816 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



through the large escape any sooner than they 

 did through the small one. The only difference 

 we have ever been able to detect between the 

 workings of escapes of different capacities is 

 that, with some colonies, large escapes seem to 

 produce less excitement of the bees in the super, 

 or less anxiety to get out of it, than small ones 

 do, though with many colonies there is no per- 

 ceptible difference in this respect. Here, it 

 may occur to some one. that the one thing 

 necessary to secure greater rapidity in the 

 working of the escape is to use a large one with 

 a double set of springs or two large ones, one 

 above the other, so that communication be- 

 tween the bees in the super and those below 

 may be entirely cut off; but we have found 

 that such an arrangement is of no advantage. 



To use a large escape, and smoke the bees 

 down through it into the brood- chamber, is im- 

 practicable, as bees thus blinded and bewilder- 

 ed with smoke are very slow to find the exits of 

 any escape however large or numerous. The 

 smoking-out can be accomplished much sooner 

 without the escape than with it. In either 

 event we regard such excessive smoking as very 

 objectionable with either comb or extracted 

 honey. 



Your statement as to its usually taking any- 

 where from 10 to 24 hours to get the bees out of 

 the super by the ordinary Porter escape with 

 one exit, accord nearly with our experience, If 

 you refer to supers of full depth L. extracting- 

 combs; but if you mean supers of completed 

 sections, it is decidedly at variance with it. 

 The latter we find are, as a rule, freed from 

 bees with this escape in from 3 to 5 hours, and 

 this is the experience of others so far as we 

 have heard it. One case in point: 



Dr. Geo Locke, of Newburg, Ind., a few days 

 after we filled his order for a single escape, 

 wrote us as follows: 



Oentlfmcn ;— Here comes the report of the work of 

 the Port er spring l^ee-esc.ipe. I put. the escape un- 

 der a super of sections late last niglit, and this 

 morning tliere was not a single bee in it. At 8 A. m. 

 I put it under anollier super, and at J I o'clock the 

 bees liiid all pugscd out. In the afternoon, at 2 

 o'clock, I put it under another super and removed 

 it at snpper-lime without a bee. The escape is worth 

 $5.00 to nie. It will sati-fy the worst growler. In- 

 closed find money order for $1.00, for which please 

 send five more. 



Lewistown, III., Sept. 29. 



[The Porters have all along insisted that 

 there was no advantage in a multiple exit bee- 

 escape over one having a single exit. I asked 

 them last summer whether it were not possible 

 thpre was some mistake. To test the matter 

 further they made, as mentioned, a sixfy exit 

 escape; and afK-r testing it they sent it tons, 

 as they state. We repeated the experiments in 

 our own apiary, and the results were the same 

 as the Porters had. 



Hut why is it that Mr. Dibbern's experience 

 seems to be different? I can not say; but I 

 should beinclin<"d to think he may have been 

 deceived. 1 notice that Mr. Dibbern is not pos- 



itive, but says he helieves (italics mine) that 

 his escape will work tw ice as fast as the Porter. 

 I do not find that he anywhere made cowpitra- 

 tlve tests— that is, trying an escape on his plan 

 with a single exit and on^ having the number 

 shown in the engraving. The plan tried by the 

 Purlers — namely, of putting one of the two 

 kinds of escapes on each of two colonies as near 

 alike as possible, and then alternating the es- 

 capes, is the correct way. If Mr. Dibbern had 

 tried this plan I think he would find little or 

 no difference in the relative working. 



One thing should be noted; and that is, Mr. 

 D.'s escape is different in principle, and possi- 

 bly on his plan there wouKi be a real difference 

 in the relative rapidity of the single and multi- 

 ple exit escape. iUiton the Porter plan (flexi- 

 ble springs) I feel quite sure that the single 

 exit is just as rapid and certainly cheaper. 



I wish to corroborate Mr. Dibbern'sstatemen* 

 — namely, that the hinged-door plan of Mr. 

 Jardine's escape is not a success, in that the 

 hinges become propolized and so fall to work. 

 Our bees did this very thing. — Ed.] 



MAMMOTH BEE -MOVING 'WAGONS. 



methods: OF MANAGKSIENT OF OKE OF THOSB 

 GREAT, PALIFORNIA BEEKEEPEBS. 



By M. H. Mendleson. 



Friends Root:— J send you the photos of two 

 of my moving-racks. DlJeretofore I have been 

 at a disadvantage in moving bees with rigs of 

 insulBcient capacity to make time and profit. 

 As you will see by the size of them (dimensions 

 given under cuts) I can move a good-sized api- 

 ary with entire success, no matter how strong 

 the colonies are. "Two men can clamp the 

 frames of 250 or more colonies, put screen 

 frames over the tops of same, in one afternoon, 

 ready to load when it's time to put on screened 

 blocks, by dusk or before. J 

 (gl have a set of steps that slide in between the 

 bed-pieces of rack.Cl pull out my steps, and 

 load up by setting hives in, five in a row. across 

 the rack, entrances facing front. aTen of these 

 rows' cover the first tier of large rack, piling 

 two to three; tiers high of single stories, and 

 from one to two tiers high of double stories. 

 The small rack carries from ten to twelve less 

 to the tier. I have no binding-rod; slide in my 

 end-gate, and drive on. I always have a smo- 

 ker lighted in case of an emergency; but if the 

 colonies are properly closed I seldom have use 

 for it. 



I have a five-ton set of Spaulding springs 

 under the large rack, and three springs under 

 the small one. The rigs being so large and 

 heavy, when any one wheel strikes a chuck- 

 hole there is an even, gentle rock to the whole 

 rack, making it almost impossible to chafe off 

 any lids or screens. These screens are made 

 3^ in. less in size (all around), than top of hive; 

 side pieces of screen frames are made of spruce, 

 one inch square. The end-pieces are of the 

 same; are IJ^ in. high, and rabbeted down }{ 

 in. to meet side pieces. A J^-inch rabbet is 



