106 AUSTRALASIAN 7: 
door leading from one room to the other, and a window 10 the 
centre of the back of the fumigating room. A passage 1s left 
down the centre of the room, from the door, 3ft. 6in. wide, and 
on each side of this passage 2in. x 3in. scantling are nailed in 
an upright position from floor to ceiling, 20in. apart, the narrow 
edge of the scantling towards the passage. On each side of 
the scantlings 3in. x lin. battens are nailed in a horizontal 
position to carry the frames. These are nailed a sufficient 
distance above each other to allow a space of about 14in. 
between each tier of frames. The space on the side of the 
window and immediately opposite it is unoccupied, so as not 
to block out the light. When we are stowing away our spare 
combs they are carried into this room and hung on the battens 
exactly as they hang in the hives, the battens answering as 
rabbets. The combs are kept about an inch or so apart. As 
soon as we detect the slightest sign of the bee moth we fumi- 
gate the room in the usual way. This sized room has a capacity 
for storing about 2,500 combs. 
STOCKING THE APIARY. 
The best time of the year to start an apiary is the spring, 
although there can be no objection to procuring bees at any 
time during the summer months. It is not advisable for a 
beginner to purchase his first bees in the autumn, unless he 
can get established colonies in movable frame hives from some 
reliable person, and can also get advice occasionally, if it should 
be necessary, from some experienced bee-keeper. For various 
reasons I would recommend the novice to deal with an advanced 
bee-keeper, one who knows exactly what he is selling, in pre- 
ference to picking up apparent bargains from box-hive men. 
When sufficient experience has been gained, so that the pur- 
chaser can judge of what he is buying, there can of course be 
no objection to his dealing wherever he finds it most advan- 
tageous. 
The value of a swarm or stock of common bees, like that of 
everything else, depends so much upon the circumstances of 
demand and supply that it may be best described in the ordinary 
phraseology to be “that which it will fetch in the market.” 
There is and can be no fixed price. One person may sell a 
swarm for five shillings, for which another would, and with 
reason, ask a pound. A good strong swarm (over five or six 
