left between the hive and the honey board. The unbound honey 

 boards are made to fit down on the frames thus leaving the bees 

 w^ith fewer perforations to pass through to the super. Another 

 type of honey board is made with a series of wires which are 

 spaced so that worker bees can pass between them. This type is 

 -claimed to be superior as it does not have any rough edges, the 

 wire being round. 



BEE ESCAPES. 



Bee escapes are used for removing bees from full supers or 

 ■comb boxes. They are very essential to the apiarist, saving a 

 ^reat deal of time, also preventing stinging. This little con- 

 trivance is made so that the bees pass out between two delicate 

 springs, which does not permit them to return. One of these 

 -escapes is usually placed in a board and then inserted between 

 ' the super and the brood chamber. They are generally put on the 

 hive late in the afternoon and by the next morning most of the 

 bees have passed down through the escape. A little smoke blown 

 under the cover will hasten the passage of the bees downward, 

 thus the box of honey can be removed without having to brush 

 the bees from the comb. Supers should be removed soon after 

 the bees leave as there is no ventilation and there is danger of 

 the combs melting, if the hives are in direct rays of the sun. If 

 supers are left too long on the hives ants are apt to enter them. 

 These boxes of honey should be taken at once to the extract- 

 ing room. 



DRONE TRAPS. 



Drone traps are used for catching undesirable black drones. 

 It is a two compartment contrivance, the front and top being 

 made of perforated zinc and wire so spaced that the drones can- 

 not pass out between the spaces. The trap is made the exact 

 w^idth of the hive entrance; the drones being unable to escape 

 through the wires in the lower compartment pass upward through 

 two cones of wire netting into the upper compartment. This is 

 also covered with perforated zinc through which they cannot 

 •escape but there die of starvation. The worker bees, heavily 

 loaded with honey and pollen, can pass through the wire spaces 

 and also through the perforated zinc which covers the top com- 

 partment, so their work is not stopped. 



These traps may also be used for the catching of queens at 

 swarming. When a swarm issues with a drone trap at its 

 ■entrance the queen can not join the swarm. She generally crawls 

 into the upper compart and there remains. The bees go out and 

 fly for a time, but, ■ when they discover that their queen is not 

 with them, will return to the hive. A new hive may then be 

 placed on the old stand, and as the bees return and enter the hive 

 the trap is opened and the queen is allowed to run in with the bees. 

 The new hive is then removed and the old one put back on the 

 original stand. If the old hive is not put back the new hive can 

 be given the old supers and the bees allowed to work with them. 



