THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



175 



Bees will not leave n super when there is 

 brood or a queen in it, so that queen exclud- 

 ers are a necessity in producing extracted 

 honey. 



When removing a super an empty one 

 sliould be given at tlie same time. 



Bees will pass through the escape most 

 readily when it is left on over night, espe- 

 cially when the nights are cool. Five or six 

 hours through the day time, will usually get 

 all, or nearly all the bees out. 



When extracting supers are left this way 

 over night the honey sometimes becomes too 

 cold to extract well. Pile it up out iu the 

 sun or keep it for a time in a warm room. 



Most of my honey is not extracted until 

 after the rush of the honey-flow is over — 

 sometimes not for two or three months after 

 it is removed from the hives. 



I have in use a number of devices. When 

 eveything is favorable they all work well. 



The old style vertical cone escape is too 

 bulky and sometimes the bees make trouble 

 by clustering on the under side, building 

 comb if left on too long. 



The Porter spring escape, which I tried 

 thoroughly last year, is the best. The bees 

 sometimes find their way back through 

 other kinds, but the Porter escape is positive 

 in its action and they cannot get back 

 through it. 



Paint the edges of the escape boards some 

 d rk color, contrasting strongly with the 

 white of the hives, so that you can see at a 

 glance just where they are. 



Dayton, 111., July 9, 1891. 



History of Bee Escapes. 



G. W. DEMABEE. 



^-M:C FRIEND of mine has suggested that 

 an article from my pen, on the his- 

 tory of bee escapes, would be read 

 with interest, now since the device has been 

 made a practical help in the apiary. There 

 is some responsibility attached to such an 

 undertaking because of the difficulty the his- 

 torian finds in the way of doing justice to 

 all. 



The first hint we have of a " bee escape " 

 as a nomenclature was printed on a device 

 to permit bees to escape from a dark closet 

 and prevent them from returning to carry 

 away the honey. This device was invented 

 by the writer of this article and exhibited by 

 him at the National Convention, at Lexing- 



ton, Ky., in 1881. Mention is made of 

 this device in the report of the com- 

 mittee on exhibits as may be seen by re- 

 ferring to the report of the proceedings of 

 the Convention as given in the Americmn 

 Bee Journal of that year. 



The concern was made of wood and glass 

 and wa in the form of a V and had a spring 

 at the apex for the bees to " escape." After- 

 ward I substituted the wire cone; and in 1887 

 I began to experiment with an entirely new 

 principle. This new principle consisted of 

 a delicately adjusted trap door, or swinging 

 gate in what I call a chute. This tiny swinging 

 gate was so finely adjusted in the passage 

 way or chute that the slightest touch from 

 the inside would swing the under part of the 

 trap door outward and let the bees "escape," 

 but when pressure was brought to bear from 

 without, a " stop " at the bottom of the chute 

 prevented the door from swinging inwardly 

 and no bee could force his way back. 



When I was experimenting with this tiny 

 swinging trap door, Mr. J. S. Reese, of Win- 

 chester, Ky., sent me his wire cloth device 

 applied to a horizontal division board. 

 Thus he became the first to apply the "bee 

 escape " to a honey board, and is now the ac- 

 cepted father of the present, practical bee 

 escape — one of the greatest helps known to 

 modern bee culture. 



With this new idea I revised my tiny trap 

 door plan, and having adjusted it in a small 

 tin chute so as to fit it in a honey board it 

 became a perfect success. 



While Reese and Dibbern w«re working 

 to perfect their labyrinthin plan I was hope- 

 ful that they would succeed, till experience 

 taught me that nothing but mechanical 

 force would prevent bees from returning in 

 numbers suflicient to annoy the apiarist. 

 Now it seems a little singular, but the facts 

 seem to warant the conclusion, that Mr. Por- 

 ter was at the same time experimenting with 

 his delicately adjusted spring device, which 

 he has patented and therefore brought into 

 general notice. 



Some friend sent me two of Porter's 

 escapes and I immediately adjusted them in 

 suitably made honey boards and have given 

 them the severest trial, right beside my 

 swinging door device, and I have no hesita 

 tion in saying that nothing can be more sim- 

 ple, and few devices will ever be more efii- 

 cient in performance than the trembling lit- 

 tle springs which ctmstitute the Porter Bee 

 Escape. But it is my opinion it will meet a 



