1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



535 



case from which to retail; and in one case the 

 larger part of the purchase was put into a damp 

 cellar, and nearly ruined. The same I have 

 found to be true in selling to private parties. 



The bee-keeper must do a great deal of talk- 

 ing along this line of instruction. To old cus- 

 tomers.! do not now have much of this to do; 

 but with new ones it seems as necessary as ever. 



Right here is a very important point for all 

 bee-keepers to consider. As good honey as can 

 be produced may be nearly ruined by unwise 

 handling; and when such deteriorated honey is 

 consumed it disgusts the consumer, nearly ruins 

 future sales, and, where hundreds of pounds 

 could have been sold, only tens are disposed of. 



After supplying with the honey all the deal- 

 ers named, ana a few minutes spent in pleasant 

 conversation, I take my leave, with the under- 

 standing that I will supply them so long as my 

 stock of honey lasts; or, if no more is on hand, 

 to call on them the next season if a crop is se- 

 cured. And so I have aimed to keep my trade 

 in all these towns by keeping them supplied 

 when I have had any honey to sell, always aim- 

 ing to make our deal as pleasant for my patrons 

 as for myself. The honey should be well ripen- 

 ed, kept later in a hot dry honey-room, put up 

 for sale in the neatest way possible, and each 

 package labeled with the name of the producer, 

 etc., and sold for just what it is. If the honey 

 is No. 1, sell it as such; if not, or only No. 3, use 

 no deception, but deal honestly. In complying 

 with the above, trade once gained will be held, 

 and a clear conscience also. 



Milledgeville, 111. 



[I want to put a good big emphasis on your 

 last two sentences especially. Selling second 

 grades for first may put a few extra pennies in 

 the pocket for the first deal but it kills future 

 trade.— Ed. 



ANOTHER BEE-ESCAPE. 



IS IT TRUE THAT EXTKA EXITS FACILITATE 



THE ESCAPE OF THE BEES FROM THE 



SUPER ? 



By W. J. Reddish. 



I notice in Gleanings for June 1, in the ad- 

 vertisement of James Pearson, the assertion 

 that 6 times 1 are (J, which fact I can not dis- 

 pute. Now, I say 4 times 6 are 24; hence the 

 new Reddish bee-escape is as good as four Jar- 

 dine escapes. I inclose three views of my es- 

 cape — top, bottom, and interior. I made this 

 one last winter. It is 14x20 inches, and just 

 covers the top of the Dovetailed hive. It is IX 

 in. thick. I have tested it twice. The first 

 time I placed it on a two-story hive. It was a 

 good strong colony, with about half of the bees 

 above. In less than two hours there was only 

 one bee above; the second time, in one hour and 

 a half, less than six bees were above. This es- 

 cape is reversible, and will send the bees down 

 or up, as you like, which I think the new Jar- 



dine would not do; for, if put on one way, the 

 doors would hang open. 



Had I known how successfully this escape 

 was going to work I would have made one and 

 sent it to you. I inclose a sample of the spring 

 used for inside construction. The view show- 



REDDISH S BEE-ESCAPE. 



ing 24 holes is the top. The holes are 5i inch; 

 the material is ^£ in. thick, with strips %x3^ 

 in., tacked around to form a bee-space. The 

 interior view shows the construction of that 

 part. The two end blocks and center strip 

 (marked A) are rests to keep the top from set- 

 tling on the springs. This part is made of four 

 strips Xx^g^. The side ones are 20 inches long; 

 the end ones are 14 inches long; the corners 

 are halved together, making a frame 14x20. 

 This frame I made out of the lumber of an old 

 trunk. The bottom is screwed to this frame, 

 and then the blocks with the springs tacked to 

 them are screwed to the bottom-board. The 

 dark shading of the interior view shows the ex- 

 it. The end ones are 1 in. wide and 123^ long. 

 The center one is 2 inches wide, and the same 

 length as the ends. 



The bottom view shows only the exits, which 

 view is not necessary, as you have it in the one 

 showing the interior. 



The principle upon which my escape works 

 is tl'e same as that used in a fly-trap that I 

 made about ten years ago, that let the flies in 

 and they stayed in. This trap lets the bee out 

 and it stays out. 



Dallas City, Pa. 



[I have before stated that the Porters claim 

 that increasing the number of exits does not 

 facilitate the escape of bees; but in view of the 

 fact that two or three of our friends seem to 

 insist that it does, I wish to ask for reports. It 

 takes usually anywhere from 10 to 24 hours to 

 get bees out of the supers by the ordinary Por- 

 ter escape with one exit. Now, suppose some 

 of our comb-honey friends put two or three of 

 these escapes (Porter's) in one board, and then 

 watch results closely, inspecting the super 

 every few hours. I am rather of the opinion 

 that the Porters have possibly made a mistake 

 in deciding that extra exits do not help the 

 matter. In the case of the Reddish escape 

 above, or a board having an equal number of 

 Porter escapes, I am also of the opinion that, if 

 smoke were used, the bees could be forced 

 nearly out of the super inside of two or three 

 minutes. This would be especially true of 

 black bees and hybrids. Such quick work 

 would be a great convenience at out-yards. 



We will try to test the matter here, and hope 

 our friends will let us know, including the Por- 

 ters themselves. 



