290 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 13. 



little hot wax around the ledge to fix the cloth nicely. (If the 

 syrup should run through too fast, another layer of cloth can 

 be added, or a piece laid a-top of the guaze in the box.) 



Fill the glass jar with whatever feed you use; screw on 

 the cap, invert smartly and insert in the box, the jar of course 

 resting on the wire gauze. Have the hole sufficiently large 

 for the jar to pass in and out comfortably, and keep all snug 

 by twisting a few turns of string, or rope yarn, or what not 

 around the jar at its junction with the lid. Have a spare jar 

 in starting feeding, already filled, so that upon taking an 

 empty jar out you at once pop a filled one in. Don't mind the 

 sacrifice of the jar's lid ; the feeder is worth far more than the 

 cost of the jar — say 4 cents — and will last forever ; only be 

 sure to give the little box two good coats of paint, and it will 

 last as long as the jar, altho the bulk of it consists only of a 

 section. 



The making of these boxes is just fun. The only tools 

 required are a compass, saw for the round hols, a center-bit, 

 a pocket-knife and a tack-hammer ; and your wife's or your 

 mother-in-law's scissors to cut the discs of cheese-cloth. (Only 

 don't be attempting to cut out the top of the metal cap with 

 them, or you may get your own " top " disfigured !) The latter 

 job I effect with an old jack-knife. You must use your in- 

 genuity in this matter. 



In conclusion, I would remark that of all the feeding 

 methods and devices I have ever tried, none came anywhere 

 near up to this as regards comfort — to self and bees — rapidity 

 and ease; and I am sure it will be found to be " a boon and a 

 blessing " to every bee-keeper who may occasionally require 

 to feed. 



The easiest way I have found to fill the jars is by having 

 the syrup in a kerosene can. The can has a little funnel- 

 shaped spout underneath, just under the screw-cap. This is 

 shut or opened by simply raising or lowering the wooden stick 

 or plunger — see Fig. 4. It is placed on a wheelbarrow, and 

 the spout of course projects from the front of the barrow. 



Where a large center-bit is at hand — say 2-inch — the con- 

 struction of the floor of the entrance feeder, which I have 



been endeavoring to describe, may be facilitated by cutting a 

 large hole out of the center of a piece of 3.2'-'Dch stuff, and 

 tacking a bit of tin underneath, as shown in Fig. 5. 



N. B. — As shown in Fig. 3, a piece of one side of the sec- 

 tion must be cut away to allow the horns to project. Bevel 

 away the floor of the box between the horns, or it will reduce 

 the width of the entrance by %. 



Later. — In the detailed description of my entrance feeder 

 I omitted to state that as the atmospheric pressure is liable to 

 bulge the cheese-cloth (which fits in the metal cap's rim) in- 

 wards, and so prevent it from coming In close contact with 



the wire gauze, or with the extra layer of cheese-cloth (should 

 such be found necessary) lying a-top of the gauze, then cut a 

 disc of wire gauze and insert it, too, in the rim, over the 

 cheese-cloth, i. e., on the contents side. 



Again, instead of rolling a collar of string or rope yarn, 

 or what not around the jar, so as to close up the juncture 

 (caused by the jar fitting in comfortably loose) between the 

 jar and lid, I have found it preferable to tack a square of 

 glazed quilting neatly over the top of the box, cutting the hole 

 in it so much smaller than that in the lid itself that It fits 



Fig. y. 



tightly around the jar, so that it draws up when the empty 

 jar is pulled but, and is forced down when the full one is in- 

 serted ; this keeps all tight and snug. And as to the extra 

 cost — well, as according to such eminent authorities as Dr. 

 Miller, quilts, too, are fast becoming another "old and dis- 

 carded fad," there's sure to be a lot of it in most apiaries 

 lying around. Personally, I find no use for quilts in summer 

 — they are a distinct nuisance. I never yet found one in a 

 hollow tree ! 



I have been pouring over old volumes of the Bee Journal 

 in hopes of finding some really descriptive account of an arti- 

 cle so often and so highly commended as the Boardman en- 

 trance feeder, but alas ! all in vain. On page 301 (1895), 

 "Gleaner" tells us just enough about it to set us longing to 

 know more, but his mention of it is as studiously free from 

 constructive details as is that reproduced from Gleanings on 

 page 265 (1896). True, Dr. Miller, I remember, tells us 

 somewhere that Mr. Boardman's feeder is " made of tin," but, 

 lawks! that don't help us very much ; it was all right as a 

 first installment, and reminds one of the old cookery book 

 recipe: "First catch your hare." Well, we've got our tin, 

 now what next. Doctor, dear? Will you, or some one, kindly 

 continue the description, and let us know all about it? 



South Africa. 



The Natioual Bee-Keepers' Union. 



BY THOMAS G. NEWMAN. 



In reply to the editorial on page 248, I desire to say : If 

 the writer intended to be honorable, he would not attempt to 

 misinterpret the quotation from my Report, and force it to 

 mean something different from what it says. 



His statement that the work in the line of the defense of 

 bee-keepers is " practically all done " shows that he is not 

 posted. That assertion is utterly at variance with the facts. 

 There never was more demand for help to defend the pursuit 

 of bee-keeping than NOW. 



He emphatically asserts that " the old Union is no longer 

 needed to defend the pursuit of bee-keeping in its right to ex- 

 istence," and adds, "That was settled some 10 years ago." 

 Such a statement is an insult to the intelligence of bee-keepers 

 generally, and is totally at variance with the facts in the case. 

 It is not yet S years since the Union fought the battle In 

 Arkansas, and wrung from the. Supreme Court of June 22, 

 1889, the first recognition from that high tribunal of "Its 

 right to existence." Since then its battles have been many, 

 and several suits are on the dockets in the Courts this very 

 day. Facts cannot be annihilated by bombastic denial of 

 their existence. 



If only one side was presented to bee-keepers in the matter 

 of "amalgamation " last winter, " and that the wrong side " — 

 what was the Bee Journal and Gleanings doing on the other 

 side for months ? To admit that I did more real work in that 

 time, in less than 4 pages of my "Annual Report," than both 

 of the editors and others did In scores of pages of the above- 

 named periodicals for three or four months, is Inadvertently 

 giving me credit for vastly more than was intended. That 

 writer overstept the mark, and " put his foot In It." 



The Insinuation that I am now doing nothing but "put- 



