THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



99 



extracting super is just the one we want 

 emptied quickest, but is the hardest one to 

 free. Think of it. A two story hive con- 

 taining six or seven pounds of bees, and 

 probably three pounds of them in the ex- 

 tracting chamber to pass through the es- 

 cape. At the rate of 2."> per minute it will 

 take nine hours to get them out, allowing 

 4,.")00 to the pound. Thus the Porter or any 

 escape having to pass them out single file, 

 must necessarily be a long or short time i 

 proportion as there are more or less bees to 

 pass. 



In making these statements I do not for- 

 get that other conditions influence the bees 

 in going out, such as the weather, the honey 

 flow, the age of the bees and time of day. I 

 think the majority of the bees, young and 

 old, will want to fly once during the day — old 

 bees to the field and the young to play : so 

 most escapes will do the work in 24 hours. 



I would like to ask R. Lj Taylo"-, B. Tay- 

 lor, G. M. Doolittle, E. R. Root and W. Z. 

 Hutchinson to experiment as to how many 

 bees will pass through an exit requiring them 

 to go single file, in a given time ; doing so 

 as soon as the weather will permit, and re- 

 port the results to me or in the Review. 

 This is not to discredit the Porter or any 

 other escape, but to suggest improvements. 

 I would also suggest that they use the Porter 

 escape in the test, arranging details to suit 

 tlieir own convenience. 



Jan. 20, 18!)4. 



LOVELAND, Col. 



Molded Foundation.— Advantages of Carbol- 

 ized Cloths and Bee Escapes. 



W. WOODLET. 



T NOTICE in Review for February, that 

 1 Mr. O. Foster's article on foundation 

 gives Mr. Given's method of making founda- 

 tion on the Given press : as the method dif- 

 fers somewhat from the manner Messrs. Ab- 

 botts of Southall, England, made some 

 foundation with the plaster casts, early in 

 the eighties, at a London bee and honey 

 show, perhaps it will be acceptable to your 

 readers if I give the modus operandi. 



The wax was melted in a tank within 

 another tank containing water to prevent 

 burning the wax, the tank containing the 

 wax was deep enough and contained enough 



wax in which to dip the plaster casts. Those 

 casts were made in a stout wood frame (and 

 wood-back I believe) with hinges that al- 

 lowed the two casts to close together like a 

 book. The operator had a tank of clear cold 

 water and a table. The machine was dipped 

 into the water tlieu out of the water and into 

 the melted wax and the two sides of the ma- 

 chine brought up together tight by the aid of 

 a handle on each part of the machine, then 

 out of the hot wax and the whole plunged 

 into the cold water. The book (machine) 

 was opened and the sheet of foundation 

 taken off the casts, the sheet trimmed to 

 size, and the shreds, also the thin film of wax 

 that eas ly left the outsides of the machine 

 when taken from the wax tank and plunged 

 into the cold water tank, were returned to 

 the melting tank. This foundation received 

 no pressure after the wax was cold, was of 

 uniform thickness and good quality, but I 

 do not think any one uses the plaster cast 

 machines now, though at the Royal Show at 

 Chester, last .June, a machine of similar con- 

 struction, but all metal, was exhibited and 

 tried on the show ground, but the conditions 

 of trial were against the machine and it was 

 not voted a great success ; but the Abbott 

 machine of ten or twelve years ago was suc- 

 cessful in an eminent degree in making 

 stock foundation, but bee-keepers in Eng- 

 land had not at that time " caught on " in 

 using full sheets of foundation for section 

 honey, hence I cannot say if the foundation 

 as made in the plaster cast machine was 

 worked up well by the bees. 



Bee escapes ( we say "super clearers,") 

 are made the same size as our supering 

 crates which are fairly uniform in size 

 throughout England and take twenty-one 

 sections with dividers. My method of put- 

 ting them on difliers somewhat from Mr. Day- 

 ton's, and I consider my way superior to his 

 from several points of view. 1st, I kill no 

 bees ; 2nd, have both hands at liberty : 3rd, 

 it is a quicker way ; 4th, have no robber bees 

 around; ."ith, don't disturb the colony: (ith, no 

 smoke drives the bees to the sections which 

 may possibly get badly perforated. How do 

 I do it ? Why, sir, thusly : I take one yard 

 of calico, tear it into two equal parts, dip 

 these two pieces of calico into a dish con- 

 taining diluted carbolic acid, say one ounce 

 of Calvert's No. r> carbolic acid to which add 

 a little glycerine, stir together, then mix 

 with a pint or more of water. This mixture 

 can be kept in a bottle ready for use. 



