204 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



sources. The houey producer is also iu uo 

 lit mood to rear queens for the trade duriiiy 

 or after a very busy season of several 

 mouths of hard work with the bees, he pre- 

 fers to hie away to the sea coast or the 

 mountain for a rest. The only remedy for 

 our backward state iu the (lueen rearing in- 

 dustry is for some Jennie Atchley to take 

 it in hand and even us up with the other 

 States of the Union. 

 Redlandh, Caltf. June, 25, 18t);j. 



Pi^>:?V^^J|_.ei^ 



Extracting — Bee - Escapes — Wide Top Bars 

 Prevent Brace Combs. 



O. W. DAYTON. 



"That which is rightly done is easily done. 

 Flurry, fume and pcrtpiration simply show that 

 we have uol lound the right way." 



T was with fear 

 and trembling 

 that I came lug- 

 ging a self - hiver 

 into the June Re- 

 view, thirty or six- 

 ty days late, when 

 our editor had ar- 

 ranged to finish 

 the discussion in a 

 previous number. 

 I have been os- 

 cillating between 

 two apiaries seven 

 miles apart, running them for extracted 

 honey and increase. It takes four days to 

 do an apiary, and then I fold my tent at 

 two to three o'clock in the afternoon and ar- 

 rive at tiie other apiary an hour or so before 

 sundown. 



My plan of using the bee escape is to put 

 a dozen in place on the evening of arrival, 

 and wheel the upper stories into the extract- 

 ing room the next morning before break- 

 fast. From then until noon is required to 

 extract this houey and put the combs back 

 on the hives. After dinner the old plan of 

 brushing the bees off the combs is followed, 

 and five or six more stories extracted. If I 

 were in any way rushed, I should use more 

 escapes, and perliaps extract thirty or forty 

 stories in a day, but, as I have never han- 

 dled enough colonies to be rushed, escapes 

 were used merely as an experiment, and, 

 from my little experience, I believe nearly 

 twice as much work can be done with as 

 withoat them. 



If one makes increase and evens up colo- 

 nies by exchanging brood as Mr. France 

 does, or admits brood into the upper stories 

 during the extracting season, I can see that 

 escapes would be of little use. 



When there are prospects of there being 

 honey to gather, my plan is to bank the 

 forces by giving the brood to the strongest 

 colonies. In putting the extracting stories 

 on the strongest colonies I fill them with 

 brood taken from weaker colonies, giving 

 empty combs to the weak colonies which I 

 expect only to build up for wintering. This 

 lessens the number of hives to be manipula- 

 ted and the combs are filled more thorough- 

 ly. If the brood chambers are not too large 

 the best colonies will occupy the upper sto- 

 ries some time before the harvest, so, when 

 they are ready to extract the first time, the 

 brood will be hatched out of these extra 

 combs that were placed in the upper stories, 

 and escapes may be used. 



A dozen escapes can be put on in as many 

 minutes, but half an hour ought to be used. 



I am of the same opinion as Mr. Aikin — 

 that there is something lacking in the pres- 

 ent forms of escapes or the manner in which 

 they are fastened in the escape boards. When 

 they have been on a few hours the escape- 

 board is covered with slivers which have 

 been gnawed from the corners where the 

 escape-board and upper story come together. 

 In listening, there may be heard a crackling 

 noise not unlike that heard when the en- 

 trance is too small. Tlie bees at such an en- 

 trance are pulling and biting at the wood to 

 enlarge it, and the angles become rounded. 

 While the bees above the escape may be anx- 

 ious to find their queen, which I very much 

 doubt, their first move would not be to get 

 into the dark hive below, but to take wing 

 in the open air. 



How aggravating it is when we raise the 

 upper story to put an escape under, to have 

 some of tiie of the lower combs raise also, 

 and when they are well up, drop and slide 

 back into the hive with a thud. This is a first 

 class way to smash and anger bees. There 

 may be some who would object to escapes on 

 this account and who, for this reason, would 

 remove and brush the combs one at a time, 

 but, even then, the brace combs will not neg- 

 lect to set the honey running, and as the 

 brush is plied it is soon too much daubed 

 for pleasure. 



The building of brace combs is governed 

 to a large extent by tl»e width of the frame 



