CHAPTEE XI. 



BEE-ESCAPES AND SUPES-OLEABINQ. 



It is generally remarked that one difficulty is no 

 sooner overcome than another is presented for solu- 

 tion. If we take the preparation and filling of supers 

 as a difficulty overcome, we are soon brought face to 

 face with another, viz., how to take from supers their 

 contents when full, seeing that the stores are so safely 

 guarded by the bees. An old practice, when the 

 super happened to be a skep, was to shake out the 

 bees while walking round the garden, but frequently 

 the tender combs gave way and followed the bees. 

 At other times a favoured plan was to place the .full 

 super in an out-house, and leave the door slightly 

 ajar. As long as the place remained perfectly dark, 

 except for this slight opening the bees would leave 

 without difficulty. At the present time these and 

 other difficult and troublesome methods of ridding 

 supers of bees have already been, or shortly will be, 

 superseded by simpler and more satisfactory methods. 

 Some years ago, on his return from a visit to bee- 

 keepers in the Bast, Mr. T. B. Blow illustrated and 

 described in the British Bee Journal a box, on the top 



