ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



41 



it made any difference; they are just 

 as apt to cluster near that. If it is 

 a poor year, and there is honey only 

 in a certain part of the hive — there you 

 will expect them to cluster; I don't 

 think the entrance makes any differ- 

 ence. 



Mr. Stone — No, I don't think the en- 

 trance makes any difference. 



Pres. Dadant — Is it your desire to 

 now take up the matter that has been 

 left until the arrival of brother Tyr- 

 rell? 



Mr. Stone — Mr. Tyrrell wants to rest 

 today, Mr. T>adant. 



Pres. Dadant — The photographer will 

 be here in a few moments to take a 

 picture of the mem'bers; Ave might now 

 adjourn for ten minutes. 



Meeting adjourned to have picture 

 taken — and then called to order bj- 

 the President. 



Pres. Dadant — The next paper we 

 haev is that of L. C. Dadant — su'bjecf. 



Use of The Bee- Escape for Extracting 

 Honey. 



To the enthusiastic bee-keeper work 

 about the apiary has its fascinations 

 as well as its drawbacks. In my judg- 

 ment the most fascinating is putting 

 on supers when the flow is on and 

 when the bees are fairly rolling in 

 honey. The most disheartening is feed- 

 ing in June when all colonies are on 

 the point of starvation and seems likely 

 to starve for the rest of the summer. 

 But the hardest and most trying work 

 is taking off honey by brushing off 

 bees after the crop is over and every 

 bee is Intent on doing all the mis- 

 chief it can. 



Through the columns of the Bee 

 Journals and at various Convention 

 Meetings, noted and practical bee- 

 kieepers have made the assertion that 

 they would rather take off honey by 

 brushing than by using bee-escapes. 

 I believe the conditions under which 

 these men work must differ markedly 

 from the conditions with us. Very 

 probably they take off their honey at 

 a time when there is still a light flow 

 on, and it may be that their super 

 com>bs are well sealed throughout. Then 

 the bees are more easily removed or 

 smoked down than where there are 

 empty or oarfy empty combs in the 

 supers. Even with combs well sealed 

 there Is bound to be trouble. 



When 'bees are crowded for room 

 they nearly always burr or brace conabs 

 and fill them with honey. Taking out 

 the frames from every super to brush 

 the bees, or even taking the supers 

 apart is bound to tear up some comb,, 

 make the honey run, daub up some 

 bees and very quickly start robbing. 

 No sooner is robbing started than some 

 of the quietest colonies will become 

 veritable demons and the pleasure of 

 taking off honey will become the most 

 strenuous job one can undertake. 



Taking off honey when there is still 

 a substantial flow is relatively, pleasant 

 work as there are few cross bees and 

 little roibbing going on. But in a honey 

 dearth, when one has to brush and 

 brush, when a hive has to be kept open 

 for fifteen, twenty, or even thirty min- 

 utes at a time, that is when one really 

 earns the honey he is getting. To my 

 mind the bee-escape is one of the most 

 useful of all modern bee implements. 

 With an apiary of thirty to one hun- 

 dred hives, yielding from one to five 

 tons of honey, we feel that we can 

 make more rapid headway, save time, 

 ti-ouble, loss and temper by using the 

 bee- escape throughout. 



There is little doubt that more honey 

 is taken from the hives today without 

 the use of ^bee-escapes than with them. 

 Probably the most serious objection of- 

 fered to them by the practical apiarist 

 is that they are not handy for use in 

 out-apiaries. The fact that~they have 

 to be put on the hives the daj- before 

 extracting necessitates an extra trip. 

 When- the apiary is at a great distance 

 this is certainly objectionable. Many 

 extensive bee-keepers, however, are 

 now using automobiles or motorcy- 

 cles, and with the help of these ma- 

 chines the time lost in going back and 

 forth is reduced to a minimum and can 

 easily be made up in time saved by 

 using the escapes. 



In putting on escapes we usually be- 

 gin about two or three o'clock in the 

 afternoon, depending on just how warm 

 the weather is. Should the weather 

 1 e exceedingly hot and the hives ex- 

 posed to the sun, there is danger of 

 the surplus combs melting down and 

 being destroyed. One must remember, 

 of course, that as soon as the escape 

 board is put on. the circulation In the 

 upper part of the hive practically 

 ceases. As soon as the bees in the 



