74 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



amount of lining with boards or paper 

 is equal to plaster for overhead and the 

 sides ; this is tlie experience of Mr. Axtell 

 and myself in living in a tiled house 

 for a time. 



A double-wall filled in with saw- 

 dust would also be objectionable, as it 

 would breed so many fleas ; our ex- 

 perience in that line caused us to tear 

 off a double-wall from our honey house. 

 For several years we were so badly 

 bothered with fleas if seemed they would . 

 kill me through exposure in searching for 

 them and in the sleeplessness occasion- 

 ed by them. This was before insect 

 powder came around. Everytime I went 

 to work with the bees I got fleas on me. 

 I began to think the bees had fleas on 

 them or in their hives ; but one day I 

 was sitting scraping honey sections in 

 the honey-house and I could see them 

 jumping around on the floor, and we 

 made examination and found that was 

 where they came from, as the walls be- 

 tween the rooms were packed with saw- 

 dust to prevent freezing in cold weather. 

 It did not take us long to remove the 

 outer walls from the inner one, making 

 two single-walled rooms, which was the 

 last of the fleas. I have heard of warm 

 garrets in which bees were kept, small 

 double rooms, or a room within a room. 

 When honey was wanted the owner just 

 walked up stairs and cut out a plateful 

 at a time. I think such rooms have 

 almost been entirely abandoned for 

 movable comb hives that admit of ma- 

 nipulation. 



IIOUSE-APIAIUES FOU WOMEN. 



Could house-apiaries become practi- 

 cal, that is, so constructed as to meet 

 all the requirements of the bees, I think 

 more ladies would take to beekeeping, 

 as some who would like the business are 

 deterred from so doing from the dislike 

 of being sunburned ; they prefer to re- 

 main in doors at some business less re- 

 munerative and thereby have whiter 

 complexions. 



Some shrink from being seen labor- 

 ing out of doors as if it were a disgrace, 

 which if they had their bees in a house 



they would gladly give them the needed \ 



care. \ 



Others would be induced to take up I 



beekeeping if it is true, as some assert, ' 



that bees sting less when manipulated | 

 while in a. house. 



But for myself I should prefer to 



work out of doors, except in early spring, , 



where I can have plenty of room and ! 

 plenty of bright sunshine and fresh air 

 with renewed health and vigor. 



If we cared to have such a house as 



you have for "springing" our bees and ' 



when the cool days and nights come, • 



we would not feel uneasy .about them ! 



shut up away from the cold wind and j 



frost that often causes them to contract J 



and allow their brood to become chilled. -\ 



On bright warm days you could give ': 



them their liberty to fly. It seems to | 



me we might have rousing colonies at ' 



the beginning of the white clover or .' 



other early harvests. I have an idea I 



that anything that would prevent the | 



bees from flying in cold windy weather \ 

 in spring, When there is but little pollen 



to be gathered would save the bees to i 



protect their brood and be a great ben- '; 



efit to the colony, even on quite warm \ 



days. I have often known the winds to , 



blow so hard that an immense number i 



of bees must have been lost, when if j 



they could have been retained in the i 



hive without becoming uneasy would \ 



have been better for the colony. •! 



Roseville, Ills. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. \ 



HOUSE APIARIES. 



No. II. ■ ; 

 In a recent issue of the Api appeared ' 

 an article on house-apiaries. As I was ; 

 about to build one, it being my hobby, ' 

 the article came in at just the right j 

 time. Your plan of having the hives ; 

 unattached to the building, and your \ 

 mode of ventilating the hives are excel- 

 lent. I should have followed Root's '\ 

 old plan. I am proud of the improve- i 

 ment. In the construction of the hive \ 

 I have made a radical chantre. I find 



