THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



133 



enter the bee-space under tlie cover, and es- 

 cape to the new colony below. To my no- 

 tion this works much better than the Hed- 

 dou system, as you are not reciuired to shift 

 the hives every day, and having them stand- 

 ing around in all sorts of awkward positions. 

 Then, too, the bees from the old hive are 

 never at a loss to know where to go. and the 

 old hive is so reduced in bees that the 

 chances of any further swarming are very 

 small. Perhaps there are yet other uses for 

 the bee-escape. Time only can tell. 

 Milan, 111., April 1. "C. H. Dibbeen. 



[Years ago, neighbor Dean and myself 

 rode 20 miles to see a house-apiary all com- 

 plete and in running order. The thing 

 seemed to work very well with the exception 

 of the difficulty of taking honey from tlie 

 bees. During that whole twenty-mile ride 

 we two talked the plan over, with the view 

 of getting the honey away from the bees, 

 without shaking or brushing them off. My 

 neighbor thought it might possibly be done 

 by waiting until cold weather drove the bees 

 out of the supers. He said he didn't believe 

 it could be managed profitably in any other 

 way. I presume such a thing as a bee-escape 

 was at that time used to some extent; but we 

 did not think of it, or did not know one 

 could be made to do the work that they are 

 now doing. Who knows but that bee-es- 

 capes may finally revive house-apiaries? I 

 suggest in the ABC book that one might 

 have a hive of bees in one corner of the 

 pantry, letting them go out through the wall 

 of the house. Then the good wife can take 

 a section of honey right out of the hive and 

 put it on the table, provided she can get it 

 without getting the bees also. Can't a bee- 

 escape be arranged so as to accomplish 

 this?]" 



At the last meeting of the Ohio State Bee- 

 Keepers' association, I tried to get some- 

 body to tell me why home-apiaries had been 

 abaidoned, but as nobody knew what I was 

 driving at, the replies were far from satisfac- 

 tory. At last I explained that, as I under- 

 stood the matter, the principal objection 

 was that the l)ees were let loose in the room 

 when removing the surplus, and I had often 

 wondered if the bee-escape would not remedy 

 this objection. Ernest, did you go home and 

 tell your father what I said, and that is 

 where he got his idea of bee-escapes reviving 

 home-apiaries? I presume you didn't. Itis 

 simply a case of "great minds — you know 

 the rest. Candidly, though, I have for near- 

 ly a year had this thought in my mind, that 

 bee-escapes might allow us to operate house- 

 apiaries successfully; in fact, I have several 

 times almost decided to make house-apiaries 

 the subject of special discussion, and I may 

 yet. What do my readers think? 



After the above was in type, along came a 

 sample half dozen escapes from Mr, E. C. 



Porter of Lcwistown, 111., accompanied by 

 tins engraving. 



PATENT PL^lL/INl.. 



THE PORTER, SPRING BEN-E80APE. 



The upper part of tin is partly cut away, 

 showing how a bee can pass down 

 through the opening at the left, and then 

 pass on out between the two delicate 

 springs. It will be seen that it is inqwssible 

 for bees to return through this escape. 

 From the circular sent by Mr. Porter, I copy 

 the following directions. 



"The escape-board should be made from 

 ,^2 or Sg inch lumber, the former being pref- 

 ferable, of the size of the top of the brood 

 chamber or super and provided with a suit- 

 able bee-space or half bee-spaces formed by 

 nailing strips about '„ of an inch wide and 

 of propier thickness around the board and 

 even with its edges, so that when on the 

 hive there will be a bee-space both above 

 and below it. The hole to receive the escape 

 should be in the center of the board, made 

 by boring two 1^{ inch holes S^a inches from 

 center to center and cutting out the wood re- 

 maining between them. One escape to the 

 board is sufficient. 



When the surplus honey is ready to be 

 taken from the hive, at any time of day 

 when convenient, raise up the super, bees, 

 honey and all, place the escape-board, with 

 escape in place on the brood chamber or 

 super if one remains on the hive or has been 

 put on after removing the first, and place the 

 super taken from the hive on the escape- 

 board. If this is done early in the forenoon 

 and there is no brood or queen in the super, 

 ordinarily in five or six hours, frequently 

 much sooner, the bees will be practically all 

 out, or if done late in the afternoon, by 8 or 

 9 o'clock the next morning. If there is 

 brood' in the super, a few bees will remain 

 clustered on it for some time, but if they 

 have a queen with them, which very rarely 

 occurs, even though queen-excluders are not 

 used, a large proportion of the bees will 

 usually stay with her and she must either be 

 removed or some other means of getting 

 them out restored to. 



Owing to the varied dispositions of the 

 bees of different colonies, under the same 

 conditions, there is a great difference in the 

 length of time occupied by them in passing 

 from the super and with the bees of the 

 same colony, the time of the day, the state 

 of the weather, the presence or absence of a 

 honey-flow all have their influence to vary 

 this time. As a rule they pass out most 

 rapidly when all conditions are such that 

 they are naturally the most active. 



