on the inside, so as to admit light and 

 air and allow the escape of bees when 

 working at each hive. I would provide 

 ample ventilation in the "car ventila- 

 tors" at the top for the escape of smoke 

 as well as bees and for the admission of 

 light. 



It seems to me now that I should pre- 

 fer to have the hives set so that the 

 sides of the frames would be to the wall, 

 not the ends. Were it possible I would 

 have one end open by a door into the 

 shop or honey room and a space at the 

 opposite end for a stove, either oil or 

 coal. A good and large oil stove is not 

 very expensive and is capable of ad- 

 justing to obtain any desired uniform 

 temperature. They are now being man- 

 ufactured much larger and more perfect 

 than formerly. 



Now a word about the when and why 

 of the artificial heat. Of course I don't 

 know much about artificial heat with 

 bees, but until experience had taught 

 me differently, I would never on ex- 

 tremely cold days heat the house above 

 25° or 30° above zero. I would try 

 heating it slowly to 60° or 70° on any 

 day in winter when the bees could safely 

 fly. Too much heat in early winter or 

 even in March might induce breeding 

 too much. During the whole of April 

 and May, artificial heat might I think 

 prove very valuable. After the bees 

 have well cleansed themselves and 

 cleaned their hives in spring, I would 

 keep the house 55° to 65° on days too 

 cold for bees to fly and lower the tem- 

 perature on those days that often come 

 in early spring, when the chilly winds 

 (17) 



