i;i,K\XlX(iS FN BEE CULTURE 



Wisconsin, Alabama, Pennsylvania, and one 

 from Switzerland. 



First, the only special equipment needed 

 is a wire screen with a Porter bee-escape. 

 This should be bound with strips of wood 

 of sufficient thickness to give bee space 

 above and below. A friend of mine. Dr. 

 R. E. Shanks, of Spokane, has made an 

 escape which is a great improvement on the 

 crude ones I used in my experiment. 

 Through his courtesy I enclose photos of 

 these escapes. Dr. Shanks has been follow- 

 ing this system for two years, and, although 

 a beginner in beekeeping, he has had no 

 swarming. The wire screen should be the 

 full size of the hive used, so that the heat 

 of the lower part of the colony will rise 

 into the hatching story, and so that the hive 

 odor will remain tl?e same. Fig. 1 is a 

 front view of the screen used. 



The Porter escape is cut off just in front 

 of the round hole in the back end of the top 

 of it. It is then imbedded in a strip of 

 board crossing the front of the screen. A 

 passageway is then cut through tlie frame 

 out to the" open air in front, and a plug 

 made which should be used after the first 

 24 hours after a switch of stories is made. 



When the plug is out, a piece of super 

 section sliould be slipped in, closing the 

 opening to the lower story. The light which 

 enters through this opening will attract 

 and empty the hatching story of alt field 

 bees in a few hours. If the opening is not 

 closed in a few hours, many of them wili 

 commence to use it as an entrance. After 

 24 hours the slat should be taken out and 

 the plug inserted, so that all bees entering 

 the escape will go into the lower story and 

 not be able to return. 



Photo No. 2 is the top view of the escape- 

 screen and No. 3 is a bottom view. From 

 these views I think any beekeeper will catch 

 the principles involved. 



Fig. 1. — Front view of Yeoman's screen escape- 



bO'ard. The plug used is shown standing up on 



the screen. 



Several have asked me if the plan would 

 work with the ten-frame hive. I use the ten- 

 frame Danzenbaker, and feel sure the sys- 

 tem will work with any size of hive. I now 

 winter my bees out of doors in double 

 brood-nests. Yesterday (February 16) the 

 temperature rose to 51 degrees, and the 



Fig. 2. — Top of screen — next to bottom of hatching 

 story. 



bees had their first flight since fall. If I 

 did not winter in double brood-nests I 

 would i3ut on a second brood-chamber as 

 soon as the bees commence to build up 

 strong in the siDring. 



A SYNOPSIS OF THE FLAX. 



As soon as surplus honey commences to 

 come in, or if there is any sign of swarm- 

 ing (or if a new beginner is not familiar 

 with these indications, when both stories 

 are well filled with bees) raise the upper 

 story and put a super of sections below tlie 

 upper, or " hatching story." At the same 

 time (or 24 hours later, which I find is 

 much easier because the field bees have gone 

 below and can not get back, thus reducing' 

 the number of bees in the upper story, and 

 making it much easier to find the queen) 

 remove the queen to the lower brood-nest, 

 v."liieli we call the " laying brood-nest." 



Ten days later, switch brood-nests after 

 cutting out any queen-cells which may be 

 started in the "hatching story." This makes 

 Avhat has been the hatching brood-nest for 

 the past ten days the laying brood-nest for 

 the next ten days. The bees hatched during 

 .the past ten days, and the honey and pollen 

 used during this time have emptied thou- 

 sands of cells ready for the queen to lay in, 

 and this she promptly does as soon as it 

 becomes the bottom story and slie is placed 

 in it. 



This switching keeps the queen laying 



