116 



FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



I take it along after sunrise in the 

 morning unless it is exceedingly hot. 



President France — Just a word: 

 About your getting those bees down 

 and out of there? 



Mr. Bull — I use the bee-escape. 



If you want to take your honey off 

 in the frosty nights, in October all 

 right, but, if in July and August, use 

 the bee-escapes. 



I would no more keep bees without 

 a bee-escape than to keep bees without 

 a hive body. 



President France — While that point 

 of a bee-escape is up: Here (illus- 

 trating in hand) is a little sample. 



How many of you have used the wire 

 escape in preference to board? 



(Not one.) 



President France — Is it possible you 

 don't know one of the things you are 

 missing? When you can put them on 

 and your bees will go down this es- 

 cape in about half the time, if it were 

 board. 



I have something like 300, and I have 

 cut out that thin board and used it 

 for other purposes, and put the screen 

 on. 



You don't know one of the good 

 things you are missing if you have not 

 used the wire escape. 



Again, this little feature came to my 

 notice by a Norwegian at the Minne- 

 sota Fair a few years ago, in which, 

 where this is wood, he had observed 

 that the bees, like pigs, will follow the 

 fence; the bees went round and round 

 before they would go to the outlet of 

 your bee-escape board, and he found, 

 by putting a little guide in there, they 

 would go down and out and still retain 

 the fence idea; and use two in place 

 of one escape. 



Then they have improved the escape 

 now by which it has an outlet both 

 ways; it lets the bees out faster. 



If you are using the old bee-escape, 

 you don't know one of the good things 

 you are missing. Next year I will not 

 have any but what are wire cloth. 



(Illustrating) — This would represent 

 the full size of the hive. 



President France — Mine are ten 

 frames. This is made only as a model. 



Mr. Bull — I have something like 150 

 or 175 moving screens; can I use those 

 for bee-escapes? 



President France — Certainly. The 

 only question here is the depth; is it 

 not considerably deeper than this? 



Mr. Bull — It is not any deeper than 

 that. 



President France — That will work; 

 and after you have once used them you 

 will bid good-bye to your wood escape 

 boards. 



You retain the heat in extracting 

 combs. 



May I describe conditions between 

 two Wisconsin bee-keepers? 



I stayed with one over night. He 

 went out in the evening and placed 

 his escape boards and the next morn- 

 ing before breakfast he took his little 

 girl for company and to help him, and 

 he had his bees out of the supers on 

 his arrival. 



Before breakfast he wheels in as 

 many hive bodies as he can extract 

 during the day and, with his lifting 

 hive device, he lifted those hive bodies 

 full of combs to the upper room of his 

 extracting house. Right underneath is 

 a gasoline stove. 



Before he went in to breakfast he 

 lighted the stove and turned the light 

 to a point by which it kept those hive 

 bodies warm all day at about the same 

 temperature that they were on the 

 hive; as though the heat originally in 

 the hive had never been released. 



This is all done before breakfast. 



After breakfast he starts the engine 

 going. 



After going upstairs, with a steam 

 uncapping knife and this frame revers- 

 ible extractor he finishes up the day's 

 work. 



From the honey extractor above, the 

 honey runs through a tin tube in the 

 floor to a strainer and storage tank be- 

 low and by this gravity strainer took 

 care of itself. 



He made bee-keeping easy. 



At noon that same day I was in an- 

 other bee yard; the same number of 

 colonies — where he was working the 

 hardest I ever saw a man work in the 

 bee yard. Everything done that was 

 possible to make it hard work. 



He picked up his hive bodies of ten 

 frames and carried them up to the 

 bee house where a helper did the un- 

 capping with a cold knife instead of a 

 steam knife; put two combs in one 

 of the old style extractors. Then he 

 had to pick up that extractor, honey 

 and all, and set it on the table and 

 waited for that honey to run out be- 

 fore he can wheel in the next lot. 



That is the difference between man- 

 agement. 



