House- Apiaries 



A house-apiary, as indicated by its name, is an apiary Icept in a house, 

 the bees passini^- nut tlirough openings in the walls. Formerly the hives 

 were built permanenth' in the house, the shelf upon which they set form- 

 ing the bottoms, the walls of the building forming one side, and each 

 division-board between any two colonies forming one wall for both col- 

 onies. Eventually it was discovered that building the hives into the build- 

 ing in this stationary manner curtailed or complicated man}' of the manip- 

 ulations. For instance, if a colony swarmed and it was desirable to hive 

 the swarm upon the old stand, moving the parent colony to a new stand, it 

 could be accomplished only b\' removing the combs one by one and carry- 

 ing them to a new location. When the ordinary hives are used, any colony 

 can be picked up and carried to any location. A swarm can be hived out 

 of doors, then the hive picked up and carried into the house. Still another 

 point : Some bee-keepers like a house-apiary for summer, but find it a 

 very poor place in which to winter bees, hence they build a cellar under 

 the house and winter the bees in the latter, this course being possible 

 only when the hives are movable. 



It will be seen that, although \\e have a house-apiary, we also need 

 the regular hives, just the same as though they were to be kept out of 

 doors, with this exception, that, if they are to be used exclusively in the 

 house, the)' may be made of cheap lumber and left unpainted. The same 

 may be said of the supers or upper stories. If we must have regular 

 hives, why have a house-apiary? Well, here are .'^nme of the advantages: 

 The house can be locked against thieves; the colonies, apiarist, and his 

 tools are brought close together, and under shelter ; a:id this latter point 

 is very important, espcciall)' in the management of a series of out-apiaries 

 that are to be visited ]3eri(i(licall\'. Rain puts an end to bee-work in the 

 open air, and three or four days of rainy weather sadly demoralizes the 

 plan of visiting an apiary once a week when there is an apiary for each 

 day in the week. In a house-apiary the work can be continued regardless 

 of the rain. Of course, there would be the traveling to and fro in 

 the rain, but rubber coats and blankets overcome that difficult\'. Shelter 

 from the hot sun is often a great comfort. In taking off honey there is 

 never any trouble from robber bees. Cees are niore peaceable, that is, 

 less inclined to sting, \\'hen handled in a house. In short, the advantages, 



