IVOS 



(H.KANINCJS IN BKK rUl/lURE. 



877 



General 

 Correspondence 



LEARNED BY EXPERIENCE. 



Some Valuable Points Brought Out by a 

 Study of the Results During the Past 

 Year or Two; a Convert to the Use of 

 Bee-escapes. 



BY E. F. ATWATER. 



I wish to confess that, after years of noii-use of 

 bee-escapes in comb-honey yards, I am now a 

 convert to the merits of that most excellent little 

 appliance. I am using more of them every year. 

 I may even begin to use them to take off extract- 

 ing-supers. But for either kind of honey they 

 are surely grand at the end of the season or when 

 bees are inclined to rob. 



You, Mr. Editor, have sometimes admitted 

 that Dr. Miller's scheme of a tent escape on a 

 pile of supers might be better for some, as it 

 would save an extra trip to the yard to put on the 

 Porter escape. Barring the likelihood of thieves, 

 please don't admit it again. You do not need to 

 make an extra trip. When you make your regular 

 visit to the yard, put escapes under the finished su- 

 pers. Then at the next regular trip take off the su- 

 pers above escapes and repeat the process. In the 

 interval the bees are sure to leave the super above 

 the escape (unless it becomes clogged), as they 

 have 7 to 10 times as long as usual in which to 

 pass through the escape. This plan is successful. 

 I never heard of such a method of using escapes, 

 but no doubt others have practiced the same plan. 

 In localities where foul brood exists, each colony 

 should have an escape. Where no disease exists, 

 two or three supers may be put above each es- 

 cape, making quite a saving; but it may some- 

 what disturb the "balance" of your colonies. 



In foul-brood districts all honey should be 

 taken off with escapes. All daub is cleaned up 

 inside the super before it comes off the hive, so 

 there is less likelihood of robbers getting a taste, 

 or of honey, possibly diseased, getting daubed 

 around. Use escapes. 



HIVE-TOOLS. 



There are hive-tools and hive-tools; but the 

 best single tool for universal use is made as shown 

 in the cut. It is made of good spring or tool 

 steel. This is the handiest thing to use in lift- 

 ing frames or division-boards; saves putting one 



hand among the bees. The hook was also de- 

 signed to pull out springs and wedges from su- 

 pers. At D a slot is used to pull nails of various 

 sizes. The edges are ideal for scraping and pry- 

 ing, and easily inserted in joints between hives 

 and supers. 



ARE LARGE ENTRANCES SO IMPORTANT.? 



Friend E. R., I want to give you a friendly 

 dig on "The importance of a large entrance in 



simimer. " While I prefer ijuite a large entrance, 

 say 12 or 14 X ^s, yet I have seen so much evi- 

 dence on the other side that I no longer believe 

 that there is any great advantage in such entrances'. 

 1 want a deep space (;.^ or more) under the frames 

 to facilitate manipulation and avoid having frames 

 attached to the floor when a hive shrinks excessive- 

 ly. Of course, the advantage of a deep space be- 

 neath the frames may be easily had without nec- 

 essarily using large entrances. 



If 1 used a space of jnore than ^s inch under 

 frames I should want the space to be much more, 

 then fill with a loose frame of some kind, coming 

 to within about Ys inch of the frame — bottom- 

 bars to prevent comb-building in the space, as 

 the bees, if a little crowded, are very apt to fill a 

 space much greater than Ya inch. Mr. Yoder 

 uses very small entrances and gets fine crops, and 

 probably no larger a per cent of his bees attempt 

 to swarm than among ours with their large en- 

 trances. 



The same is true of the Dudleys, who, year 

 after year, have taken some of the largest crops of 

 comb honey in this valley. Mr. C. W. Dayton 

 is another extensive producer who prefers small 

 entrances. He thinks he gets better crops by us- 

 ing such entrances. 



1 must admit that the large entrance has but 

 little influence on swarm prevention, and is often 

 harmful in the spring when brood near the en- 

 trance is often chilled if the entrance is not prop- 

 erly contracted. 



The large entrance may not be best where there 

 is any disease, as robbers have too good a chance 

 to steal treasures that may prove the undoing of 

 the colony, and in outyards we can not at all 

 times keep the entrances adjusted to fit the flow 

 of nectar. 



A WHEELBARROW FOR CARRYING SUPERS. 



Really it pains me to see bee-keepers carry su- 

 per's of honey from the yard to the shop. The 

 cart will do on smooth ground; but on the average 

 we prefer the wheelbarrow, and we send many 

 hundreds of miles to get the Daisy spring wheel- 

 barrow, as we know there is none other anywhere 

 near so good, and we want the best. The Daisy 

 is easy on the combs and easy on the man. At 

 least one must be in each apiary. Better yet, 

 have two so each man can use one. Their use- 

 fulness is not confined to taking off honey, as a 

 large light box can be put on one; then when 

 cleaning and scraping in the spring you have a 

 good place at which to work and a good place to 

 hold the cappings. 



About the hive-carrier (page 557, 1907), you 

 say, "Granted that his colonies are heavy and 

 strong, two men can carry three as easily as they 

 can carry one in his (Dr. Miller's) way." Please 

 amend that to read, " Granted that the t'lvo men 

 are heavy and strong," etc. 



"An improved strain of bees," page 831, 1907. 

 " Mate daughters of pure Cyprian mothers to 

 pure Carniolan drones. Then daughters from 

 these queens are mated to pure Italian drones. " 

 I know that this bee-hash results in good workers, 

 and some of them are easily handled like any 

 good Italian stock; but a few that are cross will 

 be wonderfully cross, and will sicken ninety-nine 

 out of one hundred who try them, from any fur- 

 ther experiments along that line. By breeding 

 again from the gentle colonies of this C-yprio- 



