How to Build a Bee House. 305 



CHAPTER XIX 



THE HOUSE APIAKY AND BEE HOUSE. 



The House Apiary is a frost-proof house in -which the bees 

 are kept the year through. The entrances to the hives are 

 through the sides of the house, and all manipulation of the 

 bees is carried on inside. From what I have said about ■win- 

 tering, it at once appears that such a house should preserve a 

 uniform temperature. As many such houses were built a few 

 years ago, and are now, with very few exceptions, used for 

 other purposes, I will only say that if such houses are ever 

 desirable it is only when queen rearing is to occupy the chief 

 attention of the apiarist. 



BEE HOUSES. 



As a good and convenient bee-house is very desirable in 

 every apiary of any considerable size, I will proceed to give a 

 few hints in reference to its construction. 



First. I should have a good cellar under the house, entire- 

 ly frost proof, mouse and rat proof, thoroughly grouted, and 

 ventilated as already described. I would have three doors to 

 this from the north, the outer one inclined. I should have 

 the entrance an inclined plane, which, especially if the apiary 

 is large, should be so gradual in its descent that a car could 

 pass down it into the cellar, on a temporary track. The cel- 

 lar should be well drained, or if water be permitted to pass 

 through it, this should be kept in prescribed channels. In 

 case of large apiaries the track and car make the removal of 

 the bees to and from the cellar an easy matter. The first floor 

 I should have, if my apiary was large, on a level with the 

 ground. This (Fig. 166) should contain three rooms, onejon 

 the north for a shop, one on the south-east for comb honey, 

 and one on the south-west for extracting, and storing extracted 

 honey and brood combs. For 100 colonies of bees, this buUd- 

 mg need not be more than twenty by twenty-four feet. The 

 room for comb will then be eight by twelve feet, that for extract- 

 ing, eight by sixteen, and the shop in the form of an L. A chim- 

 ney should pass from the attic at the common angle of these 



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