1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



305 



better that the inside pieces, e, have the end 

 pieces nailed on them at the same time they are 

 nailed on the sides before the bottom is nailed on. 



The feeder can now be hung in a T super, and is 

 ready for operation. At each side, between the 

 walls of the super and the box, is a space of about 

 7-16 of an inch, up which the bees can pass and be 

 admitted directly to the feed. As the feed is 

 gradually consumed, the bees can follow down the 

 M-inch space, in which there is no danger of drown- 

 ing, but the wire cloth at the bottom prevents en- 

 trance to the main or central part of the feeder. 



Now as to the advantages and disadvantages. 

 They ought not to cost, if made in quantity, more 

 than 10 cts. each, ready to nail. The feeder holds 

 about 10 qts. When not in a super it is a rather 

 flimsy affair as to the upper pieces, which would 

 t)e easily split off. Perhaps if made of thicker stuff it 

 vvould be stronger; but when in use it is suflicient- 

 ly strong. When flrst filled it leaks. This can be 

 remedied by running hot wax around the corners. 

 I would, however, just as soon have it leak, as it 

 leaks directly on the bees. The feed caii not be 

 taken as rapidly as from a number of Simplicity 

 feeders placed on the frames, as the latter pi-psent 

 a larger surface to which the bees have access. 

 The capacity in this respect could be doubled by 

 having the inside piece, e, Pa in. distant from the 

 outside, and another piece half way between the 

 two with a ^8 space both top and bottom. On the 

 other hand, this feeder is filled much more readily 

 than the Simplicities, as the super cover, when 

 lifted off, reveals an open space, M^^ x 9 inches, in- 

 to which the feed can be poured, and no bee from 

 within can get into this part. The feeder, of 

 course, could be na'led fast to the super, and then 

 there would be nothing flimsy about it, but it 

 would cost more. The feeder is not likely to be 

 needed at a time when supers are in use otherwise 



Marengo, 111. C. C. Millek. 



Very good, doctor; but I wonder if you 

 knew iiow serious a matter it is to recom- 

 mend an implement lor bee culture with- 

 out first counting the troubles and mishaps 

 that might possibly result l)y putting it in 

 the hands of the inexperienced. First, you 

 say it would not make any difference if it 

 does leak, as it leaks directly on to the bees. 

 Now. with a strong colony, with the en- 

 trance properly contracted, perhaps it would 

 not do any particular harm ; but with ;i col- 

 ony rather weak (and the colonies that need 

 feeding are many times of tliis class), be- 

 fore you know it the feed would be running 

 out at the entrance, or over the bottom- 

 boards, at tlie sides of the hive. Robbers 

 would get hold of it. and the result might 

 be that we should have more sensational 

 articles in the papers about people being 

 driven fioin the streets, and horses being 

 stung to death, etc. I think you had bet- 

 ter wax the joints, and then try the feeder 

 with WMtei-. If it holds water it will hold 

 syrup. Another thing : As you have ar- 

 ranged it, the bottom of your feeder will be 

 nearly or (|uite an inch above the honey- 

 board. I suppose, of course, you meant to 

 uave the honey-board left on. Now, in 

 hsing snoh a large quantity of feed as this 

 feeder will hold, the bees will start comb- 

 building with a vengeance, and it seems to 

 me they would be very likely to build combs 



between the feeder and the honey-board. 

 Perhaps somebody who has tried it can tell 

 us about this. I grant, the feeder would 

 be a very convenient one, and you could 

 give the colony a great abundance with 

 very little trouble. From what experience 

 I have had, however, I would not think of 

 using such a feeder unless an outside shell 

 be placed over it and the super. Inside of a 

 chaff hive or inside of a Simplicity hive it 

 would do very nicely ; but if there are cracks 

 where the bees can see through and smell 

 the feed, they will often (at least in our 

 apiary) bite away the solid wood until they 

 can squeeze through where the ciacks and 

 openings are. 



A LETTER FROM ONE OF OUR MIS- 

 SIONARIES IN CHINA. 



SALT FOR bees; SOME FACTS IN REGARD TO TBE 

 MATTER, i'ROM FAR-AWAY CHINA. 



a EAR FRIEND ROOT:— While on my way from 

 Fooclu)w to this place la.st November 1 no- 

 ticed a thing which seemed to me to throw 

 light on the question of why bees should 

 suck the moisture from dirty places. We 

 were traveling by boat ; and as there are many rapids 

 in the river, the boatmen sometimes row, some- 

 times pole, and sometimes track. We had reached 

 I the head of a long stretch of still water, where all 

 the boats ou the river had to change from rowing 

 j to tracking. The landing-place was a large bank of 

 clean sharp sand, and my wife, daughter, and I got 

 i off for a walk, asthe boats make such slow progress 

 that we can walk on at our leis\ire, and sit down 

 and wait for them to catch up. As we ascended the 

 sand-bank our little girl called my attention to an 

 irregular patch (jn the sand, eight or ten inches 

 broad, and brown with bees. They all had their 

 tongues thrust out, eagerly sucking something 

 from the sand, and paid no attention to our pres- 

 ence, not even when I knelt down and brought my 

 nose close to them to see if there was anj' odor to 

 show what it was that proved so attractive to them. 

 [ On looking further we found three or four such 

 j patches of bees; and in every case the sand smelled 

 I of urine. In fact, the bees were eagerly sucking 

 fresh urine from the clean sharp sand. The bees 

 i were larger, and of a little lighter brown, than 

 most of the honey-bees I had seen before in China. 

 so I asked the Chinese what those insects were. 

 I They replied "T'ang fung;" i. e., sugar-wasps. The 

 i correct Chinese would have been, " mih fung," or 

 honey-wasps, but the common people often call 

 I them sugar-wasps. 



There is one other honey-eating insect which. 

 like the bee, has this same fondness for dirty pud- 

 I dies, and this is the butterfly. The nectar of flow- 

 ' ers is his principal food. Now. it is a well-known 

 fact that certain minerals enter into the composi- 

 tion of all living tissues, such as salt, sulphur, lime, 

 and phosphorus. These minerals exist in minute 

 quantities in most articles of food, so that the sup- 

 ply can be kept up without our specially eating 

 them. But it is very doubtful if this is true of the 

 nectar of flowers; and if npt, it is easy to see why 

 bees and butterflies should be so fond of excre- 

 ments, which are rich in these mineral substances. 

 Some years ago we tried the plan of keeping a 

 pow— a Chinese cow— and one of the ladies tried to 



