24 
Beekeeping 
and the beginner will use what he has at hand. One sug¬ 
gestion is perhaps not amiss, if one may judge from the 
honey-houses usually seen. The house should be large 
enough to permit the 
storage of the surplus 
fixtures out of season 
and of the crop until 
it is shipped. Beekeep¬ 
ers frequently fail to 
provide adequate space 
for these uses. 
Windows and doors 1 
should be thoroughly 
screened to prevent the 
entrance of bees. The 
door should swing freely 
both ways (Fig. 18) so 
that the beekeeper may 
pass through with his 
arms full. The window 
screens are best made by tacking wire-cloth to the outside 
of the window casings, allowing it to extend about six 
inches above the opening. The upper border should be 
held out one-quarter of an inch 
by narrow wooden strips to pro¬ 
vide abundant exits for bees 
which accidentally get into the 
house. Bees rarely enter such 
openings and those which fly to 
the screens from the inside im¬ 
mediately crawl upward and go out, promptly clearing 
the room of bees. Bee-escapes (Fig. 19) may be used 
at the corners of ordinary framed window screens but 
Fig. 18. — Honey-house door. The 
wooden door rolls clear of the opening 
and the screen door swings both ways. 
Fig. 19. — Porter bee-escape. 
1 A. C. Miller has recently called attention to the desirability of a solid 
door to the apiary house, so that bees will not be attracted to this opening 
by the odor of honey. The suggestion is good and the desirability of 
having such a door swing both ways still exists. 
