BEE ESCAPES 161 



REMOVING THE HONEY FROM THE HIVE 



As soon as possible after most sections in a super are nicely 

 capped the honey should be removed from the hive to prevent 

 travel stain. If the bees are forced to pass over the sections in 

 going to and from the supers above for any considerable length 

 of time, the white cappings will become discolored and the 

 market value be reduced. True, the bee-keeper tries as far as 

 possible to have the sections finished in the top super so that 

 there will remain no necessity for much travel over it when 

 capped. It is not always possible to arrange the supers in the 

 ideal manner and even if capped in the upper super some travel 

 stain will result if the honey is allowed to remain too long. 

 Comb honey in sections is usually suificiently ripened by the 

 time all but the corner sections are capped. 



FiQ. 78. — The Porter bee escape. 



Bee Escapes. — The invention of the bee escape was a great 

 boon to the comb honey producer. The Porter escape is the one 

 in most common use (Fig. 78). A board the size of the hive has 

 the escape fitted to a small opening in the center. The con- 

 struction is such that the bees can go down through it but cannot 

 return. By putting on the escapes in the evening it is usually 

 possible to remove the supers of honey, free from bees, the follow- 

 ing morning. 



Some bee-keepers depend upon driving the bees from the 

 supers with smoke, but this often results in injury to the honey, 

 as the bees will uncap the cells in order to reach the honey. Un- 

 less some care is used the combs may be somewhat discolored also. 

 The escapes are inexpensive and the small outlay is more than 

 repaid in the saving of time alone. 



The LaKeese or ventilated escape has some advantages over 

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