178 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



owing to the number of bees in the super. 

 The bees seem to be more contented to stay 

 in a large super or else they get discouraged 

 trying to find the way out and give it up. 

 Our nights are always cool here no matter 

 how hot it is in the day time, and if the escapes 

 have to be left on over night the honey gets 

 cold and does not extract so well. I shall 

 use your escape to take off what comb honey 

 I produce and brush the bees from my ex- 

 tracting combs, as before, while I use Lang- 

 stroth supers. Very Truly Yours, 



J. F. McIntyee, 

 P. S. — You may send this report to Glean- 

 ings or use it as you please. 



Origin of the Reese Escape. — The Porter the 



Acme of Escapes. — Don't Use Smoke, 



but Shade the Supers. 



JNO. S. KEESE. 



^3[0ME plan of getting the bees away 

 ^^1 from the honey, or honey away from 

 ^■^ the bees, without having a big fuss 

 about it, was one of the first important 

 questions with the writer soon after he be- 

 gan to keep bees. The wire cloth, cone fly 

 trap principle flashed into his mind one day 

 while trying to take from the hive a case of 

 sections, and in a very few minutes a cone 

 was formed and fastened around a hole in a 

 thin board and placed as a movable bottom, 

 in a T super. The next morning there were 

 not more than a few dozen bees left in the 

 super, and they were not disposed to fight. 

 A longer and slenderer cone was afterwards 

 made and attached to a board the size of the 

 super with a bee space above and below, 

 and this cone was so placed on the board 

 that it would fit into the lower case of sec- 

 tions when one section was removed. This 

 same board works nicely to take ofl: the last 

 case or super by placing the empty super on 

 next to the brood chamber, then the escape 

 board, amd then the super with bees and 

 hone^f. 



The vertical cone escape is simple, cheap, 

 easy to make, not patented, and works as 

 well under all circumstances as any of the 

 horizontal escapes that have been made or 

 used at the Highland apiary, except the 

 Porter spring, which is certainly the acme 

 of escapes, and will take ijrecedence in said 

 apiary, where a number of them have been 

 in practical use all this season. 



Escapes, like perforated zinc, will be ap- 

 plied in many ways, such as changing the 



bees from extracting cases to cases of sec- 

 tions at a proper time to get choice comb 

 honey, and other uses which lack of space 

 forbids mention. 



The bee keeper who does not use escapes 

 at this " stage of the game " might well be 

 classed with the men who do not use foun- 

 dation or perforated zinc. 



Do not use smoke to hurry the bees down 

 through the escape, but use instead a little 

 patience and a good deal of shade over the 

 surplus cases, as the heat of the sun might 

 melt down your choice honey when the bees 

 have unwillingly deserted it and cannot 

 ventilate it. 



WiNOHESTEB, Ky., July Gth, 1891. 



Moderate Increase with Divisible Brood 



Chamber Hives. — Handling Hives 



Instead of Combs. 



B. TAYLOB. 



fN MY former article I gave my method 

 of managing the small hives when no 

 increase is desired ; in this I will ex- 

 plain my practice when a moderate increase 

 is desired. A small increase is a necessity, 

 as, with the most skillful management, a 

 small loss will occur during the year and it 

 must be made good. 



Up to swarming time, I proceed the same 

 as explained in my first article. Near 

 swarming time I determine the n umber of 

 new colonies that I will make and then pre- 

 pare to provide suitable young queens for 

 them. In choosing material for these queens 

 I follow Nature's law of "Natural Selection." 

 The swarm that, under average treatment, 

 becomes powerful and casts an early swarm 

 holds Nature's certificate of superiority; so I 

 take a suitable number of the first swarms 

 to provide the queens needed and proceed as 

 follows : The new swarms is hived with that 

 section of the old swarm that contains no 

 queens cells, and is placed upon a new stand. 

 The top section of brood containing the queen 

 cells is left on the old stand. This gives it an 

 abundance of bees to insure the queens 

 being kept properly warm and perfectly de- 

 veloped. The swarms that come after these, 

 from other colonies, are hived with one 

 section of the old hive and one empty sec- 

 tion containing foundation or starters and 

 are placed upon the old stand. The other 

 section of the old hive is placed upon a new 

 stand. This management is continued 

 until the number of swarms desired is pro- 



i 



