1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



satisfactory, and would show off the honey 

 something as gelatine would. It would cer- 

 tainly be very desirable to retain the feature of 

 transparency in the package, no matter what 

 it was made of. 

 Denver, Col., Jan. 19. 



Concluded in next issue. 



RELATIVE MERITS OF THE WIRECLOTH AND 

 PORTER ESCAPES. 



REQUIREMENTS OF AX OUTDOOR BEE ESCAPE. 



By F. Oreiner. 



The Porter escape has perhaps found more 

 favor among our bee-keepers than any other 

 form of escape, and still there are others that 

 work very satisfactorily, and for some purposes 

 are even better than ihe Porter. The latter is 

 constructed on ihe spring and cone principle 

 combined, and it is absolutely impossible for 

 even a single bee to work back through it. This 

 feature makes it most valuable when the escape 

 is used on the hive between brood-chamber and 

 full super. Our other escapes, with the excep- 

 tion of the trapdoor escape, which is in princi- 

 ple somewhat like the spring escape, except 

 that the force of gravitation is made use of in- 

 stead of the spring, are constructed on the cone 

 and labyrinth principle; and as we increase the 

 number of the different sets of obstructions the 

 surer we are that no bees will work back. 



If we take a look at the under side of one of 

 these escapes while in operation on the hive we 

 find it is completely covered all over with bees, 

 and, of course, a few of them are right on. the 

 apex of each flattened cone,'and are. liable, to 

 work in. J When they have entered the cone, 

 other bees from below take their places; some 

 may also work in, and so on until finally the 

 first chamber inside between two cones is 

 crowded with bees. It Is apparent that, the 

 larger or roomier this chamber is, the better; 

 fori not until it is crowded with bees will some 

 of them be very likely to occupy positions at 

 the apex of the next cone, and have occasion to 

 enter that also. After a while the second 

 chamber will also be crowded with bees, and 

 then a few bees will get into the full super. 



It is, perhaps, not entirely settled how many 

 consecutive cones it is necessary to use in the 

 construction of one of these escapes to make it 

 work perfectly on the hive. Mr. Dibbern claims 

 his last bee-escape, illustrated in Nov. 15th 

 Gleanings, does work to perfection, and per- 

 haps it does. It is built with three sets of ob- 

 structing cones, and has large spaces between 

 them, the entrance and exit holes being some 

 10 or 12 inches apart. It does not let the light 

 In, and is for that season best adapted for use 

 on the hive and not so well on a stack of supers. 

 I have made up a few of these " Rapid " es- 

 capes, and shall give them a trial next season. 



A few years ago I received, through Mr. 



Dibbern's kindness, an escape in n principle 

 somewhat like his " Rapid," but reduced in size 

 to 5x7 inches. It was constructed in such a 

 manner as to make it necessary for the bees to 

 pass six sets of obstructions. It was indeed a 

 labyrinth, and I don't believe a bee has ever 

 found its way back through it. It has stood 

 the test of several years perfectly, and I con- 

 sider it in every way the e^jual to the Porter 

 except in cost, and perhaps the same may be 

 true of his " Rapid " escape, which, it will seem, 

 is too expensive, taking more material in its 

 construction, and requiring more time to make 

 up. 



Dibbern's four-point escape has served a 

 good purpose, and I consider it to this day the 

 best for use on a stack of piled-up supers; and 

 if made roomy enough— that is, with enough 

 space between the different cones, it can not be 

 excelled for that purpose. 



According to my idea, the requirements of an 

 escape to be used out of doors on a stack are: 

 1. It must let the direct light fall in to attract 

 the bees; 3. Its exits should be some distance 

 from this place, admitting the light, say, at 

 least three or four inches As the four-point 

 Dibbern has a diameter of only three inches, 

 its exits are only a little over one inch from the 

 center hole; and when the bees from a stack of 

 piled-up supers begin to escape, robber bees col- 

 lect and, try to gain admittance. The scent 

 arising from the honey within is strongest right 

 over this hole, and robber-bees pitch for it in a 

 lively fashion, and soon cover the whole three- 

 inch escape in a way to nearly prevent the bees 

 from within escaping, some robbers even gaining 

 entrance at the points. Now, if the exits were 

 located some four inches distant from the cen- 

 ter hole, there would be little or no trouble. 

 The bees could then constantly escape, as the 

 exits would be unobstructed. 



As soon as this became apparent to me I 

 thought of adding to the four-point Dibbern, 

 which is a double-cone escape, another cone, 

 locating the exits sufficiently far from the cen- 

 ter to obviate the trouble spoken of. 



The regular D. escape occupies only a bee- 

 space in depth, and requires only a ^^-inch 

 board (with a bee space on one side). Instead, 

 I have taken a ^'-inch board, cut a 4-inch cir- 

 cular hole in center, for the four-point escape, 

 and then with chisel, etc., I cut away half the 



