440 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



eluded it was better to pour boiling water on the sugar, and make an actual syrup, 

 the same to be poured into the feeders from a syrup can. But Dr. Miller has taken 

 a long step in advance, in what apparenDly is a success. That being the case, all he 

 has to do is to carry the dry sugar and a pail of water ; pour an equal quantity of 

 each into the feeder, close the hive, and the work is done. You will observe he has 

 simply adapted the percolator idea to the feeder ; and herein lies the success of the 

 plan. 



We have been trying the plan outlined above by Dr. Miller, and so far we are 

 pleased with it. • 



Although I saw the plan working successfully at Marengo, on my recent bicycle 

 trip, when I got home one of the first things I asked our apiarist to do was to try 

 this new way of feeding. I was in such a hurry that I could not wait to get common 

 flannel, but asked him to go to the book-binding room and get some common cheese- 

 cloth and poke it under the inside partition of the ordinary Miller feeder, as we 

 make and use it. That you may understand a little better, I herewith show a cross- 

 section (Fig. 2) of the feeder in question. The cloth was crammed in under the 

 boards B, right where the arrows are coming out into the larger compartment ; and 

 it was crammed in tight enough so as to make the syrup percolate through it, in 

 order to get into those narrow passage-ways under A on either side. Well, what 

 was the result ? " All that my fancy painted it," in the language of Dr. Miller, 

 where the cloth stuiBng was properly put in. Where we failed to crowd the cloth 

 in tight enough, some of the water escaped before it had incorporated very much 

 sugar ; but in all other cases the bees used up all the sugar syrup. 



I forgot to tell you that we put into the feeders equal parts of sugar and water, 

 and, of course, the syrup, as the bees got it, was thinner than they ordinary get it — 

 more like the nectar from the field. 



As Mr. Boardman says, this syrup will never granulate, because the bees ripen 

 it ; and right here I ought to credit Mr. Boardman with the idea of making the 

 syrup of sugar and water, half and half. The fact that Dr. Miller was leaning 

 the same way, only shows that great minds sometimes run in the same channel. 



Without percolation, the water would not have time to take up the sugar suifi 

 ciently before the bees would have it taken down into the brood-nest. Well, when 

 there is not enough water to take up the sugar, the latter simply dries, because the 

 bees will take away the former in very short order. The cloth seems to prevent the 

 water from escaping before it has had time to take up all the sugar ; now, then, by 

 putting in an excessive amount of water — that is, perhaps twice as much as is neces- 

 sary for actual saturation, the sugar is more apt to dissolve, and, when dissolved, to 

 percolate slowly through the cloth. 



Perhaps the majority have not already in use the Miller feeder. Well, as Dr. 

 Miller intimates above, you can secure the results by the use of a tumbler, a piece 

 of cloth, and a saucer. But suppose you desire to feed faster, you have plenty of 

 upper stories that you can put on the hives. The same plan, perhaps, can be 

 secured by using a gallon crock inverted over a piece of flannel, the whole set on a 

 plate or large tin pan. 



Later. — Since writing the foregoing, we have tried three one-gallon crock 

 feeders, inverted over several thicknesses of cheese-cloth on plates. So far as I can 

 judge, the experiment seems to be a success ; but instead of using flannel we used 

 on one plate four thicknesses of cheese-cloth; on another six, and on another eight. 

 The last mentioned seems to give the best results. In each crock was, of course, 

 put an equal quantity of sugar and water by measure ; and in 48 hours, when they 

 were examined, the syrup was all taken out of two of them, and in the third a 

 little yet remained. In what is regularly the bottom of the crocks, was a slight 

 residue of sugar still clinging. The water had probably settled away from it. This 

 would make no trouble, because the crocks can be used on other colonies, or the 

 same one if more feed is required, putting in more sugar and water as before. The 

 slight residue of sugar still in the crock would make no trouble with a fresh supply. 

 I hope others will try this experiment, and report results. In the meantime we 

 shall continue the experiments on a larger scale. 



This plan of feeding by percolator feeders is a little slower — that is, it takes the 

 bees about twice as long to get the same amount of feed as by the old plan, when 

 syrup is given to them ; but this is rather an advantage; the syrup, being thinner 

 in the first place, is taken down more slowly, and will be ripened better. 



Ernest R. Root. 



