108 



T-mm MMKMICMSf MMM J@WMI«MI^. 



and hornets, if the bees are near the 

 rinej'ard. He also recommended 

 salyoilic acid and carbolic acid as 

 remedies for foul brood, but the only 

 sure cure is fire. 



On the second day the subject, 

 "Women keeping bees and becoming 

 members of the association," was dis- 

 cussed. 



On bees freezing, Mr. Mason said 

 that bees cannot be frozen in a cluster 

 if the hive is dry, but they can be 

 chilled to death if the hive is cold and 

 damp. 



Regarding wintering bees, Mr. Bull 

 said : Three things are essential at all 

 seasons of the year. They need honey, 

 bee-bread, and water. If it is desir- 

 able to have bees winter well, do not 

 fail to furnish water. It will prevent 

 them gorging themselves. As to win- 

 tering out-doors or in the cellar, each 

 had its advocates. 



The association indorsed the resolu- 

 tion of the State Board of Agriculture 

 on the State Library. The association 

 also resolved to appoint a delegate, to 

 co-operate with delegates from other 

 societies in presenting this matter to 

 the Legislature, with instructions to 

 endeavor to secure an appropriation 

 by the Legislature suiBcient to cover 

 the expense of publishing the associa- 

 tion's rejjort, and other expenses inci- 

 dental to its annual meetings. 



The following officers were elected 

 for the ensuing year : President, Dr. 

 E. H. Collins, of Mattsville ; Vice- 

 President, Wickloff Mason, of Fillmore; 

 Secretary, Geo. C. Thompson, South- 

 port ; Treasurer, Mrs. Irvin Robbins, 

 of Indianapolis. 



The convention then adjourned. 



BEE-ESCAPE. 



Plans for making Bee.Escapcs 

 for £xtraetins:-Roouis. 



On page 77, Albert H. Lind asks 

 how to make a bee-escape for his ex- 

 tracting room. In reply to the ques- 

 tion. Dr. C. C. Miller, of Marengo, 111., 

 describes his plan as follows : 



Bees will fiy to the light, so it is im- 

 portant that there shall be no light 

 admitted to the room except where 

 the bees can escape. The place for 

 escape may be a hole in the wall a foot 

 square, or it may be a whole window. 

 In cither case, cover the whole of the 

 aperture with wire-cloth, and let the 

 wire-cloth be large endugh to continue 

 a foot or so above the aperture. Now 

 if the whole thing be nailed down 

 tight, of course no bee can get out ; so 

 some plan must be devised to make 

 the upper part stand out from the out- 

 side wall, for you understand that the 



wire-cloth is nailed on the outside, not 

 the inside of the building. 



At each side of the window nail a 

 piece of common lath on the building, 

 so that the lower end shall come 2 or 

 2 inches below the upper boundary of 

 the aperture, and let the lath extend 

 upward as far as the wii-e-cloth goes. 

 Now nail the wire-cloth on the lath. 

 It may be necessary to have a piece 

 of lath midway between the two side- 

 pieces, so as to hold the wire-cloth 

 more firmly to its place. This makes 

 an open space of f of an inch through 

 which the bees can go up and fly ott', 

 but no bee will think of starting at the 

 top to come in. 



The sash must be taken out of the 

 window, or if less light is needed the 

 upper sash can be let down, and a 

 cloth, no matter how thin, be hung 

 over the sash inside. In this case the 

 wire-cloth need not cover the lower 

 part of the window, but pains must be 

 taken to make the window bee-tight. 



For greater economy, musquito-net- 

 ting maj' be used for all but a foot or 

 so of the upper part, and even that 

 may be of musquito-netting, but it is 

 so apt to get out of order. 



Mr. S. Burton, of Eureka, Ills., gives 

 his method as follows : 



To make a bee-escape, I tack screen- 

 wire on the outside of the window 

 frame, and make a hole at the top cor- 

 ner of the window about 2 inches in 

 diameter. Then make a tube of screen- 

 wire about 5 inches long, to fit the 

 hole in the screen ; at tlie other end 

 make about a half-inch hole. The 

 bees will pass out at the hole, but 

 none will enter. As they will go to 

 the window to get in, there may be 

 two or three such bee-escapes in the 

 same window, if desired. 



Rev. T. H. Dahl, of Stoughton, Wis., 

 gives the following plan : 



I will be glad to describe my own 

 bee-escape, as it is an excellent one, 

 and as far as I know it is the best yet 

 in use. I would not part with it for 

 fifty dollars, as it not only clears the 

 honej'-house of bees, but also of all 

 other insects. It is not my invention, 

 but it is used to a large extent among 

 bee-beepers. 



I use wire-cloth on the outside of 

 all the windows in the room, and I fix 

 it on so as to reach 6 or 8 inches above 

 the window. 



I i5ut it on in this way : I nail a 

 piece of lath as long as the screen on 

 each side of the window, and fasten 

 the wire-cloth on these pieces, and at 

 the bottom of the window. There will 

 then be an open space of f of an inch 

 between the wall above the window 

 and the wire-cloth. Through this hole 



all the bees will escape, and none i-eturn, 

 as the bees or other insects always try 

 to get upward, and not downward. 



It is better to darken all other win- 

 dows but one, when you will get the 

 bees out, and of course it is not neces- 

 sary to put wire-cloth on more than 

 one window. By this " escape " I 

 keep mj' honey-house entirely free from 

 bees and flies during the whole summer. 



Mr. Enoch Babb, of Herbst, Ind., 

 writes as follows about his bee-escape : 



I like my bee-escape very well, and 

 it is made as follows : It is a common 

 window in a double frames, that is, one 

 frame inside of the other. Make the 

 outside frame large enough to receive 

 the inside frame containing the win- 

 dow, which should be put in like any 

 ordinarj' window in a dwelling. To 

 raise or lower it, put in a small bolt 

 through both frames in the centre be- 

 tween the bottom and the top, oval the 

 outside of the inside frame a little, and 

 the window swings around and around. 



Work near tlie window, and all the 

 bees that are carried in will soon fly 

 and alight on the window, when, in a 

 twinkling, the window can be turned 

 inside out. In real hot weather raise 

 or lower one window-sash, and put in 

 a wire-screen, or tack on musquito- 

 bar to give ventilation. 



BEE-STINGS. 



The Rliciiniatism Cured by 

 Bee-Stings, etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY E. W. COUNCn-MAN. 



Mrs. L. Harrison, on page 57, favors 

 some plan by which bees may be de- 

 prived of their sting. I emphatically 

 protest ! If such a thing is attempted, 

 I shall certainly enter a complaint to 

 Prof. Berge for cruelty to insects. 



But laying all " pleasantr}' " aside, I 

 want to say that everything has its 

 uses, and nothing was made in vain. 

 Three years ago, when I commenced 

 bee-keeping, I was so afflicted with 

 rheumatism that it was very difficult 

 for me to stocqj and pick anj'thing 

 from the ground. Indeed, I was a 

 great sufi'erer from that terrible dis- 

 ease. After working among the bees 

 for awhile, I noticed that my lameness 

 began to disajipear, and now I am 

 comparatively free from rheumatism. 



Last summer I learned for the first 

 time that homreopathic physicians used 

 the virus of the h(mey-bee for rheuma- 

 tism. This set me to thinking. I am 

 firmly of the opinion that the bee- 

 stings (of whicli I have received a 

 ic^\), have been the cause of my re- 

 lief, for I have taken no treatment for 



