1 2 On Rational Bee-Keeping, 
making a total in all of twenty inches ; or, allow- 
ing a little margin, we may say two and a half 
feet. Calculating that the lowest row of hives 
is at a distance of about a foot from the ground, 
we get three and a half feet from the ground to 
the rails which support the second row. 
Three of our hives, placed one above the 
other on these rails, require an additional height 
of two and a half feet. These measurements 
added together amount to six feet, which seems 
to us high enough for our bee-house.* 
It is of importance that the drip from the 
roof should be at the back, and that the roof or 
thatching should project about a foot on each 
side of the bee-house. 
The opening to a small bee-house can be 
made either from the back or at the sides, ac- 
cording to the depth from back to front. It is 
indispensable that draughts should be excluded 
on all sides. 
When the bee-house is built of planks, we 
recommend that the planks at the back and 
sides should run in a groove formed by two 
* In the frontispiece the height in front is shown as seven feet, 
which will be found necessary if the house is thatched. 
