Vol. XVIII. 



JAN. 1, 1890. 



No. 1. 



1- 



Estahlished in i<^7ef. fth.nn wets. each, sent p. 



TERMS: Jl.OO Per ANNUM. IX ADVANCE; 

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'^^ti^^.'^l^.I'f^l.o^^r^.''^'''' '-'''''] A. I. ROOT, MEDINA, OHIO 



rVBLlSHED SE51I-MONTHI,Y BY 



Clubs to different postofflces. not less 



i.nn 90 ets. each. Sent postpaid, in the 



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t NOT of the U. P. U., 42 ets. per year extra. 



BEE-ESCAPES. 



AN IMPROVEMENT ON REESE'S; A VALUABLE IN- 

 VENTION. 



The cut tells the story, and I can almost hear the 

 reader exclaim, "Why didn't I think of that?" It 

 represents a solid board, with bee-spaces on one side, 

 to match hive and supers. The holes (seen below the 

 wire cloth) are bored through the board, of any size 

 from % to \V« in. The cones are horizontal instead of 

 perpendicular and are double, or one inside the 

 other, with a grood bee-space around the inner one. 

 They are made by pressing- a piece of grreen wire 

 cloth over a piece of wood, of the shapes given 

 below, and just a bee-space thick. It is surprising 

 how nicely the wire cloth can be shaped. There 

 should be just room enough for a bee to pass out at 

 the exit; but it is not so easy for any to get in, on 

 account of projecting wire. The efficiency of the 

 escape does not depend on this, however. Should 



dibbern's bee-escape. 



any bee find its way into the outer cone it would be 

 almost certain to travel aniund the inner cone, and 

 out again into the hive. This will fool any ordinary 

 bee; but should one occasionally find the way back 

 into the vacated super— why, it would soon become 

 lonesome, and down through the hole it would go. 



The cones are fastened to the under side of the 

 board, and the cones will just fit nicely in the bee- 

 space under it. The cones can be removed in a 

 moment, and the holes corked up, and it can then 

 be used as an inner cover. I also use such a board 

 with one or two holes open, to place under supers 

 of finished sections, to keep the white new comb 

 from getting soiled, while the honey remains on 

 the hive to ripen. Of course, some bees remain 

 with ihe honey to care for it, but it comes out nice 

 and bright, at the close of the white-honey flow. 

 The bees can protect it from the moth, and keep it 

 from leaking, much better than we can. Then 

 what a satisfaction to handle nice, clean, dry sec- 

 tions, instead of sticky ones, when we come to pack 

 in shipping-cases! I think these boards will be 

 wanted by our best bee-keepers, for this purpose 

 alone. It will be seen that I have a triple use for 

 these boards. 



I have experimented and studied bee-escapes for 

 several years. Many are the contrivances that I 

 have tried with varied results. I have tried the 

 tent escape, and others, but none proved eutirelj' 

 satisfactory. The Reese escape was the best of any 

 heretofore; but that was not perfect, though it has 

 recently been improved. It is my opinion, how- 

 ever, that depending on a vertical funnel-shaped 

 tube, requiring room under it, will always be ob- 

 jectionaiile. Some have lately advised using small 

 cones in the holes through the solid board; but 

 such will be found insufficient. To Mr. Reese, of 

 Winchester, Ky., however, belongs the honor of 

 giving us an escape that generally worked verj' 

 well. It was in using this escape, and trying to 

 overcome its weak points, that I discovered my 

 horizontal escape. But for his escnpe mine might 

 never have been thought of. Mine is all right, and I 

 think it will be found all that can be desired. I 

 now make it free to the bee-keepers of the world. 



