1891 



(xLEAXlXGS IN BEE CLLTUKE. 



4r25 



\vi(ip. T()i)-liais to the loose IVaiiics iniglit he 

 also % thick, hut the Imnhcr come? In such 

 shape that it is aliout as cheap to make the ex- 

 tra K inch as to make it only H. After all. 

 friend F.. after taking all the facts together, 

 yon see we do not disagree unless it is in the use 

 of the folded tin liar and the extra thickness. I 

 notice that you have adopted the Hoffman 

 widened end." We tried them last yeai', but 

 have abandoned them and now use the top-bars 

 widened at the ends, as well as the end-bar. as 

 Hoffman has them. For the reasons of this, see 

 page 3(58. Mav 1. curient veai" also page 48'.). 

 18'.K).1 " ■ E. R. R. 



THE PORTER SPRING BEE-ESCAPE. 



THE BKST ONE YET DEVISED. 



Before entering upon the subject proper of 

 this article I wish to tender my thanks to the 

 publishers of Gi.eamxgs for their kindness in 

 furnishing proof of engravings for illustrating 

 it. A good engraving often gives a clearer con- 

 ception of the thing under considei-ation than 

 a whole page of print: and in tliiscase I think 

 tlie Gi,EA>'iX(is artists have succeeded so nice- 

 ly that there is but little left for me to do luore 

 than give the dimensions of the dilTerent parts, 

 togetlier with a comparison of the practical 

 workings of the Porter spring escape, with that 

 of other escapes now in use. 



the porter SI'KIXO BEE-ESCAI'E. 



Engraving No. 1 shows the escape complete, 

 which, when placed in an escape-board, is 

 ready for use. The bees enter the escape at F 

 and pass out at D. as shown in cuts 2 and 3. 

 The escape proper, as shown at A. is SfX inches 

 long by l^H wide and Vj inch deep. The top 

 piece C is 4^^ in. long and 1-^4 in. wide. The 

 part B, contaiiung the springs as sJiown in cut 

 No. 2. is \% in. long. 1 in. wide and V in. deep. 

 The object of this inner part. B, is to admit of 

 a depression under F for the reception of dead 

 bees that may chance to get into the escape. A 

 dozen or twenty dead bees may get into the es- 

 cape and not interfeie with the bees out be- 

 tween the springs. To prepare the escape for 

 use. make a plain board of ^.j-inch tnaterial, the 

 size of the top of the hives on which it is to be 

 used. Cleat the board at sides and ends so as 

 to provide the necessary bee-space above or be- 

 low the board. Bore two holes 334 in- apart 

 from center to center, and near the center of 

 the board, with a l\s-in. bit. and cut out the in- 

 tervening wood: drop the escape into this open- 

 ing and it is ready for use. 



To adjust the escape-board on the hive, re- 

 move the hive-cover. A few puffs of smoke are 

 necessary to prevent the bees from becoming 

 angry. Raise the super, place tln^ board on the 

 hive, and set the sui)er on the board, and return 



the hive-cover. .All is done in less time than is 

 required to write this sentence, yet this is all 

 the time that is required by the bee-keeper to 

 remove the liees from the super, as the bees pass 

 out at their leisure, and the super is taken to 

 the honey-house at any convenient time after 

 the bees have deserted it. 



During the season of 1800 I removed all my 

 comb honey, about .'2.")00 lbs., from the hives by 

 the use of escapes, and experienced less incon- 

 venience and annoyance by rol)i)ers or bees in 

 my honey-house than I hav(^ frequently expe- 

 rienced in icmoving a couple of hundred jjounds 

 by the old method of smoking, shaking, and 

 brushing of the bees from the supers. 



I used four different patterns of escapes — the 

 cone, trap-door. Porter spring, and ]\[r. Dib- 

 bern's latest i)attern. Triple-cone escapes made 

 of perforated tin work quite well at times. Oc- 

 casionally quite a number of bees find their way 

 back through the cones into the super. 



The trap-door escape works nicely for a little 

 while, but they are soon rendered useless on ac- 

 count of pi'opolis. 



Mr. Uibbeiifs new escape gave very poor re- 

 sults, as. in my first trial with it. there was very 

 little decrease in the number of bees in a T su- 

 per in M4 hours after adjusting the escape on 

 the hive. My second trial was but little better, 

 as only about half the bees were out of the su- 

 per in :IA hours. In subsequent trials it worked 

 some better, but not any better, if as well, as 

 the cone escapes, as the bees are slower in pass- 

 ing out through the Dibbern. I very much dis- 

 like the Dibbern escape, for two reasons: I. c. it 

 is just as liable to clog up with dead bees as the 

 cone escape is. and there is no way of clearing 

 it out or knowing that it is or is not in working 

 order without taking it apart. 



The only objection I see so far to the Porter 

 spring esca])e is. that it lias nodutouuttic prin- 

 ciple that will extract the bees from the supers 

 in a given time: and the bees of some colonies, 

 under certain conditions of weather, are very 

 slow to move out: but once they are out. they 

 are certain to stay out. 



While the bees have shown a disposition to 

 propolize the perforations in the perforated tin 

 cone escapes, and plaster over those made of 

 wire cloth, and glue the doors of the trap-door 

 escapes fast, they have put but very little pro- 

 polis into the spring escapes, but not enough 

 to interfere with the working of the springs in 

 the least. 



But little need be said concerning the utility 

 of a practical bee-escape for removing comb 

 honey from the hives. Any bee-keeper who has 

 gone through the vexations of removing his 

 comb honey from the hives during a honey 

 dearth will agree with me that it is any thing 

 but a pleasant task: while with a practical es- 

 cape the vexations are all removed— no brush- 

 ing, no shaking of bees, no robbing, and no bees 

 in the honey-house. The escape-boards can be 

 adjusted at any time of day. and is done so 

 quickly that the robber-bees have no chance to 

 get a start. The supers can be taken off' at the 

 bee-keepei's leisure after the bees have deserted 

 them, which is usually from five to eight hours. 

 Many of my supers were carried in early in the 

 moniing. without hat or veil, while the good 

 wife was setting the breakfast. 



Concerning the inventors and manufacturers. 

 R. and E. C. Porter, of Lewistown. Ills., of the 

 Porter spring escape. I will say. that, so far as 

 I have been^ able to learn, they are the oldest 

 practical bee-keepers in this part of Illinois. At 

 present they do not keej) a very large apiary, 

 only some >M) or 80 colonies, on account of so 

 many bees near them. In 1882 they obtained 

 between '.1000 and 10.000 lbs. of extracted honey 

 from about 80 colonies. In 1880 thev obtained 



