764 



AMERICAN BEE JOURKaL. 



Queries aiid Replies. 



Setting Bees Ont of Sujers. 



titJEliY 770.— 1. What is the best 

 method of cleaning the bees out of 

 supers when taking off honey *? 2. Are 

 any of the various bee^escapes of any 

 account ? If so, which is best ? — B. K. 



1. Brush them from one section at a 

 time. 2. I have had no experience with 

 bee-escapes. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



1. Use a bee-escape. 2. Yes ; most 

 any of them will work, and the simplest 

 home-made one is as good as any. — G. 



M. DOOLITTLE. 



1. Use a bee-escape. 2. Most assur- 

 edly. Either Reese, cone, or horizontal. 

 The latter should have a wide opening 

 above. — A. J. Cook. 



Try a "bee-escape." They will not 

 all work every time, but are a conven- 

 ience in many cases. Try the Dibbern 

 and Porter. — Eugene Secok. 



1. Use some good bee-escape. 2. I 

 have used the Dibbern escape with the 

 best of satisfaction. I think, from what 

 I can see of the Porter, it will work well. 

 Shall try it this season. — H. D. Cutting. 



1. I prefer a good bee-escape. 2. Yes; 

 the Dibbern bee-escape is good, used 

 with a shallow rim beneath. Have no 

 experience with the Porter bee-escape, 

 but believe it to be good. — G. L. Tinkek. 



1. Any of the escapes will help, and 

 in some cases will make thorough work. 

 For a large number, especially at an out- 

 apiary, I like the little tents of mosquito 

 netting on top of a pile of supers. 2. 

 Reese's latest looks good, but I have not 

 tried it. — C. C. Miller. 



1. Use the horizontal bee-escape in 

 board M or % of an inch thick, with 

 bee-space on both sides when in place. 

 2. The escape is all that can be desired 

 when rightly made. The one I invented, 

 and as now improved, is, I think, 

 " boss." — C. H. Dibbern. 



1. I cannot determine the best way. 

 I usually take the sections out one by 

 one, and shake and brush the bees off, 

 putting the sections into an empty case, 

 or handing them to an assistant for that 

 purpose. 2. I have not "tried or seen 

 any of the bee-escapes. — M. Mahin. 



1. I do not know. I drive them out 

 as best I can, but as I only keep a few 

 bees, it makes little difference how 

 slowly they do come out. 2. I have had 



but little experience with bee-escapes, 

 and I do not like them. Others do, and 

 perhaps I should after a long trial. — J. 

 E. Pond. 



1. Take off the supers late in the 

 evening, and set them near the front of 

 the hive. Use smoke to drive the bees 

 down when you take them off ; and then 

 awhile after removal give them a little 

 more smoke. Take supers to the honey- 

 house early in the morning. 2. Yes, sir. 

 —J. P. H. Brown. 



1. There are many good ones, and 

 this is conveniefit sometimes : Make a 

 bee-tight pile of supers as high as is 

 safe, then put on the open top a hive 

 without the bottom, in which place a 

 comb with young brood, and also a few 

 other combs. The bees will soon gather 

 there. 2. I have not tried them. — R. 

 L. Taylor. 



Yes. The bee-escapes, when made 

 right, and used in harmony with the 

 instincts of the bees, are a practical 

 success. I do not know that I am right ; 

 but I recognize only one bee-escape, and 

 that is Reese's. The application of an 

 old principle to a new purpose, embodies 

 the whole thing. ■ In the present light I 

 give Mr. Reese credit for all bee-escapes. 

 — James Heddon. 



1. It has been so long since I have 

 taken off a super of honey that I have 

 almost forgotten. I believe I used to 

 drive them down with smoke, and then 

 carry it into the honey- house. 2. I 

 believe that bee-escapes are a good 

 thing, and have come to stay, but I have 

 never had an opportunity of testing my 

 collection, and am not able to say which 

 is "best." — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



1. This is an old question, and nearly 

 every practical apiarist has his own way 

 of doing it. I have a dark closet, 

 standing on legs so that I do not have 

 to stoop much when putting in and 

 taking out the cases filled with honey. 

 The closet has a bee-escape that permits 

 the bees to escape from the dark closet, 

 but prevents them from returning to 

 carry away the honey. When the cases 

 are ready to take off, the bees are 

 smoked down, and the cases are lifted 

 before many of them can return. The 

 cases are immediately carried to the 

 dark closet, and the door closed. At 

 night, the cases, empty of bees, are 

 stored in the honey-house, where the 

 sections are cleaned and crated for 

 market. — G. W. Demaree. 



1. Use a "bee-escape." 2. Y"ou cannot 

 miss it much, if you use the latest 

 Improvements in that line. — The Editor. 



