August, 1914. 



277 



American line Journal 



Field Uav Group at Colo. Iowa. June iu. 



But we found that the larvx would 

 come out of the brood-combs with the 

 honey, for we had no way at first to 

 keep the queen from laying in the ex- 

 tracting combs. So some ingenious 

 mechanic made the queen-excluding 

 zinc for honey-boards. To this was 

 added an escape to remove the bees 

 from both comb and extracting supers. 

 That has saved us a great deal of time 

 and vexation. 



We can now save our combs already 

 built, and get much more honey than 

 before. But comb was so valuable, 

 why could we not in some way make 

 artificial combs ? To help the bees, I 

 remember feeding or giving them thin 

 scrapings of wax which they accepted 

 and worked into their combs. After 

 many experiments and many failures 

 comb foundation was brought out in 

 its present form ; one of the greatest 

 helps to modern beekeeping. 



Honey boxes or supers were mostly 

 made of js or K inch lumber, of all 

 shapes and sizes, with sometimes a lit- 

 tle glass in one end to show the comb. 

 These were sent to market in dry-goods 

 boxes, or even barrels. Later came 

 glass boxes, and then the beautiful and 

 convenient single combs with shipping 

 cases to match them in appearance. 



I must not forget the introduction in 

 this country of Italian bees, which gave 

 a wonderful impetus to advanced bee- 

 keeping. It gave a fresh interest in 

 artificial queen rearing until it has be- 

 come a science of itself, and adds im- 

 mensely to the pleasure and profit of 

 keeping bees. 



One hundred years ago it was 

 thought that buckwheat was about the 

 only farm crop that would amount to 

 much for bee pasturage, but about 1866 

 alsike clover was introduced as a val- 

 uable plant for both forage and honey. 

 In 1869 my brother and I had two acres 

 in bloom. What a sight! It well re- 

 paid for the seed that cost us $1.20 per 

 pound. In this same year M. M. Bald- 

 ridge wrote to the American Bee Jour- 

 nal extolling the value of sweet clover 

 for bees, which is now becoming an 

 mportant factor in many places. Since 

 hat time alfalfa lies shown its ability, 



especially in the West, to yield honey 

 abundantly. These have all become 

 important farm crops, and will help to 

 make good the loss from our diminish- 

 ing basswood forests. 



One hundred years ago little was 

 known of brood diseases. Since then 

 they have been so carefully studied 

 that we can very largely control them. 

 In many, or most, of our northern 

 States we have bee inspectors to in- 

 struct and assist beekeepers in over- 

 coming these drawbacks to successful 

 beekeeping. 



Our modern wax extractors are 

 almost as much of an improvement in 

 getting wax out of old combs as the 

 honey extractor in removing the honey 

 from the combs. Methods of handling 

 bees, prevention of swarming and 

 marketing honey have greatly improved. 

 Of beekeeping literature there was lit- 

 tle in this country. But we have had 

 for many years " Langstroth's Hive 

 and Honey Bee," " Mysteries of Bee- 

 keeping Explained," by Moses Quinby, 

 "Root's A B C." Dr. Miller's "Fifty 

 Years Among the Bees," "Advanced 

 Beekeeping," by Hutchinson, and other 

 smaller works. Several periodicals de- 

 voted almost exclusively to the inter- 

 ests of beekeeping give us everything 

 of value or helpful. The Bureau of 

 Entomology of the Department at 

 Washington, D. C, has for many years 

 been working with us and for us in 

 solving the problems beekeepers have 

 not the time to work out. 



With improved methods and imple- 

 ments during the latter part of the last 

 century, honey became so abundant 

 that the price went very low. I was 

 able to buy the choicest white sage 

 honey in the Boston market for 6 cents 

 a pound. But the low price and 

 abundance led to its use in cooking 

 and manufacturing; a single firm, I am 

 informed, now takes about 100 carloads 

 a year for this purpose. Its use as a 

 table luxury is increasing, and it can 

 now be found in hotels, restaurants 

 and dining cars, as well as on the fam- 

 ily table. 



The immense value of bees in the 

 cross fertilization of flowers has been 



discovered in recent years. While this 

 does not perhaps add to the wealth of 

 the beekeeper, it may add greatly to his 

 happiness to know that his bees are of 

 as much value to his neighbor as to 

 himself. 



Has beekeeping now reached such a 

 degree of perfection that there will be 

 no further improvement ? We do not 

 think so, for there are yet many prob- 

 lems not less difficult of solution than 

 many of those already solved. How 

 fascinating the business of beekeeping 

 seems, compared with even 60 years 

 ago! 



Middlebury, Vt. 



The Bee-Escape Board Improved 



BY GEO. A. BOYUM. 



A BEE-ESCAPE is a device to get 

 the bees out of the supers. It per- 

 mits them to leave the super and 

 prevents their return. 



Illustration: A represents a common 

 bee-escape board with a Porter bee- 

 escape in the center. When a bee-es- 



A. 



Ordinary Escape Board. 



cape is placed under a super, the re- 

 maining bees at once begin to look for 

 a place to get out. Naturally they go 

 first to the corners or cracks where the 

 light comes in, in search for an exit. 

 With a board like A, the bees follow 

 the edge or corner around the board 

 probably several times before they 

 chance to cross over the middle of it 

 and discover the opening through the 

 escape. 



With a board like B, having two slats 

 nailed to it, as shown in the illustra- 

 tion, the bees may begin to follow the 

 edge or corner at any point, and will 

 always be directed right into the open- 

 ing in the escape. With this added 

 improvement all the bees leave the 

 super in much less time. 



The slats should be fastened by only 

 one nail in the middle, so that they 



