OR, MANCTAI, OP THIJ APIARY. 271 



feeder. In the center is a passage (Fig. 128, c) which connects 

 with the food reservoir, but is not accessible to the bees. In 

 this the food is poured when feeding, which makes it unneces- 

 sary to have the wire gauze above, or to smear the top when 

 feeding, as in case of the Smith feeder, yet this feeder does 

 not retain the heat in spring. The center of the cover slides 

 back, so the whole cover need not be removed when feeding is 

 done. The vertical partitions, except the one next to the space 

 (Fig. 128) where the food is added, do not run quite to the 

 board which covers the feeder, and so the bees can pass into 



Fig. 128. 



JTeddon Bee-Feeder.— From James Eeddon. 



all the spaces except where we pour in the food. No partition 

 except the one next to the space where the bees pass to and 

 from the hive runs quite to the bottom, so the food will pass 

 readily from one space to the other, and will always be equally 

 high in all. 



Mr. D. A. Jones and many others having tight bottom- 

 boards to their hives use no feeder, but turn the feed right 

 into the hive. Dr. C. C. Miller, like L. C. Root, prefers to 

 feed by filling frames of empty comb with the syrup or honey. 

 The empty combs are laid flat, in a deep box or tub, under a 

 colander or finely perforated pan. The syrup, as it falls, fills 

 the cells of comb. After the comb is filled on both sides, we 

 have only to hang it in the hive. I have found that by use of 

 a fine spray-nozzle and force-pump we can fill frames very fast. 



The best time to feed is just at nightfall. In this case the 



