442 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1. 



to get on the docket the petitions referred to. 

 The next meeting after May will occur in June, 

 if I am correct, and then our petitions will be 

 taken up. It will be best to get our material in 

 shape to present to them in the best possible 

 manner as they make the final ruling. 

 Chicago, 111. 



FEEDING. 



THE OLD STYLE OF MILI-ER FEEDER PRE- 

 FERRED, AND AVHY. 



By Emma Wilson. 



The first thing we did after taking the bees 

 out of the cellar this spring was to weigh each 

 hive; and any colony that weighed less than 38 

 lbs. was given a frame of honey. As soon as 

 the bees were hauled to the out-aplarles, we 

 commenced putting on feeders. Into each 

 feeder we put 5 lbs. of dry granulated sugar. 

 Then we made a little hollow, right in the 

 center of the sugar, and poured in about a pint 

 of water, and so on till all the feeders were 

 treated alike. After they had stood half an 

 hour or longer, we added three quarts of water 

 to each feeder. 



The object of putting the small amount of 

 one pint of water into each feeder at first was 

 to let the sugar have time to dissolve, so that 

 the first that passed through might be sweet. 

 If the whole amount of water is put in at one 

 time it will pass through so rapidly that it will 

 be very little sweetened, and the bees will not 

 take it readily. It pays to look after all these 

 little items, even if it takes a little more time. 



When the Miller feeder was improved upon. 

 Dr. Miller was very much pleased with the im- 

 provement, and we made 25 of the new kind, 

 intending to discard the old ones. But after a 

 thorough trial we liked the old ones a good deal 

 better. In the first place, if there's any leak- 

 age it is inside the hive, and that is quite a 

 point. It is more convenient to have one large 

 compartment rather than two smaller ones. 

 The one point that we thought would be of so 

 much value, and prove so much superior to the 

 old one, that of the passageway directly over 

 the brood-nest instead of at the sides, in actual 

 pi'actice has not proven to be so. Just why, I 

 can not tell. It really seems as if it ought to 

 be; but our old feeders are the ones that are 

 emptied first, and, as a consequence, the new 

 feeders are the ones that we use last. 



Many of our feeders have been on for more 

 than three weeks, with only 5 lbs. of sugar in 

 them, and are not empty yet at the present 

 date. May 4. The very strong colonies do pretty 

 good work at emptying, while those of medium 

 strength empty very slowly, and the weak ones 

 are almost a total failure. Last fall our feed- 

 ers, with 15 lbs. of sugar, were often emptied in 

 a day or two. while this spring the strongest 

 colonies are several days in taking 5 lbs. Fall 

 and spring feeding are two entirely different 



things. Of course, we should expect the strong 

 colonies of fall to work faster than the weaker 

 colonies of spring; but there seems to be more 

 difference than can be accounted for in that 

 way. Perhaps it may be accounted for in this 

 way: In the spring there is so much brood to 

 care for in proportion to the number of bees 

 that few bees can be spared for the feeder, 

 while in the fall there is little or no brood. 



I notice that, where there was a leakage from 

 the new feeders on the outside, the bees took 

 the feed eagerly, seemingly more willing to 

 work outside than inside the hive; and, strange 

 to say, the bees work along busily day after day 

 on this leakage without any indications of rob- 

 bing. 



We had, however, two colonies robbed this 

 spring, not where there was any leakage, but 

 the robbers went in at the entrance, which was 

 not large, up through the hive, and emptied 

 the feeder, and left no honey in the combs. 

 The curious thing about it was they did not 

 destroy the colony. 



All things considered, never a feeder would 

 we put on in the spring if we had only enough 

 frames of honey to feed with. We planned for 

 this last spring; but when the season is a total 

 failure, and the bees can not gather enough to 

 keep them over winter, where are the frames 

 of honey for spring feeding to come from ? 

 Might it not have been a good thing if we had 

 had the bees fill some extra combs of sugar 

 syrup last fall ? 



Marengo, 111., May 4. 



REMARKABLE RIFLE-SHOOTING. 



Yes, Buckskin Charley beats my record on 

 deer-shooting; but I think he had greatly the 

 advantage over me, as his record was made at 

 a time when game was very plentiful, and not 

 wild. Although he used a rifle he " still hunt- 

 ed," which allowed him every advantage, 

 while here at this late day deer are so scarce a 

 man could walk for a week, and it would be an 

 accident if he ever saw one. Deer are now 

 found only in the wooded districts of East Tex- 

 as, and we use hounds to find them; so we hunt 

 on horseback, and run for a chance to shoot. I 

 have killed many a deer while my horse was 

 running at full speed, as well as the deer. This 

 makes hard shooting— quite a difference from 

 being on foot. A few years back I was quite 

 handy with a rifle. I used a 22-caliber Win- 

 chester rifle, but my shooting was confined to 

 target practice— at flying targets too. The best 

 score I ever made, I broke 38 balls thrown by 

 hand into the air, out of 40 shots. I have 

 cracked walnuts, peachstones, and pecans, 

 thrown into the air— yes, nickels and dimes. 

 This requires very accurate shooting, as a 22 

 ball is very small. J. D. Givens. 



Lisbon, Texas. 



