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231 



^••^« *-'^^;ii~'— '—■'—■-— ■* 



conimonoes, prepare the empty ones 

 of each pair with frames of founda- 

 tion or empty combs. I see no need 

 ■of a queen-excluder between the hives, 

 as I would allow the old queen with 

 clipped wing to occupj' the new home, 

 which I am pretty sure she will do, as 

 soon as they begin to be the least 

 crowded for room. This, I believe, 

 would be better than Mr. Sawyer's 

 way of having the queen-cells mature 

 in the new hive. 



I do not know that there is a neces- 

 sity for a queen-excluder even after 

 the old queen has taken up her new 

 quarters. I have strong grounds for 

 believing it unnecessary, as I believe 

 that a great many queens can occupj' 

 the same house or hive (if it is large 

 enough) with easy access to each 

 other's quarters — in fact, I make the 

 assertion that it is so, and I will give 

 my reasons for so saying, in another 

 article. I think that this subject has 

 a great deal to do with bee-keeping in 

 the near future, and one that needs 

 experimenting. 



Mr. Sawyer asks how to use this 

 plan when wanting no increase. It 

 seems to me that here is where there 

 will be a benefit, as the two colonies are 

 already united, and all that needs to 

 be done is to save the best queen by 

 killing the worst, or taking all the 

 combs cut of one hive in the fall, let- 

 ting all the bees and queen run on the 

 combs of the adjoining hive, and al- 

 lowing Nature to take its course, es- 

 pecially if both queens are good, and 

 the bee-beeper has no use or sale for 

 her. What do bee-keepers say to this ? 

 "Let your light so shine," etc. 



Manistee, Mich. 



BEE-ESCAPE. 



A Diamond-Shaped One — Latest 

 Simple Arrangement. 



Written for the, American Bee Journal 



BY JOHN S. REESE. 



The growing demand for bee-es- 

 capes, and information how to make 

 and use them, has induced me to make 

 models of quite a number of shapes. 

 Mr. C. H. Dibbern claims the introduc- 

 tion of the horizontal arrangement, 

 under a hole in a board and in the bee- 

 space, and I have one of his models. 

 It is good of the kind, but I will pro- 

 ceed with mine. 



The accompanjing illustration will 

 clearly show a very simple and easily- 

 made ari-angement within the board 

 and flusli with both sides, that would 

 not seem to need more describing. 



We will take for granted that a 

 board f to f of an inch thick will 

 make a good inner cover, and such 



boards are accessible to almost every 

 one. These boards should be made of 

 such size, and bee-spaces to suit the 

 hives used. In the center of the es- 

 cape-board make a point with a scribe- 

 awl, in which to start your bit. Just 

 two inches from this center-point, and 

 on each side of it on a line the long 

 way of the board, make two more 

 points. Now bore one 3-inch hole in 

 the centre, and one IJ-inch hole on 

 each side ; a scroll-saw will cut this hole 

 nicely. These holes will make an open- 

 ing to receive the escape, which is 

 made as follows : 



One piece of wire-cloth 4 inches 

 wide and 7 inches long, with a IJ-inch 

 hole in the center for the top side. 

 One piece of wire-cloth 4 inches wide 

 and 5j inches long for the under side. 

 The narrow strip of wire-cloth that 

 forms the cone, and goes between the 

 top and bottom pieces, should be just 





'MJ^ * 



liecse^s New Bee-Escape. 



a fraction wider than the board is 

 thick, and 11 inches long. This strip 

 is put into proper shape by bending it 

 around a little block of wood, made 

 diamond shaped, 4^ inches long and 

 2| inches wiile, the points being made 

 round and blunt. 



It will be found best to make the 

 lap and join the ends on the side of 

 the diamond, and cut the exit holes 

 in each end of the diamond cone strip 

 (B B) with a pair of pointed scissors. 

 The cone-strip should be attached to 

 the top-piece, which has the hole in it, 

 with short pieces of wire, and then 

 adjusted in the board and tacked to it. 

 The under piece should next be tacked 

 on in such a manner as to allow an 

 exit at each end, as shown in the cut at 

 C C. This very simple arrangement 

 forms a double cone or barrier, and 

 the expense of material and time to 

 make it is scarcely worth computing. 



To make the IJ-inch hole in the top 

 piece or the wire-cloth, take two pieces 

 of f-inch board the same size as the 

 wire-cloth ; bore a l|-inch hole in the 

 center of each, and place the wire- 

 clotli between, clamp together, and 

 out out the wire-cloth in the hole with 

 a pen-knife. This can all be done in 



less time tlian it takes to write it. The 

 engraving shows the top of the escape. 



Please bear in mind that this pal- 

 tern of a l)ee-cscape has not had a 

 practical test during a honc3--tlow, but 

 has every indication of being a perf<!Ct 

 success. Any pattern of a bee-escape 

 will work to perfe(!tion under feeders, 

 cleaning out extracting combs or sec- 

 tions, etc. This unusual excitement 

 does not exist when an escape is 

 used during a honey-tlow, when we 

 want to take oft' full cases (extracting 

 or sections), and lead the working 

 force automatically down into an 

 empty super or brood-chamber. 



This escape-board can be used as an 

 inner cover hj simply placing a thin 

 board or piece of tin (jver the escape, 

 and if the bees should daub it up with 

 propolis, hold the escape over a heat 

 (a lamp or a few shavings on fire), 

 when it can all be jarred oft' at one lick. 



Winchestei-, Kv. 



DEADLY SPRAY. 



Tlie Spraying of Fruil-1'ree§- 

 Piaiil-Curculio, etc. 



Written for the Americin Bee Jou/rnal 

 BY L. F. ABBOTT. 



In the American Bee Journal for 

 March 15. in reply to Mr. R. G. Robert- 

 son, of Marshall, Mo., regarding the 

 spraying of fruit-trees for the destruc- 

 tion of various larvie which prej' upon 

 the fruit, the question is asked : "Why 

 use poison at all ?" And then this 

 valuable information is cited : Mr. 

 Peter Brickey gave last yeav regarding 

 the curculio, and a method of prevent- 

 ing their depredations. 



In the first place, was what Mr. 

 Brickey says true (which it is not) of 

 the curculio, that thej- crawl up the 

 trunk of the tree which they infest, 

 the method which he gives would not 

 signify in preventing the ravages of 

 the great enemy of orchard fruits — the 

 larva; of the codling-moth. There 

 need be no trouble nor apprehension 

 of disaster to bees by spraying of 

 fruit-trees, if we will take the trouble 

 to go about the business understand- 

 inglj', and in a common-sense manner. 



First, let us understand the habits of 

 the insects we wish to combat. The 

 great enemy . of the apple-orchard is 

 the codling-moth larvfe. These are 

 propagated by a little miller which ap- 

 pears at intervals through the summer, 

 and deposits its eggs in the blossom- 

 end of the apple. Its appearance in 

 early summer is governed by the sea- 

 son ; but it may be confldentlj- ex- 

 pected when the apples are just set, 

 and the blossoms have entirely dried 

 up. The codling-moth flies at night. 



