AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



369 



acres near town or city, is worth more 

 to such city and State than a whole 

 basement or garret-full of the riff-raff 

 and scum of the earth. Let us all 

 theorize and practice, and then compile 

 and publish the best ways and means (ff 

 making a fair living and happy homes. 

 This will help all around, and cultivate 

 the good and useful in humanity. 



From my experience and observation, 

 I would take five acres as a standard 

 homestead within two miles of town, 

 plant two acres in alfalfa ; the rest in 

 fruit, principally apples and native 

 plums. 



Build the house near the front center, 

 and intersperse the orchard with the 

 stables, poultry and bee-houses. The 

 same ground will raise fruit, poultry and 

 bees. The chickens will help gather the 

 bugs, worms and decaying fruit, and the 

 bees will help fertilize the bloom, and 

 collect and store hundreds of pounds of 

 honey. Also keep a horse, two cows 

 and pigs, and live like a true, indepen- 

 dent American sovereign. 



To lay by money, enlarge and culti- 

 vate the apiary. Gain knowledge and 

 profit by careful practice, and diligent 

 study of such papers and books as 

 published by Newman, Root, Doolittle, 

 and many others, as well as the bees 

 themselves. 



i)o not start with more than you can 

 handle well, and increase capacity with 

 your bees. I believe the bee business is 

 yet in its infancy, or at most in its teens. 



There will be progress in the knowl- 

 edge and science of bee-culture, in hives 

 and bee-houses ; in the art of increasing 

 or decreasing swarming ; in working for 

 comb or extracted-honey ; selection and 

 mating of queens, from the quietest and 

 best working colonies, and experiment- 

 ing with importations and crosses. 

 Colorado is making successful advance 

 in these lines by individuals. 



What we need is more concert of 

 action, organization, the meeting and 

 comparing of experiences. Let us 

 encourage local clubs, and diffusion of 

 knowledge. Tell non-producers and 

 consumers what honey is good for, and 

 what a cheap and wholesome medicinal 

 food it is. 



I know a lady, east of Colorado, who 

 has been an invalid for several years, 

 with what was called consumption of 

 the stomach, caused by dyspepsia. Such 

 eminent physicians as Dr. Agnew and 

 others said she was past cure. She 

 came to Longmont, Colo., and the first 

 thing that her stomach seemed to relish 

 and retain was honey. We let her have 

 plenty of honey and light air, and some 



seltzer water from Springdale. In three 

 months she could eat almost anything, 

 and had gained about thirty pounds. 



Then if it is such an elixir of life and 

 health, let us encourage the science 

 and production of the sweet prepared 

 nectar for "ye gods" of earth, and 

 pr.oclaim to the world the exhilirating 

 and invigorating properties of Colorado's 

 pure air, continuous sunshine, and de- 

 licious honey. — Read at the Oolorado 

 Convention. 



Tlie First Bee-EscaDe Inyenteil, 



J. W. SILCOTT. 



I send to the Bee Journal Museum 

 one of my bee-escapes and paper draw- 

 ing of escape-board. It was patented in 

 18812, and advertised for a short time in 

 the American Bee Journal.* 



I have used it, since that time, on 

 from 40 to 60 colonies, annually, to get 

 the bees out of the surplus cases. This 

 year I have used it on 60 colonies, and 

 have taken off about 2,000 one-pound 

 sections. With the exception of 3 

 colonies, I did not carry into the honey- 

 house over a pint of bees. 



The bees, in a large number of surplus 

 cases, after they are separated from the 

 brood and queen, soon become restless, 

 and pass out through the escape, in a 

 few hours, into the brood-chamber. 

 Some will take 12, and a few will re- 

 quire from 24 to 36 hours for all the 

 bees to leave the surplus cases. The 

 surplus cases on two of the three hives 

 before mentioned, remained on the hives 

 for six days, and each then contained 

 about one-half pint of bees. There was 

 no brood, nor could I find a queen. The 

 bees in the third did not at any time 

 show any restlessness, and very few left 

 the case. I searched very carefully for 

 a queen, but failed to find one, as I had 

 expected to. These obstinate cases 

 occur each year in about the same pro- 

 portion, but I have failed to find out the 

 cause. 



I use this bee-escape on a hive, with 

 an outer case covering the surplus case. 

 To use it on a hive like the dovetailed, 

 the bee-escape board would have to be 

 made 3 inches longer than the hive, and 

 the surplus case placed over in front, to 

 bring the hole, indicated in the drawing, 

 over the brood-chamber, and the bee- 

 escape should be covered with a small 

 two-sided box, to make it dark. 



It can also be used directly under the 

 sections, but I prefer using it at the end 

 or side of the case, for I think the bees 



