400 l^he College Bee House. 



loo colonies of bees, this building need not be more than 

 twenty by twenty-four feet. A chimney should pass from 

 the attic at the common angle of these three rooms through 

 the roof. Wide doors on the south, if the apiary is large, 

 should permit the car to enter either of the rooms on an 

 extemporized track, whenever extracting or taking off 

 comb honey is in operation. 



The house should be so constructed as to be always free 

 from rats and mice. In summer, wire gauze doors should 

 be used, also wire gauze window screens made to swing 

 out like common window blinds. Ours are single, not 

 double, light, and so hung that when opened they remain 

 so till shut. At the top the gauze extends outside the 

 upper piece of the frame, and is separated from it by a bee- 

 space width. At the top a few three-eighths inch round 

 holes are made. This permits all bees to leave the house, 

 while the character of the opening precludes outside bees 

 from entering. Inside doors should permit our passing 

 directly from any of these rooms to the others. The posi- 

 tion of the chimney makes it easy to have a fire in any of 

 the rooms. This would be desirable in the shop, in win- 

 ter, when hive making, etc., is in operation, or when visit- 

 ing with other bee-keepers is in progress. The ripening 

 of honey or late extracting makes it often desirable to have 

 a fire in the extracting room. If comb-honey is kept in 

 the designated room late in the season, it is desirable to 

 warm that room. Of course a large stove in the shop 

 might be made to heat any or all of the rooms. I would 

 have the comb-honey room very tight, and ventilated by 

 an easily regulated slide into the chimney for the purpose 

 of easy fumigation. Platforms a little out from the wall 

 on which the honey may rest for a time are desirable, as 

 the honey will not be so fine if immediately crated for 

 market. 



The extractor room should have close, moth proof cup- 

 boards for receiving- brood combs. Those in our house 

 are high enough for three rows of frames, and wide enough 

 to just receive the top-bar of a frame crosswise. Cleats 

 nailed on to the inside hold the frames, which are turned 

 diagonally a little to pass them to the lower tier. This 



