186 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



boards or measure the crevice but he goes 

 through by a desperate, centrally directed 

 plunge. So the excited bee goes through the 

 exit of the escape with hardly a slack in the 

 rapid pace. Placing her front feet on a 

 brood frame she continues to fan for a long 

 time, wafting the air from the brood cham- 

 ber through the escape for the guidance of 

 other bees. As each succeeding bee comes 

 through they take their place a little farther 

 back and assist in the wing operation. This 

 line of fanning bees finally extends all the 

 way back through the escape into the super, 

 where they stand in line around the entrance 

 to the escape. Other bees in the super rec- 

 ognizing this consoling draft, come toward 

 it. By force of habit they almost stop to 

 fan where they are. But then, as yet, they 

 hardly know the reason for fanning. What 

 little scent comes through the escape is 

 caught upon the wings of those arranged 

 around the escape entrance, and mixed with 

 the air of the super, is violently dispelled 

 amongst the combs. This uncertainty causes 

 the rear bees to crowd forward until a solid 

 line forms around the entrance to the escape. 

 This checks the draft still more and also 

 adds to the uncertainty. But more bees 

 come and climb over the backs of the others 

 until the line becomes top-heavy and they 

 roll into the escape from all sides. This 

 makes confusion complete ; the rear fans 

 cease and they plunge forward, en masse, in 

 the direction of the still undisturbed fans, 

 Ihrough the exit of the escape. After the 

 channel of the escape is full of bees it is 

 heaped up, and in looking in from the top 

 there is a disordered mass of bees that ex- 

 cludes all glimpses of the escape, each bee 

 trying to get through first. If a few bees 

 were to try to get through and fail, they 

 would return, and the excitement would 

 grow less, but, instead, they succeed and are 

 encouraged, and the longer they are kept in 

 suspense the harder they fan after getting 

 into the brood chamber, and thereby excite- 

 ment increases. The atmosphere from the 

 brood chamber is as precious to their ex- 

 cited throng as honey would be in the time 

 of starvation : and they are not satisfied un- 

 til they are safely and surely at home in the 

 brood chamber. When this excitement be- 

 gins I have never known it to take thirty 

 minutes before four-fifths of the bees had 

 passed out through the lateral springs but in 

 the case of simple cones they went out singly 

 and so slowly that they seem to get over the 



excitement and then take their time. While 

 the exit should possess enough obscurity to 

 cause this excitement, it is an extreme to 

 locate it in the center of the board— the most 

 unexpected place for a bee to look for an 

 exit. An unexcited bee draws no followers 

 because it does not fan. When the first ex- 

 cited bee discovers the way to the brood 

 chamber it fans. An unexcited bee is not 

 attracted by fanning. It is the fanning, re- 

 sulting from excitement, that draws the bees 

 through the escape with any sort of rapidity. 

 So as soon as they become excited the exit 

 should be quickly and certainly found in or- 

 der that they may pass through while excite- 

 ment runs high. While they are pulling 

 slivers from every joint, if the door to the 

 exit weighed an ounce, there would enough 

 gather around to raise it. Each unexcited 

 bee might, in time, lift a door or spring for 

 itself, and all, finally, get out ; but not with 

 the rapid movement as when air from the 

 brood chamber is wafted through an en- 

 closed passage, which is also the passage 

 way for extremely anxious bee«. 



Those escapes having perforated cover- 

 ings, as in the Hastings, or with wire cloth 

 coverings, as in the Lareese, are mistaken 

 in principle, and misleading to the bees ; 

 and still more so when the entrance to the 

 passage is in the center and the exit near 

 the margin of the boards. And in any es- 

 cape tliere should be space provided for fan- 

 ning bees inside the passage after going 

 through the gates or springs. A certain num- 

 ber of firemen may form a line to pass buck- 

 ets of water to the roof of a burning build- 

 ing, but if they divide and attempt to run 

 two lines of buckets it may be as well to go 

 across the road and sit on the fence to enjoy 

 the conflagration. So long as the escape 

 operation is confined to one exit the more 

 perfect will be the line of fanners and the 

 more liability to incite a concentrated tu- 

 mult and the more certainty of the tumult 

 continuing until the bees are practically all 

 out of the super. Nor need one expect much 

 uneasiness late in the day. Like setting 

 hens, queenless bees become quiet and camp 

 where night finds them. The entrance of a 

 powerful colony may be closed during the 

 night but the same thing during the warmth 

 and light of a business day is quite a differ- 

 ent matter. 



Florence, Calif. 



June If), 1894. 



