102 HOW TO KEEP BEES 



into the super instead of out of it. If the bee-escape 

 is placed on the night before, there will be no 

 bees in the super when it is removed next day. To 

 introduce a bee-escape one does not need to lift off 

 the super; simply lift it up at one side, send a little 

 smoke into the crack, push in the bee-escape, and 

 then set it straight upon the hive and the super 

 straight upon it. (Plates III, XVIII.) 



The novice might conclude that a good plan would 

 be simply to set off the super near the hive, and let 

 the bees find their own way back to their brood and 

 kindred. But bee-nature has to be reckoned with 

 in this instance, and the bees, conscious that the 

 honey is their own, are likely to uncap the cells and 

 carry the honey into the hive; or worse still, the bees 

 from othe'^ hives will be attracted to these open 

 stores and will begin to rob. And in the bee courts 

 of equity, when bees begin to rob, then the ''devil is 

 to pay." 



There have been various bee-tents devised under 

 which the supers are placed after being removed 

 from the hive. These tents are arranged with a 

 little hole at the top by which the bees may escape, 

 but may not return. Doctor Miller invented a sim- 

 ple plan of piling several supers filled with honey on 

 top of each other, leaving no crevices between them; 

 over these was spread a cloth with a hole in the 

 middle, over which was placed a wire cone with a 

 hole in the top large enough to let a bee pass out. 

 Thus the bees from all of the sections escaped, one 

 by one, and robbing was avoided. However, the 



