For feeding, the escape-board is very 

 convenient. Just take a 5-lb. friction-top 

 pail and punch about three small holes in 

 its cover near one edge. Make a mark on 

 one side of the pail, so that, when you put 

 on the cover, you can let the holes you have 

 punched come on the same side as the mark. 

 Then when you invert the pail you can al- 

 ways tell'when these holes are over the hole 

 in the board. 



The reason for punching the holes near 

 one edge is that, if you wish to put two 

 pails on at once, the bees can get at both of 

 them. 



When feeding, put on an empty hive body 

 or super, and the hive-cover over that ; and 

 if the weather is cool, packing should be 

 put around the pails. 



If the hole in the escape-board comes 

 directly over the cluster, thick syrup can 

 be fed in as cold weather as we ever have in 

 Alabama. If you wish to feed, slowly stop 

 up with wax one or more of the holes in 

 the pail cover. 



To feed hard candy, just lay it over the 

 escape hole, or partly so ; put on your 

 packing, and the bees will cluster right on 

 the candy. 



To introduce by the queen-cage method, 

 turn the board rim side down ; put the cage 

 in the hole, wire cloth down. Close the hive, 

 and do not open it for a week; and, nine 

 times out of ten, your queen will be laying. 



When working among my colonies I keep 

 two or three extra boards with me. When 

 I take oE a super or hive-body I set it on 

 a board with the rim side up and another on 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



top, SO no bee can get out nor robber 

 get in. 



In carrying combs of honey or brood 

 about the yard I use an empty hive-body 

 with boards on the bottom and top. As an 

 escape-board it has one fault. It cuts off 

 ventilation, almost causing the bees above to 

 smother in hot weather ; and after they have 

 all gone below, tlie honey gets too cool to 

 extract well. This fault can be remedied in 

 a great measure by boring several two-inch 

 auger-holes distributed about over the board, 

 and tacking wire cloth over them. When 

 the board is in use for other purposes than 

 an escape-board these two-inch holes should 

 be plugged up from the under side to keep 

 the bees from plastering them over with 

 propolis. If they do get clogged with pro- 

 polis they can be cleaned by pouring boiling 

 water through them. 



I think you can always buy these boards 

 cheaper than you can make them yourself 

 unless you are entirely out of a job, and 

 they will be much neater than those you 

 make. However, if you do want to make 

 them, get some plain %-inch ceiling — any 

 width will do, but better 6-inch for ten- 

 frame size, and some % x %-inch strips. 

 The strips may be ripped out of the ceiling. 

 Cut the ceiling in a miter-box, the outside 

 length of the hive. Make a rim out of the 

 % stutf the size of the liive, and nail your 

 ceiling on this rim, letting the tongue pro- 

 jef;t on one side and the groove on the other, 

 so they can both be ripped off. Make them 

 in a form so they will be square. 



Scottsboi'o, Ala. 



THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME TESTING NEW SCHEMES 



BY G. C. GREINER 



If it were possible that one issue of 

 Gleanikgs could be more interesting and 

 valuable than another, the Nov. 15th number 

 takes the lead. Several subjects are spoken 

 of that desei've special notice. 



Under the heading " A Word to Would- 

 be Inventors," in that issue, the editor gives 

 some valuable hints to beginners and those 

 contemplating beekeeping which, if they 

 will heed them, will certainly keep them on 

 the right track. The whole paragraph under 

 that heading so completely covers my expe- 

 rience of nearly a lifetime of beekeeping 

 that I can heartily endorse every word of it. 

 I am not a scientist; but being naturally 

 inclined to take a great interest in all me- 

 chanical devices I liave, during the last 

 fifteen or twenty years, either actually tried 

 or thoroughly investigated all the inven- 

 tions that were brought out in the various 



Ij-^e-magazines during this period — especial- 

 ly those whose originators claimed to be 

 perfect swarm-controllers. 



To judge from appearance, together with 

 my actual experience, I invariably found 

 all these new inventions altogether too com- 

 plicated, too difficult to manufacture, and, 

 consequently, too expensive for the every- 

 day beekeeper wlio tries to make the two 

 ends meet. To manipulate some of those 

 complications according to the directions of 

 their inventoi's would require a well-trained 

 engineer or machinist. 



The less experienced beekeeper or begin- 

 ner who has not yet decided what kind of 

 hive to adopt for future use can unhesitat- 

 ingly take it for granted that the simplest, 

 tlie plainest, and the cheapest hive is the 

 most profitable for the beekeeper whose 

 object it is to produce honey at a fair living 



