AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



309 



two seasons, and I am highly pleased 

 with it. Although the past two seasons 

 were almost failures, I have realized 

 fair returns for my labor. The bees 

 having commenced to work in the super, 

 they will not stop when the brood is 

 given back, but the queen will go down 

 in the brood-case, and I am never both- 

 ered with brood or pollen in the super. 



I write this that others who have not 

 been successful in getting bees to work 

 in the sections might profit by my ex- 

 perience. The above plan may not work 

 so well in other localities. 



Last season my bees averaged 28 

 pounds per colony, or per double colony, 

 rather, and I do not know of any one 

 else in this locality that got a pound of 

 surplus honey. Our main flow is from 

 Spanish-needle, is of excellent quality, 

 and never^andies : in fact, I never knew 

 any of our honey to candy. 



Bronaugh, Mo. 



A Bee-FeeJer for Siirini Use. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



DR. O. S. BKOWN. 



In this part of Ohio, all successful 

 bee-keepers are compelled to feed more 

 or less every spring to stimulate brood- 

 rearing, and to supply the needful food 

 for the bees during the long, cold rains 

 which occur every spring. I have had 

 much annoyance in using the various 

 forms of feeders described by our lead- 



ing apiarists— all those feeding in the 

 surplus chamber necessitating the dis- 

 turbing or removing entirely of the ab- 

 sorbents over the cluster; while those 

 feeding in the brood-chamber compel 

 the removal of one or more brood-frames, 

 provided you have a full colony. 



After much thought and many fail- 

 ures, I at last made a feeder, from which 

 I have much satisfaction in using. It is 

 not patented, neither do I manufacture 

 it for sale. Thinking it might interest 

 the readers of the "Old Reliable" to 

 have a description of it, I give herewith 

 a cut of it, with full directions for its 

 manufacture. 



It is better to make it of some soft 

 wood, such as pine, poplar, etc. For 

 the bottom, get out a block 8 inches 

 long by 5 inches wide by >^ inch thick. 

 Now get out a strip 26 inches long by 

 IJi inches wide by % inch thick. This 

 is for a rim, which is to be nailed edge- 

 wise upon the bottom block. If you 

 want to do a nice, neat job, cut the 

 strip in lengths for the sides and ends, 

 using a square miter at each corner, 

 like a picture frame, and nailing each 

 way. This rim should be of the exact 

 size of the bottom. Nail fast by nailing 

 through the bottom into the strips. 



Lastly get out a block 2 inches hy \M 

 inches by %-inch (I usually take a piece 

 of one of the blocks which I saw off the 

 rim, for this), and nail it flat-wise in the 

 center of the bottom on the same side 

 the rim is nailed. Be certain to nail in 

 each corner of the block ; then bore a 

 hole through its center and bottom with 

 a %-mQ,h. bit. This is for the bees to 

 enter the feeder. 



Cut a piece of wire cloth, (such as is 

 used for fly-screen) 8x5 inches, and turn 

 li inch down on each side, so that it will 

 the better hold the tacks. Tack this 

 over the rim upon the top of the feeder. 

 Heat some beeswax, or paraffine, quite 

 hot, and at the same time heat the 

 feeder until it feels warm to the hand ; 

 now pour the wax, or paraffine, (paraf- 

 fine being the best) into the feeder, and 

 slowly turn it until every part of the 

 interior is in thorough contact with the 

 hot material. Pour out all that is not 

 held by the wood, for future use. A 

 feeder thus coated will neither sour nor 

 leak the syrup, which is very essential 

 in sprinir feeding, as the feeder is much 

 more liable to sour in spring stimulative 

 feeding than in fall feeding for winter 

 stores. 



To place the feeder upon the hive, I 

 remove the chaff cushion, and with a 

 sharp pocket-knife make two V-shaped 

 incisions in the burlap or oilcloth, each 

 incision being about one inch long, and 

 the two being separated about %-inch 

 at the widest point. Turn back the flap 

 thus made, and place the auger-hole in 

 the feeder directly over it. This open- 

 ing should, of course, be directly over 

 the cluster. 



To fill the feeder with syrup, I use an 

 ordinary tea-pot of large size, having a 

 long spout. It only takes a moment to 

 lift the cushion, pour in the. hot syrup 

 through the wire-cloth, and replace the 

 cushion and pass to the next hive. It is 

 surprising how soon one person can feed 

 25 to 50 colonies in this way, and speed 

 is not the only feature. You disturb 



