62 



ADVANCED BEE-CULTURE. 



And right here I wish to say another 

 word in favor of the much abused blacks. 

 We all know of their propensity to run 

 off the combs when smoked or handled, 

 also with what ease they are shaken from 

 the combs; well, these characteristics are 

 of great value as soon as we begin to 

 manipulate hives instead of frames. A 

 case of sections, or one section of the 

 Heddon hive, can be cleared of black 

 bees with one-half the time and labor re- 

 quired with Italians. One or two puffs 

 of smoke, and down go the blacks, leav- 

 ing a case of sections almost free from 

 bees. But, as advanced bee-culture, with 

 its reversible hives, comb foundation and 

 "bait" sections of partly drawn combs, 

 has well nigh overcome the objection to 

 Italian bees on the score of their disin- 

 clination to store honey away from the 

 brood nest, so it promises, with the bee 

 escape, to remove any objections there 

 may be to them on account of their cling- 

 ing so persistently to the combs. 



Mr. John S. Reese was the orginal in- 

 ventor of the bee escape. It works upon 

 the principle of the old fashioned cone 

 fly trap. To use the Reese escape, the 

 case, from which it is desired to have the 

 bees removed, is taken off and set to one 

 side. An empty case is placed on the 

 hive. Over the empty case is placed a 

 thin board, and in a hole in this board is 

 fitted a cone of wire cloth. The base of 

 the cone is uppermost and level with the 

 upper surface of the board. The apex of 

 the cone is down and nearly in contact 

 with the hive or case below. The base of 

 the cone is perhaps three inches across 

 and there is a ^ hole at the apex. The 

 bees seem to find that they are cut off 

 from the hive — made prisoners — and are 

 anxious to return. They easily find the 

 cone and pass down through the hole in 

 its apex, but the opening is not very 

 readily found if they desire to return. 

 The result is that, in a few honrs, the 

 case is practically free from bees. Mr. 

 C. H. Dibbern flattened out the cone and 

 laid it upon its side, thus making a hori- 

 zontal escape that can be put into a % 



space instead of needing an empty case to 

 give it room. The principle remains the 

 same as in the Reese; that is, there is a 

 big, wide, easily accessible entrance, and 

 a small exit which is not easily found 

 from the side opposite to the supers. 

 Escapes have been made having little 

 swinging doors of tin or brass that can 

 be swung out, but not in. The trouble 

 with these is that the bees soon cover 

 them with propolis so that they will not 

 swing. Mr. E. C. Porter has invented a 

 spring escape. There is a light spring, 

 under which the bees can pass out, their 

 backs raising the spring slightly. If a 

 bee attempts to return, the end of the 

 spring is encountered, which is too low 

 to allow a bee to pass. 



Having raised our honey, and gotten it 

 off the hives, the next step is its prepara- 

 tion for the market. What this prepara- 

 tion shall be, depends upon the market — 

 whether it is a home or distant market, a 

 wholesale or a retail one. When honey 

 is to be retailed at home, it might be said 

 that it required almost no preparation. 

 When one or two sections of honey are 

 sold to a neighbor, we have simply to 

 wrap them up a piece of paper, or, per- 

 haps, put them into paper cartons. In 

 retailing extracted honey at home, when 

 customers bring in pails, pitchers and 

 pans to be filled, we have only to keep 

 the honey in a large tin can, with a hon- 

 ey gate near the bottom, and have some 

 scales to weigh the honey. 



If honey is not thoroughly ripened, 

 heavy and thick, it should stand a few 

 days in large vessels, that the thin honey 

 may rise to the top, when the thick hon- 

 ey may be drawn off at the bottom into 

 the package in which it is to be shipped. 

 Where honey is raised in very large quan- 

 tities, and shipped in bulk to jobbers, or 

 to be used, perhaps, for manufacturing 

 purposes, I doubt if there is a more de- 

 sirable package than a barrel. When 

 pains have been taken to raise an extra 

 fine article, for table use, and it is to be 

 shipped direct to consumers, or to retail 

 dealers, I believe that the 6o-lb., jacketed 



