Bee-heepm(j in Victoria. 



71 



to store combs, -wax, and appliances. Even a tent may, with little 

 trouble, be made bee-proof. For the specialist bee-keeper, a properly 

 constructed honey house is an absolute necessity, and a good investment, 

 as it enables him to catch up with the work of extracting during .short 

 breaks in the honey flow, when otherwise he could not do so without 

 demoralizing the bees. When more than twenty hives are kept, a wheel- 

 barrow constructed on the lines of that shown in the illustration, carry- 

 ing four supers of combs, will save much time and hard work, and at the 

 same time exclude the bees from the combs during the taking of the 

 combs from the hives and on the way to the extractor. This is accom- 

 plished by having a board the size of the hive body, with a rim round 

 the edge, on the barrow to catch any drips of honey, and a light cover on 

 top, which is raised and dropped again every time a comb is inserted. 

 If robbers are very persistent, and try to rush the combs every time 

 the cover is raised, they may be circumvented by using two smokers, one 



Bee-proof Honey House and Hive Barrow. 



at the hive, while the other, with the top open, is placed on the ground 

 inside a hive body, another body is placed on top, into which the combs 

 are hung as they are taken off the hive; no cover is needed, as the smoke 

 rising between the combs keeps the robbers away. When the box is 

 full it is lifted on to the barrow and covered up. In this way honey 

 may be taken off and extracted at times when, it would be impossible to 

 do it in the ordinary way without starting robbing, stinging, and general 

 confusion amongst the bees. 



Water in which sticky utensils have been washed, or the water used 

 in boiling up old combs or beeswax, should be buried, while the refuse 

 from the wax press, or the bag in which wax has been boiled under water, 

 should be burned. The exercise of these precautions will keep the 

 largest apiaries in a normal state, and enable all work to be done in peace 

 and comfort. 



