1894. 



THE ami-: arc an bee- keeper. 



and under the replaced combs. While 

 blacks are so easily scared by smoke 

 they deserve even more smoking than 

 Italians or hybrids because in examin- 

 ing the colonies we are far more lia- 

 ble to be stung. 



There is found to be an astonishing 

 difference in the dispositions of dif- 

 ferent colonies of the same strains of 

 bees and the consequent need of selec- 

 tion in breeding. Breeding can do 

 much toward getting bees out of sec- 

 tions and in the handling of hundreds 

 of colonies it may amount to days of 

 labor. 



But to return to escapes. How 

 much labor they may save is a ques- 

 tion. I estimated in the Bee-Keepers'. 

 Review some time ago that twenty es- 

 capes could be adjusted to the hives 

 in twenty minutes. In taking the 

 combs out of the hives singly and 

 brushing the bees off I consider five 

 minutes to the hive good speed. My 

 time has been about ten hives extrac- 

 ted in about three hours. When es- 

 capes were used it was fifteen to 

 eighteen hives in the same time. 

 But the main advantage is not in the 

 time consumed. When brushing the 

 bees off very seldom were the times 

 when sweat in a veritable stream did 

 not pour off my nose into the hives. 

 Then, again, it is very hard on the 

 back to lean in a sort of sidewise way 

 with a seven pound comb in one hand 

 and the brush in the other, and con- 

 tinue in it for a long time. If we 

 stand up straight the bees may be 

 thrown harshly against the alighting- 

 boards or young bees lost in the grass. 

 The most escapes I ever put on at 

 once was 48 and it seemed the work 

 of a few moments upon a set of spec- 

 ially arranged colonies. 



Twenty escapes in twenty minutes 

 is equal to six hundred in ten hours, 

 a busy, but easy day's work; in fact, 

 the difference between escapes and 

 the smoke and brush way of getting 

 the honey away from the bees may be 

 compared to the old way of binding 

 grain on the old harvesters, by hand, 

 and the new way by using the self- 

 binding machines. The one is down 

 right hard work for two men while 

 the other is fun for a boy, who drives 

 the team. 



Pasadena, Cat. 



The subscription price of The 

 American Bee-Keeper with some 

 of the leading literary magazines is as 

 follows: With the Century Maga- 

 zine, $4.00; Scribners, S3. 00; Cosmo- 

 politan, $1.75; Demorests, $2.00; New 

 England Magazine, $3.00; Godey's, 

 $3.00; Calif or nian, $3.00; Peterson's, 

 $1.25; Lippincott's, $3.00; and with 

 any other whose subscription price is 

 not less than $2.50 at the price of the 

 magazine alone. 



^LL-RM&RICfVN LINE. 



The popular Nickel Plate fast ex- 

 press trains, through sleeping cars 

 from Boston and New York to Chicago, 

 elegant dining cars, low rates, and 

 polite attention, make this the most 

 popular line between the East and 

 West. For all information call on 

 nearest ticket agent ; or address F. J. 

 Moore, General Agent, Buffalo, N. Y. 



Clubbing List. 



We will send the American Bee-Keeper with 



