1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



681 



GETTING BEES OUT OP SECTIONS. 



A GOOD SUGGESTION FROM DR. C. C. MILLER. 



fAVING finished taking off supers with more 

 satisfaction than ever before, particularly 

 in the out-apiaries, I will describe the bee- 

 escape used, and the manner of using it. 

 As usual it is nothing original, but a mere 

 copy of Mr. Root's open-topped tent, only on a 

 smaller scale. I do not think it better, under all 

 circumstances, than every thing else; but for 

 those not having other conveniences, it offers, at a 

 trifle of labor and expense, a very satisfactory 

 means of getting bees out of sections; and forget- 

 ting a large number of supers cleared in as short 

 time as possible, as is desirable in an out-apiary, I 

 know nothing equal to it. 



Take two pieces of No. 14 wire (lighter wire may 

 do as well), each 3 ft. 6 in. long; straighten them, 

 and bend each in the form of a loop at the middle, 

 so that the ends of the two legs of each piece shall 

 stand apart a foot or a little more as shown. The 

 loop may be % of an inch to an inch in length. 

 The two legs must be carefully measured; and if 

 not exactly equal in length, the longer must be cut 

 off. It is not important that the two pieces be ex- 

 actly equal in length, only the two legs of each 

 piece. Now put the loop of one piece through the 

 loop of the other, and stand the four legs at the in- 

 side corners of a T super upon the sections, as 

 shown in cut. This makes the framework of our 

 little tent complete. Now for the cover. 



MILLER S BEE-ESCAPE. 



Take % of a yard of mosquito-netting. If wider 

 than 1^4, cut it to that width, and then fold it dou- 

 ble, making a square. Sew up one side, beginning 

 at the folded corner, then clip off with the scissors 

 the folded corner where it is sewed, so that the cut 

 part shall be less than an inch across. Better have 

 it too small than too large, for it can easily be en- 

 larged. Now put the netting over the wires, and 

 see that the hole at the top is large enough for two or 

 three bees to pass out at a time. That's all; and if 

 there are any bees in the super they can get out at 



the top, but no bee will think of getting in so high 

 up. Of course, the arrangement can be made dif- 

 ferently, so as to fit other than a T super. Possi- 

 bly it maybe desirable to fasten or weight down 

 the sides of the little tent, but so far I have not 

 found it necessary. Five or six supers may be 

 piled up and a little tent put on top, and I have 

 had good success piling them nine high. Don't un- 

 derstand me to say I would take a super from a 

 hive and put on the little tent without having 

 smoked out most of the bees before taking from 

 the hive. If all the bees were left in the super, 1 

 think the youngest would not find their way back 

 to their own hive. 



To-day, July 31, 1 took off the last supers at the 

 Wilson apiary, and it may interest you to know 

 just how it was done. My assistant, Emma, played 

 the smoker constantly, leaving me free to work 

 without hindrance. First she gave a puff at the 

 entrance of the jhive, while I with a cold-chisel 

 took off the super cover; and as I raised it, Emma 

 began playing on the super. The smoker was kept 

 in constant motion back and forth, not from side to 

 side, but lengthwise of the sections; for in this way 

 fully three times as much smoke will go down into 

 the sections as if the smoker were moved crosswise. 

 For this first one I must wait just a little time for 

 the bees to get down, then the cold-chisel is slipped 

 under the super, and it is removed. Immediately 

 Emma turns her attention to the next hive, taking 

 off the cover and smoking the super, while with 

 brush in hand I take the super of the first hive, 

 brush off the bottom, and place it on a super cover 

 lying upside down on the ground, and I prefer it 

 shall be out in the hot sun— it was directly in the 

 sun to-day, with 98° in the shade; then I throw over 

 it a cloth to keep out the robbers, go back and pry 

 up the honey-board of the first hive, so the bees 

 will have time to clean the honey off it before it is 

 taken from the hive, and then take off the second 

 super. When I had made a pile six or more high I 

 pitched a tent on the top and started a new pile. 

 Four piles were thus made. We had only four 

 tents. Then we took off' the honey-boards, and did 

 some other work, and by the time we were ready to 

 load the supers on the wagon, the bees were out. 



SHIRTS FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



I have never been able to find a woolen shirt 

 suitable for bee-work. They are all too dark, in- 

 viting stings; and if Ernest has found just the 

 right thing, let him describe explicitly what it is, or, 

 better still, furnish bee-keepers' shirts for sale. 



Marengo, 111., July 31, 1888. 



C. C. Miller. 



Friend M., I believe you have struck on 

 a good idea. There is no doubt at all but 

 that it will work perfectly, and will answer 

 as good or better purpose than a bee-tent. 

 Although you disclaim originality for the 

 invention, you deserve a good deal of.credit 

 for putting an old idea in so practical a form. 

 Just as soon as I read your article I had a 

 bee-escape made, set it over a T super, and 

 photographed it. " The result is the engrav- 

 ing shown above. To provide against the 

 possibility of bees crawling up the sides of 

 the super and under the bottom fringe, we 

 sewed in a rubber cord, the same as is done 

 sometimes in bee-veils. This made the bot- 

 tom of the fringe elastic, so it could be 

 stretched over the super. It adds to its cost 

 but little, and when robbers are bad it might 



