592 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



ing tlie queen as she runs in. and return her 

 and the brood taken out to the hive from which 

 her swarm issued. If she should not be caught 

 as she enters the hive, she will usually be found 

 balled on the bottom-board inside of the hive, 

 where she is easily caught. All who have hived 

 two good swarms together during a honey-flow 

 know what honey they will gather with their 

 enormous stock of workers, while the stock to 

 which the queen is returned and brood given 

 will be a rousing colony again in a few days — 

 one that may store a large amount of honey. 

 By this method a comb of brood can be taken 

 here and there for forming nuclei. It does 

 away with the after-swarm nuisance; ijrevents 

 all increase, keeps all colonies strong and with 

 a laying queen, and scarcely if at all diminishes 

 the sui-plus. After the flow is over, weed out 

 all poor queens. Bees are booming at date. 

 Baptistown. N. J., June 18. W. W. Case. 



[P'riend C. there Is certainly wisdom in your 

 suggestions. In fact, where one does not want 

 Increase, and has quite a number of weak colo- 

 nies. I do not know of any bettiM' way of man- 

 aging.] 



BEE-ESCAPES AND CLOSED-END FRAMES. 



CI-OSED-END FRAMES IX A TIGHT-FITTING CASE 

 NOT PKACTICABI.E. AND WHY. 



In my last article in Gleanings, page 510. I 

 said that bee-escapes did not work with me. 

 Since that time I have received some of the 

 new Porter spring escapes. I used them nearly 

 every day during a month or more in compari- 

 son with the Dibbern and Reese escapes: and 

 now ray opinion on be(!-escapes is entirely 

 changed. If the Porter escape is adjusted to a 

 hive, the super will be practically freed of bees 

 during the night, every time, if no brood is in 

 the super. In fact, many times I had not a sin- 

 gle bee left in the super. 



To work quickly with the escape-board, we 

 give the super with the just extracted and now 

 empty combs at the same time, when the escape 

 is adjusted to the hive in the evening. All un- 

 necessary lifting is avoided thereby, but we 

 need an extra set of supers with empty combs. 

 If two hands work together, one lifting the 

 supers while the other sets on the empty super 

 and the escape-board, the whole work takes 

 very little time. The supers to be exti'acted 

 can be taken oft' at any time during the day. 

 when they are needed. 



In out-apiaries it is somewhat more difficult 

 to use the escape-boards with advantage, and I 

 do not know as yet of a practical way. To ad- 

 just the escape in the evening. riMuoving the 

 supers in the morning (the best plan for the 

 home apiary) takes two difterent trips to the 

 same out-apiary: and a few hours in the morn- 

 ing are not sufficient to free the supers of all 

 the bees. As yet I use in my out-apiaries some- 

 thing similar to Dr. Miller's escape-tent, but 

 made of wooden fi'aniework. and covered with 

 wire cloth. 



My opinion is now. that the Portei' escape 

 will very much lessen the work of taking off 

 honey. This escape is much ahead of all oth- 

 ers, because no bee can get back into the super. 

 Even if some brood is thei'e. the most of the 

 bees will escape. exce))t quite young ones, 

 which never l**ve the brood, and which can't 

 take wing at an. These young bees, if brushed 

 through a funnel into any box. will be accepted 

 by any colony, and can be used to strengthen 

 small colonies or nuclei. 



On page 543. ^Iv. Lester Judson and you (E. 

 R.) sav that closed-end frames in closelv fit- 



ting hives are not a practical success, at least 

 not in a hive as deep as the Dovetailed hive. I 

 used these frames and hives this season, at first 

 opposed to them: but I prefer them now to 

 hives with swinging frames or with Ilottinan 

 frames. You have given no reasons for youi- 

 opinion, and I can't see any. I can handle 

 these frames quicker than the common hanging 

 frame, and as fast as the Hoffman frame, and 

 kill no be(>s. If in some years the i)ropolis will 

 not make any trouble, and many apiarists of 

 reputation, among them yourself, say that this 

 will not be the case. I will not use any other 

 frame: that is. if I need fixed frames. So far 

 my experience with these fi'ames and hives 

 leads me to the idea that the new Heddon hive 

 may not be so bad after all. and very probably 

 I shall try some of them next year. 



What a queer change of opinion! About a 

 year ago I was opposed to these frames, and 

 you told us of th(Mr great advantages: and now 

 i have got used to them, and found out their 

 advantages, and you say. "They are no practi- 

 cal success." L. Stachelhausen. 



Selma, Tex.. July 8. 



[I felt quite certain that you would reverse 

 your opinion when you tried the Porter escape. 

 Its conception is a great stride in advance; 

 and the conservative bee-keeper who loon't try- 

 it or won't make it work is going to lose some- 

 thing. 



Regarding those closed-end frames. I see you- 

 do not quite understand me. They are a mag- 

 nificent success as used by Hetherington and 

 Elwood; but when they are used in a tight- 

 fitting box I have my doubts about them. 

 Frames as shallow as the Heddon will work. I 

 know: but when we increase the depth of those 

 same frames we encounter a difficulty. Did 

 you never have a bureau-drawer stick or draw 

 out by " hitches'"— that is. catch on one end 

 and then on the other? Well, if you never did 

 it is because you live in a climate so dry that 

 bureau-drawers don't swell with moisture. I 

 trust you see the application. Closed-end 

 frames in a tight-fitting case must not have a 

 play of over ^s inch, or more than ^. Why? 

 If more, the space will be great enough to roll 

 bees over. If h inch is just right, what is the 

 trouble then? It can't be maintained in most 

 localities, on account of moisture: and. besides 

 this, unless there is pe?'/ecf acci<./vff(/ of work- 

 manship the frames won't go into the hives. 

 Those we sent you, and others, we made with 

 great care, knowing its importance: but be- 

 cause these frames would be put in other hives 

 than our own, and because of the shrinking and 

 swelling in many localities, we felt that we 

 could not conscientiously continue to recom- 

 mend them. Let there be a variance of even ^^ 

 of an inch in the length of the hives, and there 

 is trouble. Among the supply- dealers there are 

 some who do not work to tlie same gauge in 

 Langstroth size of hives: and add to this some 

 inaccuracies of manufacture, and you will see 

 the point. Now, if all L. hives were of exacts 

 ly the same length, and if wood would not be 

 affected by dampness, I think there would be 

 no fixed frame equal to the closed ends in a 

 tight-fitting box. When all the conditions are 

 right their manipulation is pretty, and they 

 would kill no bees. 



I will add one more word about this swelling. 

 Last spring, when we took our Heddon hive 

 from the cellar (a dry one; the end-bars and the 

 ends of the hives had been so swelled that the 

 fj-ames were immovable. After it had been 

 outdoors, exposed to the sun for a while, there 

 was no trouble. For the benefit of Mr. Heddon 

 I will remark that I don't think there would be 

 serious trouble with shallow close-fitting frames- 



