THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



47 



aot, for, though the upper half of the comb 

 may have cells of worker size, the addition 

 put on by the bees is most apt to be of drone 

 size, especially if honey is coming in fast 

 when the comb is built. In every apiary, I 

 suppose, there is some natural comb built, 

 and much of this will be drone. I make it 

 a point to watch for all such combs; and 

 where the drone-cells are only in patches I 

 cut them out and fit worker comb in the 

 places; or, if honey is coming in, and comb- 

 building going on, put the pruned frames in 

 some hive which will patch them up with 

 worker comb. Hives having young queens 

 recently commenced laying will always do 

 this if the comb to be worked upon is placed 

 in the center of the brood-nest; so, too, will 

 any weak stock having a vigorous queen. But 

 hives with old played-out queens, or colonies 

 on the point of swarming, will generally 

 build drone comb." 



The Superiority of the Porter Bee Escape. 



This is a little early in the season to begin 

 talking about bee escapes, but when the time 

 comes to use them it is well to know which 

 is the best and where to get it. I had sup- 

 posed the Hastings escape as good as the Por- 

 ter, perhaps better, as it has four exits, but 

 a correspondent of Gleanings, Mr. S. A. 

 Shuck, says the Porter is superior, and gives 

 his reasons in the following extract from 

 Gleanings. 



"In Stray Straws for Nov. 1, Dr. Miller asks: 

 'Will an escape make quicker work in day- 

 time or at night?' 



With your permission, Mr. Editor, I will 

 try to answer Dr. Miller's inquiry; and, for 

 the benefit of all parties concerned, give 

 some of the details of the experiments with 

 bee-escapes, and the facts gleaned thereby. 



Many of the readers of Gleanings remem- 

 ber that the writer had the pleasure 

 of testing what has proven to be the 

 only practical and convenient bee-escape 

 now before the public (the Porter spring 

 bee - escape), before it was placed upon 

 the market. All the forms of escapes 

 known at that time were tried, and all, ex- 

 cept the one so widely known now, from the 

 defect of the little machines or the peculiar 

 habits of the bees, proved to be unsatisfac- 

 tory. The spring escape was tried in all con- 

 ceivable forms — perforated tin tops and bot- 

 toms; two or more exits; with springs clos- 

 ing up to side walls or partition in the escape, 

 similar to the so-called Hastings escape. 

 Several escapes were placed in one board to 

 ascertain whether or not the bees would 

 leave the supers quicker through several exits 

 than through a single one. These tests were 

 made both night aud day, through good and 

 bad weather, both cold and hot, and when 

 there was an abundance of nectar in the 

 flowers, and when there was neither nectar 

 nor flowers: and the facts gleaned from these 

 experiments, I believe, will ever remain 

 unchanged. 



The present form of the Porter spring es- 

 cape is the best that can be devised for thor- 

 ough, practical work. Escapes with single 

 springs pressing against the side walls or 

 partitions in the escape clog up with dead 

 bees, where double springs do not, simply 

 because the double springs give a larger 

 opening with less pressure than can be had 

 with single springs. To an observing mind 

 it would naturally appear that escapes with 

 several openings, or perforated tops and bot- 

 toms, would give better satisfaction in the 

 matter of ventilation: but many practical 

 tests in this direction show that a single 

 exit, together with the cracks at the joints of 

 the hive, made by adjusting the escape- 

 boards, give all the ventilation that is neces- 

 sary or desired. 



As to the rapidity of the working of es- 

 capes, when they work best, etc., I give the 

 following from a small circular published by 

 the Messrs. Porter: 



'Owing to the varied disposition of the bees 

 of different colonies under the same condi- 

 tions, there is a great dififereuce in the 

 length of time occupied by them in passing 

 from the super; and with the bees of the 

 same colony, the size of the super, the time 

 of the day, the state of the weather, the pre- 

 sence or absence of a honey-flow all have 

 their influence to vary this time. As a rule 

 they pass out most rapidly when all condi- 

 tions are such that they are naturally the 

 most active.' 



As bees are more active during daytime then 

 at night, they leave the supers more readily 

 during the daytime. Bees, too, that, under 

 the influence of a good honey-flow, would 

 leave the supers in a few hours, may, in a 

 time when there is no nectar,and the weath- 

 er is cool and cloudy, be as many days in de- 

 serting the supers. Thus it will be seen that 

 those who wish to accomplish the most that 

 is possible with the best escapes must work 

 when all things combine to their interest. 



As to the difference of time occupied by 

 the bees of any colony passing from a super 

 through a single escape, as compared with 

 several escapes, it is not discernible. A 

 whole colony could pass through a single es- 

 cape in less than one hour, if their anxiety to 

 move out could be awakened to such a degree 

 as to cause them all to want to get out in 

 that time. But as there is no way by which 

 such an anxiety can be awakened, the only 

 thing to be done is to allow them their own 

 good pleasure; and in this direction a single 

 escape is better than a dozen, as there is less 

 heat from below through one opening than 

 through several." 



A Condensed View of Current 

 Bee Writings. 



E. E. HASTY. 



" My writings flow from no satiric vein, 

 Contain no poison, and convey no pain.', 



There will be a preface, but not here ; peo- 

 ple do not heed prefaces when so unwisely 



