24 



GLEAl^^INGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



any means take Are from it before you place the 

 fire to thn sulphur, for a room full of sulphur fumes 

 J8 a bad place to g-o to, to put out a Are. 

 Borodino, N. Y., Dec, 1883. G. M. Doolittle. 



Inasmuch as iriend D. has been not only 

 one of the largest producers, but also one 

 who has produced some of the iinest comb 

 honey, we are very glad to get the above val- 

 uable hints in regard to making a honey- 

 house. His remarks are the more valuable, 

 as they apply to the construction of a hon- 

 ey-house on any plan, or even the lixing- 

 over of some building our friends may have 

 already in use. A handy and convenient 

 room for honey, and one that will help to re- 

 duce the whole matter of handling the crop 

 to a regular system, will be a most valuable 

 adjunct to the whole business, i'alse mo- 

 tions, and moving a crop here and there, 

 without gaining any thing, is one of the sad 

 leaks in any crop ; and when we add to it, 

 having the crops injured by moth worms or 

 mice, just because of the lack of a conven- 

 ient room, we can begin to estimate the val- 

 ue of such a building as he describes. Let 

 us have more suggestions on the matter. 



PliAN OF A TWO-STORY OCTAGON HON- 

 EY-HOUSE. 



SOMK GOOD IDE.'VS IN MAKING UUII.DINCS OP ANY 

 KIND. 



fHIS is a permanent building, plain but tasty, 

 flre-proof and frost-proof, rat and mouse proof, 

 — ■ bee and moth proof, well lighted and ventilat- 

 ed, cool in summer and warm in winter, easily heat- 

 ed hy stoves, furnace, or steam, as most convenient; 

 the temperature easily regulated, commodious and 

 compact, simple in construction, cheap and durable. 

 It may have a basement or cellai", if any wish to 

 winter bees in that way; and this cellar, being per- 

 fectly dry, will serve for storing lumber, hives, etc. 

 The main story will afford convenient space for nail- 

 ing up hives, frames, and sections, making fdn., ex- 

 tracting honey, putting up honey for market, etc. ; 

 also abundance of room for storing spare frames in 

 handy receptacles. In the upper room spare hives 

 may be stored, painting done, all small stores and 

 supplies suitable arranged and kept, samples of 

 honey in comb and in jars or pails displayed. An 

 observatory-h vt at each window will furnish enter- 

 tainment and ins'^^'uction,— a great attraction to 

 visitors and cu tomers. 



FORM or BUILDING. 



The first point of excellence to be noticed in this 

 plan is the form of building. We build walls to in- 

 close space, and to sustain floors and roofs. A wall 

 one foot thick and one hundred feet long, or two 

 walls of fifty feet each, placed side by side, will in- 

 close no space; but if arranged in a rectangular 

 form, say 10 ft. by 40, the whole space occupied will 

 be 400 square feet, one-fourth being covered by the 

 wall itself. The same amount of wall in a square 

 25x25, contains 625 square feet. The hexagon of 16^3 

 ft. sides has about 700 ft. contents; the octagon of 

 121/4 ft. side has 744 ft., and so on, increasing the con- 

 tents with the number of sides until we come to the 

 circle, which contains most of all. This shows one 

 reason for preferring the octagon to other forms, 

 since we get one-fifth more room than in the square, 

 with the same amount of wall. The space is better 



adapted for entrance and communication and light 

 and fixtures, and inside arrangements generally; the 

 floor and roof timbers are better sustained, and they 

 better anchor the walls. The octagon has as many 

 angles as it is profitable to have; it is symmetrical 

 and stylish, superior to the circular or rectangular 

 form. If any one should prefer the hexagon or 

 other form, by this mode of building, one can be put 

 up as easily as another, as will be seen by consider- 

 ing the nature of the material used in construction. 



MATERIAL. 



The material is lime, sand, and water. It is known 

 as " grout," or " concrete," or the "gravel-wall." If 

 coarse sand, gravel, and stones are mixed in, less 

 lime is wanted. The lime is to be slacked and mix- 

 ed well with much water, and sand which needs no 

 screening added and worked rather thinner than 

 common mortar; gravel and stones are then thrown 

 in, well wet down and thoroughly mixed. After the 

 composite thus prepared is deposited in the wall, 

 more stones are thi-own in. Any rough fragments or 

 smooth pebbles, brickbats, cinders from furnace 

 or forge, slag, or refuse from glassworks, broken 

 tiles, or pottery or glass, oyster-shells, and even 

 Medina claj% if well baked in the sun, will do to fill 

 up. It will pay to dig some distance into some hill- 

 side or go several miles for materials. Any brick- 

 kiln will furnish cartloads of just the right sort of 

 stuff, all the rubbish and even the brick dust being 

 available. In fact, suitable materials can be got al- 

 most anywhere, and this kind of wall can be put up 

 for about one-fourth the cost of wooden walls, and 

 one-sixth the cost of brick or stone work. This great 

 saving of expense is partly due to the material, and 

 partly to the method of putting up. The high wages 

 of mason and brick-layer and carpenter are wholly 

 saved, and most of the work is done for what it 

 costs to tend mason. Not so much lime is needed as 

 for the brick-house; the stones, sand, and gravel 

 cost only the expense of hauling. That part of the 

 wall which is below ground should be built with 

 water-lime or cement. Floors, roofs, doors, windows, 

 etc., cost no more than for any other style of build- 

 ing, perhaps not so much. For foundation walls 

 this is the handiest, cheapest, and most enduring 

 substance, whatever we may choose to build upon 

 it. The mason who laid those costly and very hand- 

 some walls of brick and stone a little west of the 

 " Home of the Honey-bees," when he came to set 

 the posts for the porches, he and "Sam " just dug 

 some holes in the clay, a few feet deep, mixed up the 

 cement and sand, dumped it Into the holes, threw in 

 any rough stones that lay around, and very speedily 

 had some firm and lasting foundations that are 

 much harder than the stone posts set upon them. 

 Seeing which simple and rapid way of accomplishing 

 a good result, I wondered if that man knew he could 

 build whole fouiidations just as easily and swiftly, 

 and carry up walls also as high and as strong as nec- 

 essary for any purpose whatever, free from damp 

 when once dry, which stone and brick walls can 

 never be; more easily molded to any shape requir- 

 ed, and capable of as much ornament and embel- 

 lishment as those, and growing better with lapse of 

 time, instead of needing troublesome and costly re- 

 pairs by and by. Perhaps the mason knew all about 

 this matter, and perhaps not. He did in a workman- 

 like manner the job that was intrusted to him. 

 Many of our best masons and carpenters disapprove 

 of this stylo of building, for it is out of their line; 



