1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



953 



work, and thus are entirely out of the way. 

 By the use of the piece of wagon- spring as 

 a "pry," the wedge is soon pushed in one- 

 half its length, this giving a one-inch open- 

 ing into which I can blow smoke, which is 

 now done quite freely. The smoker is now 

 quickly set down, when one hand grasps the 

 escape-board, and by thrusting the fingers 

 of the other into the opened crack, the su- 

 pers are lifted up at the back end as high as 

 possible without having them slide off the 

 front of the hive, and the escape - board 

 pushed in as far as it will go toward the 

 front of the hive, when the supers are 



pe Bof^xo 



HOW TO PUT ON THE ESCAPE- BOARD. 



quickly lowered on to it. The smoker is 

 now quickly grasped again, and a stream of 

 smoke sent in at the opening which this has 

 made at the front of the hive by the escape- 

 board not being quite in place. The chisel 

 end of the spring is now caught under the 

 back end of the bottom super, while the oth- 

 er hand grasps the top (forward end) of the 

 cover, when, by bearing down on the spring, 

 so as to make a fulcrum of the escape- board, 

 and at the same time pulling with the top 

 hand, the supers are easily and quickly slid 

 in their place, so as to cover nicely the es- 

 cape-board. Quickly go to the front, catch 

 the chisel end of the spring under the es- 

 cape-board, with the other hand at the back, 

 on top of the cover; bear down on the spring 

 so as to make a fulcrum of the hive below, 

 at the same time pulling with the top hand, 

 when the board with its load of supers is 

 quickly and easily brought completely over 

 the top of the hive. If a sort of rocking 

 motion is given to the p ece of wagon- spring 

 when bearing down, it will faciUtate mat- 

 ters much, especially where there is a heavy 

 load of supers or hives to go on the escape- 

 board. The heavy end of the wedge takes 

 that to the ground and out of the way, im- 

 mediately upon the lifting of the super, so 

 neither of the hands is obliged to touch it, 

 thus saving one motion when we are in a 

 huiry to get what is needed done before the 

 bees reahze what our interference means. 

 The wedge should be made of some kind of 

 hard wood, and be polished smooth. Other- 

 wise it will " broom " up from the heavy 

 pressure that is brought to bear on it in 

 handling supers or heavy hives, three or 

 four stories high, which are filled with honey. 

 In this way I have put the supers in a whole 

 apiary on the escape-boards without killing 

 scarcely a bee or arousing the anger of a 



single colony. It has taken some time ':o 

 tell this in writing; but when the "trick " 

 is once learned, it takes but a moment to do 

 it, and that with an ease which seems like 

 magic, even with three or four filled supers 

 on the hives. This is one of i he easy ' ' short 

 cuts " I use when tfiking off supers at the 

 end of the season. An editor of one of the 

 bee papers, after seeing me put on escape- 

 boards m this way, wrote a friend about it 

 in these words: "it was a caution with what 

 speed and dexterity he could manipulate the 

 hives and super.-. With his practice and 

 skill he killed very few bees, and he did not 

 irritate them either." 



I have dwelt on this because it saves so 

 much of the labor and backache required 

 with the usual ways of clearing the supers 

 of bees whei takiug off honey, at the end of 

 the season. After the whole are ti-eated in 

 this way I am off for home, as this is all 

 there is to be done at this visit, this being 

 the ninth in number since we commenced 

 operations in the spring. 



What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the 

 son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him 

 to have dominion over the works of thy hands: thou hast 

 put all things under his feet; the fowl of the air and the 

 fish of the sea, and whatsoever that passeth through 

 the paths of the seas. O Lord, our tjord, how excellent 

 is thy name in all the earth'.— Psalm 8:4,6, 8, 9. 



Away back when Gleanings started I 

 used to know all cur subscribers by name. 

 Their letters were read with such intense 

 friendly interest that I could remember name, 

 locality, and most that they had written in 

 previous letters; and I followed many of 

 them in after years as they branched out in- 

 to different occupations aside from bee keep- 

 ing. Among the first was G. W. Park, pres- 

 ent editor of a little magazine on flowers 

 called Park's Floral Magazine. Friend Park 

 started in the "posy business" just about 

 the time I started Gleanings.* Some years 

 ago, I do not remember just how many, he 



* George W. Park was educated at the Michigan Agri- 

 cultural College. He was a student under Prof. A. J. 

 Cook. The latter said some very kind things about my- 

 self in our journal a little time back. They were more 

 kind than 1 deserved. And this reminds me that I have 

 gotsomethirg to say about Prof. Cook. His students, 

 those who were educated under him, are scat'ered all 

 over the world. The results of his faithful, careful. 

 God-fearing work will live in the hearts of those stu- 

 dents long after he is dead and gone. Can any human 

 being do a greater work for humanity than to teach 

 young men to love to follow in wisdom's ways? and our 

 good friend Cook has all his life had a peculiar faculty 

 for teaching his pupils to fall in love with their work- 

 especially rural pursuits. Who can tell the amount of 

 good that has been done the world by the agricultural 

 colleges of our different States, especially with such 

 men to lead as dear friend Cook? 



