1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



839 



BEE-FEEDERS AND FEEDING. 



Dearth in Southern California more Complete and 



Prolonged than for Fifty Years; Feeding with 



the Hill Feeder. 



BY J. M. HAMBAUGH. 



The sparse showers and light rainfall of the 

 past winter in Southern California have played 

 havoc with the bee-keepers' prospects for the 

 season, and the contemplated financial bene- 

 fits to be derived from the pursuit have re- 

 solved themselves into deferred payments of 

 indefinite promise; and the poor little "busy 

 workers " have long since realized that it is a 

 case of the "survival of the fittest;" and 

 where no attention has been paid to their 

 needs and wants many have long since suc- 

 cumbed to the inevitable, and the wary moth- 

 miller has invaded the precincts, and the once 

 beautiful combs are an unsightly mass of 

 webs, worms, and cocoons. Yes, thousands 

 of colonies of bees have died, and thousands 

 more are bound to die, where judicious feed- 

 ing has not been practiced ; and the prudent 

 and successful bee-keeper is he who is in full 

 sympathy with their poverty, fully realizing 

 their needs, and is armed with the necessary 

 appliances whereby to feed and nourish them 

 through the season of failure from Mother 

 Earth to meet their requirements. 



From what we can learn from old Calif or- 

 nians, this has been an unusually hard season 

 for the bees in Southern California, the dearth 

 being more complete and prolonged than any 

 during a period of 50 years. This we can not 

 verify from our own experience, as our sojourn 

 is of but three years' duration ; but we do 

 realize that it is not all plain sailing to the 

 average honey-producers of this section of the 

 country. 



One source of consolation is that no two 

 successive years of failure ever occur, accord- 

 ing to the statement of our apiarian predeces- 

 sors; and, this being the case, with the assur- 

 ance of a wondrous yield should normal con- 

 ditions once more come around, it behooves 

 the bee-keepers to see that loss of bees is 

 reduced to the minimum; and now the subject 

 of feeders and feed is the all-important one to 

 the bee-keeper. 



In our experience we have always advocated 

 the feeding of pure liquid honey. If the hon- 

 ey should be thick and heavy, dilute it with 

 water slightly, but not sufficiently to make it 

 watery and thin. The cheapest grades are as 

 good as any here in California. In the event 

 that honey can not be had, a syrup can be 

 made of sugar of any grade by mixing water 

 and bringing it to a gradual heat, stirring it 

 meanwhile. The proportion is about two- 

 thirds sugar to one-third water. 



As to the subject of feeders, some do not 

 use any of any kind. They simply tilt the 

 hive backward so that the honey will not run 

 out at the entrance, and pour the honey over 

 the combs in limited quantities, and let the 

 bees clean up their house and make their toilet 

 as best they can. We do not advocate this 

 untid)' way, realizing from experience that it 

 is not only untidy but a dangerous method 



where many bees are kept in a body; neither 

 do we believe in outside feeding, as it is a bait 

 and a free fight for all within a radius of three 

 miles, which will not pay the ■ bee-keeper, 

 besides the danger of getting up a wholesale 

 robbing-fever, in the event of which it at 

 times becomes extremely difficult to control, 

 especially for the novice; and the feeder that 

 Will obviate this difficulty, and give it to the 

 bees at home, as it is needed, without danger of 

 outside interference, is what the bee-keeper 

 wants. The most satisfactory in our experi- 

 ence has been the Hill feeder, which is made 

 like a fruit-can with a sunken lid perforated 

 with fine holes. You simply fill, or partially 

 fill, one can, according to the strength of the 

 colony, put on the lid, and invert it over the 

 brood-nest. An upper body is, of course, 

 necessary. In the event of having a very 

 populous colony, two or three cans may be 

 used in the same body. Quart cans are pref- 

 erable. 



We have used successfully the Mason self- 

 sealers and tin fruit-cans as feeders, by per- 

 forating a piece of tin full of fine holes. 

 Spread first a small piece of gunny sacking 

 over the mouth of the filled can or jar, then 

 place the perforated tin on the sacking; invert 

 over the brood-nest. This is an economical 

 plan ; and where the apiary is small it is a very 

 safe and desirable method ; but where much 

 feeding is needed, the first-mentioned method 

 is preferable. Care and judgment must at all 

 times be used, and the feeding done late in 

 the afternoon or evening. The cans can be 

 taken from the hives, and refilled under shel- 

 ter from the bees, and placed back in the 

 hive, with no smell, which is so essential in a 

 bee-yard during a honey-dearth. A neighbor 

 bee-keeper with 300 or 400 colonies feeds at 

 any time during the day, he says, with safety, 

 with the Hill feeder. 



Escondido, Cal. 



SHADE FOR BEES IN FLORIDA. 



Honey Making People Sick. 



BY MRS. I.. HARRISON. 



Mr. Root: — I regret very much my inability 

 to meet with you all at the late reunion of 

 bee-keepers at Omaha; but circumstances be- 

 yond my control prevented. However, it's a 

 panacea to hear the talks around the camp- 

 fires, even if it is second hand. I've listened 

 with great interest to the discussions about 

 " honey making people sick," and it rightful- 

 ly demands a day in court to prove its inno- 

 cence. 



Before we engaged in bee culture, an old 

 farmer friend " tuk up a gum," as he ex- 

 pressed it, and brought it to town to sell. 

 We purchased some of it. We found that, if 

 we ate the least amount of that honey, it in- 

 variably was followed by sickness. It was 

 just such honey as is usually obtained from a 

 bee-tree — old black comb, with bee-bread in 

 abundance. 



The following spring we purchased two col- 

 onies of Italian bees, and put on surplus boxes. 

 Beautiful white-clover honey was the result. 



