1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



551 



boards) for that purpose. Consequently I 

 also designed self-acting frame feeders aft- 

 er the i)attern of my earlier float feeders; 

 but instead of the float a narrow passage 

 was allowed down the whole of one side of 

 the feeder, next the bees — the syrup perco- 



Flg. 3. — Self-acting fra-me syrup-feeder. 



lating through perforated metal parallel to 

 that side, and the sugar also kept from the 

 base (until melted) by a further arched 

 strainer, Fig. 3. Thus the sugar and water 

 amalgamate as in the circular feeder and 

 other styles. 



Fig. 4 shows the self-acting principle 

 adapted to a shallow feeder extending over 

 the full surface of an ordinary hive. This 

 feeder is made in two sections, with a bee- 



PMg. 4, — Sectional view of Simmins' self-acting 

 syrup-feeders (non-cooking or cold-water process).'^ 



passage up from the stock, marked B, and 

 indicated by arrows, the bees taking the 

 food from the secondary passages on either 

 side. The joints are tongued and painted 

 when fitted. The letters P T denote the 



Fig. 5.— The perfor ited strainer for holding sugar 

 away from the base while amalgamating with the 



perforated tin, which is stayed by suitable 

 bars, and this part is removable, as Fig. 5. 

 A feeder of this kind will finish any needy 

 stock by once filling, and, of course, can 

 be quickly shifted round to other stocks, so 

 that a limited number will do a lot of work, 

 and all without any trouble in making syr- 

 up. Zinc should not be used in feeders of 

 this or any other kind. The accompanying 

 illustrations were first published in my 1886 



and 1888 editions of my work, and were in 

 use by me several years before the earlier 

 date. 



WHEN TO FEED FOK WINTER. 



This is a question that most practical 

 owners have decided for themselves; but in 

 cold localities, or where no honey is gather- 

 ed after August, there can be nothing but 

 good results to follow when feeding can be 

 finished quickly after that month. In the 

 early TO's I remember securing some con- 

 demned bees from a cottager late in the year. 

 and these I fed up in November with a lot 

 of syrup which they failed to cap over. They 

 had no cells empty; and while thus clustir- 

 ed between these combs a few days of frost 

 occurred in December, such as normal stocks 

 would not notice. Upon examination a day 

 or two after the cold spell I found the whole 

 lot dead while sitting upon an abundance 

 of stores. 



I never forgot that lesson; and I am fully 

 in accord with the recent remarks of the ed- 

 itor regarding early and rapid feeding in au- 

 tumn, as the following quotations from my 

 work explain: "Rapid feeding insures a 

 high temperature, and this high temptia- 

 ture insures sealing of the combs so stored; 

 then a dry atmosphere. . . . From t];at 

 time, without any further attention, breed- 

 ing will steadily go on until most of the un- 

 capped stores will be used up, and finally 

 sufficient empty cells will be found just 

 where the bees decide to cluster in the usual 

 compact mass." 



That is just the point the editor has been 

 insisting on; and where that condition is. 

 necessary for successful wintering, early and 

 rapid feeding will always secure it, while 

 there will be just enough brood reared to 

 compensate for the wear and tear of storing. 



But there are many localities where it is: 

 quite safe, perhaps safer even to feed up late, 

 and the surcharged combs will result in no 

 harm. Even in Canada Mr. McEvoy likes 

 to feed his bees up so that they ha\ e no 

 empty cells to cluster in for some consider- 

 able time, the combs being solidly capped. 

 Doubtless when wintering indoors in a dry 

 cellar the owner may find no trouble arises 

 where his combs are so filled; or if also they 

 may be largely unsealed, climate and meth- 

 ods of wintering will largely modify the con- 

 ditions under consideration. 



Heathfield, Sussex, Eng. 



THEORY VS. PRACTICE IN THE ALEXAN- 

 DER CURE FOR EUROPEAN 

 FOUL BROOD. 



BY EARL SEAMANS. 



On page 490, Aug. 1, I notice an article by 

 Alfred L. Hartl, criticising the Alexander 

 plan for curing p:uropean foul brood. It 

 seems to me you might use the valuable 

 space in your paper to better advantage than, 

 to print such articles from one who says that 

 he has had no experience wdth European. 



