A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to the Interests of Honey Producers. 

 $L00 A YEAR. 

 w. z. RDTCHfflSON. Editor and Proprietor. , 



VOL. XIX. FLINT, MICHIGAN, MAY 15, 1906. NO. 5 



mis 



>^p©r into a t" eedeff' 



ive 



FRANK GOVERDALE. 



^HE past season was the poorest for 

 ^ honey of any in the past 30 years; 

 hundreds of colonies had to be fed or 

 die; in fact, three-fourths of all the bees 

 in the locality would have perished 

 without feeding'. 



The common inquiry' among bee men 

 was "how shall I feed ?" Some fed 

 throug^h feeders bought on the market; 

 and, to get those that would hold 

 enough was expensive. Then, the 

 weather was often rather cool, and the 

 bees a little slow in going up to get the 

 feed. As I was more interested than 

 any one else in this part of the country, 

 it stood me in hand to do some think- 

 ing; and the result was certalnlj' very 

 pleasing to both mj'self and manj' 

 others. 



Oil clotJ; was bought until enough 

 feeders were made to satisfy the wants 



of all; and all feeding was done in a 

 hurry, and in apple pie order. This 

 feeder is, I think, the best thing I ever 

 thought of along this line. It is ex- 

 tremely simple; a Dovetailed comb- 

 honey super is lined with oil cloth 

 which costs, here, 12^ cents a yard; 

 and it makes a feeder that will hold 

 about three gallons, and costs only 

 four cents each, or 25 feeders for onl}' 

 one dollar I believe the cloths will 

 last for years. I have fed three times 

 with some of mine, and can see no sign 

 of injury. I have left the cloths in the 

 supers until spring, and, if needed, 

 will just set them on and feed the re- 

 nuired amount all at once; then the 

 cloths may be taken out and straight- 

 ened out, laid awa}' until farther use is 

 found. 



