1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



265 



that was enough to call forth exclamations 

 of surprise from almost any hody, bee keep- 

 er or not. The fountain was supplied with 

 water from a large pine box, placed on the 

 roof of the wood house and itself supplied 

 by the eave spout from the upright part of 

 the building. When the box was full, it ran 

 over on the roof and down into the cistern 

 as usual, so the arrangement required no 

 special supervision, so long as we had rain 

 as often as once a week. The connection 

 between the box and the fountain near the 

 apiary was by i inch iron pipe. The bees 

 never drowned in this fountain because the 

 vase was always full and overflowing. If a 

 bee flew in, or got pushed in by his compan- 

 ions, he soon buzzed over to the side and 

 walked out, having no perpendicular sides 

 to climb up. Below I give you an engraving 

 of the vase and fountain. 



FOUNTAIN FOR GIVING BEES ACCESS TO 

 WATER. 



You will observe a stop cock at the lower 

 part of the jet. This is for the purpose of 

 regulating the supply of water. During a 

 dry time, it is to be turned so as to just keep 

 the vase full, and the same during windy 

 days, when the water would be blown away. 

 When we had still evenings, the jet was 

 opened so as to throw a stream perhaps six 

 feet high. Around the fountain we had 

 flowers of different kinds. It is hard to 

 imagine a prettier adjunct to an apiary than 

 a watering fountain surrounded with flowers 

 humming with busy laborers. 



During some experiments in the same 

 greenhouse I have mentioned. I put a small 

 colony into the lamp nursery, and warmed 

 it up until their hive indicated over 100 de- 

 grees. The bees then went out, and began 



flying around the room as if in quest of 

 something. I fixed the same watering jar I 

 have mentioned in one corner of the room, 

 and they pretty soon found it and were busy 

 carrying water into the hive as fast as they 

 could load up and unload. By turning the 

 lamp up or down so as to increase or dimin- 

 ish the temperature, I could easily make 

 them stop and commence carrying water, at 

 pleasure. Does not this seem to indicate 

 that hives should be shaded, during the ex- 

 treme heat of the summer weather? Colo- 

 nies in the same room whose hives were not 

 warmed showed no disposition to gather wa- 

 ter at all, although they were rearing brood 

 in considerable quantities. 



SALT WATER FOR BEES. 



At times, bees unquestionably show a 

 fondness for salt water, and I presume they 

 should have access to salt in some way, as 

 well as others of the animal kingdom. It is 

 generally agreed, I believe, that cattle, hors- 

 es, sheep, etc., must have salt, or they will 

 suffer. I know of no reason why bees 

 should not come under the same law. They 

 seem to have a preference for it in a much 

 diluted form, and are very often seen eager- 

 ly hovering over barrels containing refuse 

 brine. I have seen them eagerly digging in 

 the sawdust, where brine had been spilled 

 or thrown out, showing their craving for it. 

 Within the past year, 1879, a great many 

 plans have been given for feeding bees salt, 

 but none of them are any simpler or easier, 

 than the one for giving them water, which I 

 have already illustrated. It may be well to 

 have two watering places, one with the wa- 

 ter slightly salted, and the other of pure wa- 

 ter; you can then easily tell which your bees 

 prefer. 



If no place is furnished for the bees to get 

 water, they usually go to creeks or puddles 

 near by. Our own have quite a fashion of 

 congregating about the kitchen pump, and 

 Mrs. R. says she knows they hear the pump, 

 for just after water has been drawn, they 

 come in considerable numbers and sip the 

 water that is spilled on the stones. Some of 

 our subscribers have complained that they 

 could not keep their bees from going to 

 their neighbor's pumps, and thus annoying 

 them. I think you will have no difficulty 

 if you provide an arrangement such as I 

 have described, and keep water in it during 

 the whole warm season. It may take them 

 some little time to get used to going to the 

 precise spot, but after it is once learned, 

 they will never forget it. Look out for the 

 comfort and convenience of these little 



