The following is part of an article that appeared in the NZ Beekeeper in
Autumn 1986.  It was part of a beginners series I wrote under the name
'Skep'.  After the article, I'll give some further references on
escapes:
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For most hobbyist beekeepers I highly recommend the use of the bee
escape board for taking off honey.  Though they might have disadvantages
for a commercial beekeeper, they suit the style of most hobbyist
beekeepers down to a 'B'.
 
The escape board is inserted into the hive below the boxes of honey that
are to be removed.  It acts as a 'one way gate', allowing bees to move
down through it, but not letting them back up into the supers.  As soon
as all, or most all, of the bees have moved down through the escape
board, the boxes of honey now empty of bees can be lifted from the hive.
 
For elegance of construction in the field of beekeeping gadgetry some of
the designs of bee escapes are hard to beat.  I'll only describe two of
the most common, as they are all equally effective.
 
The Porter bee escape is probably the oldest and most commonly used.
This device causes the bees moving down through the escape to push
through two spring wires.  After passing through, the bees are unable to
return.  Each of the escapes has two exits.  Most beekeepers when
constructing escape boards mount two of the escapes in each, giving a
total of four exits down into the hive.  This may speed the movement of
bees down through the board, but more importantly it gives a bit of
insurance should one escape get blocked.  This can easily happen with
either a drone getting stuck or the bees waxing or gluing up the fine
wires.
 
I prefer the designs of escapes with no moving parts.  They all seem to
work on the same basic principle:  Bees can be easily channelled through
a funnel, but they find it very difficult to come back in through the
small end.
 
Before waxing eloquent on the use of bee escape boards, I'll admit they
have some drawbacks.  They do require some planning ahead.  You won't be
able to just suddenly decide that now is the time to take off your
honey.  The boards work surprisingly quickly, but I find I need to leave
them on overnight in most cases.
 
Another disadvantage is that bees will just not leave some boxes. This
can be true when using fume boards as well.  If brood is present in the
supers to be cleared of bees, especially unsealed brood, or if there is
broken burr comb, the bees will be very reluctant to leave the boxes. If
this is the case, you may have to do some shaking and brushing.
 
There is a certain knack as well to inserting the boards into the hive
without first having to lift off the supers.  If you are going to lift
off the supers and replace them on the escape board, I would suggest
breaking the boxes apart with your hive tool several days before.  This
will give the bees time to clean up the dripping honey from the broken
burr comb.  They will then tend to leave the boxes much quicker.
 
One last 'trap for young players'.  Don't put the escape board on the
hive upside down.  It won't work that way, will it?  And don't look so
smug; its easy enough to do.  Try painting the top of the board a
different colour so you'll notice it as you place it on the hive.
 
One of the greatest bits of information I've picked up in recent years
is that a 50 mm rim around the bottom of the escape board will make it
clear more quickly.  It seems that the bees coming down through the
escapes are rather slow to actually fan out into the lower box. Giving
them this clustering space seems to cut down the 'bottleneck' at the
escape exit.
 
One of the real advantages of the escape board over other ways of
clearing supers of bees is that there is minimal disturbance.  If you
are in an urban situation, it is essential that you not be a nuisance to
your neighbors.  Used properly, escapes can be inserted and boxes of
honey lifted off with no need to declare the beeyard 'off limits', and
no danger of innocent bystanders being stung.
 
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References:
 
Skep (Wallingford, Nick).  Taking honey from the hives.  NZ Beekeeper.
Autumn 1986.  pp 15-17.
 
Taylor, Richard.  Bee Talk.  Gleanings in Bee Culture, August 1985, pp
412-413.  Describes a 'down and out' escape screen.  Screened board with
Porter bee escapes fitted so bees can escape down into hive or to
outside the hive.  Also has description of bee escapes and use in
general.
 
Tew, Dr. James E.  Beekeeping Technology.  Gleanings in Bee Culture,
(damn!  I don't have month/year on the page!), p 566.  Describes Quebec
bee escape board.  No moving parts.  Based on 'funnel' principle,
allowing bees to crawl out the (open) points of a triangle of wood
strips.  Second triangle outside that ensures that bees can't find their
way back into opening.
 
Rodie, J E.  Use of bee escapes for removal of honey.  NZ Journal of
Agriculture, 95:561-526 (1957).  Use of Porter escapes.  Describes how
to lift boxes and place escape boards in without lifting off the honey
boxes.
 
Morse, Dr Roger A.  Bee escapes for removing honey.  Gleanings in Bee
Culture.  July 1969.  pp 393-396.  Stresses importance of not breaking
supers above escape (bees won't leave dripping burr comb).  Describes
putting board in by one person "A protruding stomach helped" (to push
the board into place).
 
Forster, I W.  Equipment for manipulation of beehives.  NZ Journal of
Agriculture, 88:242-244.  Describes use of super breaker and super props
to insert escape boards without lifting honey boxes off.
 
Sharparew, V.  A conical bee escape board.  Gleanings in Bee Culture.
September 1981, pp 512, 516.  Uses about 10 plastic cones (with bee
sized hole at pointed end) in central escape 'channel' in escape board.
Simple, non clogging. Stresses importance of deep rim on bottom of
escape board, up to 3, 4 or even 6 inches.  This allows bees to cluster
after going through escapes, then disperse into hive below.  Achieved 24
clearing of supers.
 
Clemson, A A.  The use of escape boards for clearing supers of bees.
The Australian Beekeeper.  Jan 15, 1980.  pp 139-145.  Escape board with
(no moving parts) escape in each corner (based on 'funnel' principle,
again).  Multi-use board (shutter that closes over the hole to turn it
into normal 'split board').  Also describes use of escape boards placed
upside down on top of supers of honey - any bees still in the boxes
leave the supers and cannot return.
 
Sorry about the Southern Hemisphere references!
 
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Nick Wallingford
President, National Beekeepers Assn of New Zealand
Internet [log in to unmask]
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