1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



517 



er, raise the front end and place a J s -inch 

 block under it as at 1. This, you see, raises 

 the front end of the bottom-board on a level 

 with the top of the rim formed by the cleat at 

 the back end and the strips along the side, 

 which gives a basin 3,i inch in depth at the 

 bick of the hive, sloping to nothing at the 

 front. 



When I first began to use the bottom-board 

 feeder (as we are wont to call it) I had great 

 trouble in getting the honey to flow back in 

 the hive, as the slope was so slight it would 

 frequently overflow in front and cause more or 

 less trouble. Necessity brought to my mind 

 the device shown at 2, which is an ordinary 

 funnel with a flat crooked nozzle fg inch 

 thick by 1 >< inches wide. By placing the 

 nozzle in the entrance of the hive, the mouth 

 of the funnel stands upright. To feed with 

 the funnel and bottom-board feeder, warm the 

 honey or syrup so that it flows freely and is 

 not chilling to the bees ; hold the vessel some 

 foot or more above the funnel, so the fall will 

 be great enough to force the food through the 

 funnel to the back of the hive (circumstances 

 governing the amount used), then leave the 

 funnel until the food has had time to drain out 

 Should the weather be cool, pound on the top 

 of the hive with the hand until the bees begin 

 to stir. In a few minutes bring your light in 

 proper position, look in at the entrance, and 

 you will see that which will bring to your 

 mind a company of well-drilled soldiers on 

 dress parade. On each side of the bottom-bar, 

 in perfect line, with their heads down and 

 tongues stretched at full length, you will see 

 the happiest set of bees extant. This will con- 

 tinue until the food is taken up, and then 

 comes the cleaning- up spell of the bottom- 

 board, same as "Louis Scherfe's vife vas 

 cleaned up" (page 48). In this way you can 

 feed when the weather is too cool to 

 feed in an outside feeder, and still you 

 do not have to open the hive or give 

 any extra room to hold the feeder, 

 and have no extra expense for the 

 feeders save the little blocks and the 

 one funnel. 



In 1896 I had my bees worked up 

 to a high state of perfection, and 

 among the last days of March we had 

 cool damp weather which continued 

 for some two or three weeks. On the 

 morning of April 10 I discovered that 

 some of my strongest colonies had 

 consumed all of their stores, although 

 the rattan was almost in full bloom. 

 Owing to the cool damp weather they were 

 almost in a starving condition. Fortu- 

 nately this turned out to be a warm pleas- 

 ant day, and they all got enough honey 

 to eat and a few drops to spare, so I did not 

 have to feed that night. The next day was 

 cloudy with a little north wind and rain, which 

 kept the bees in all day. I knew I should 

 have to feed, so I told the boys to get every 

 thing ready to feed that night ; and as soon as 

 it was dark enough for the bees not to fly out 

 and get on a lark over the feeding we com- 

 menced. I had the honey in gallon cans. To 

 warm it the cans were placed in a vessel of 



hot water. One man attended to this part of 

 the work, and the other two picked out the- 

 hives to be fed, and did the feeding. I would 

 feel the weight of the hives, and if they were 

 not more than 15 or 20 lbs. heavier than an 

 empty hive I would feed them. I am sure I 

 fed a good many hives that did not really need 

 feeding, but that was better than to miss one 

 that reallv needed it. 



We rushed this work as rapidly as possible, 

 going over three apiaries, and feedmg about 

 300 colonies an average of one pound each, 



A DAILY HIVE RECORD. 



finishing our work at 2 a. m Sunday, the 

 12th, we had a continuation of this cool disa- 

 greeable weather. Monday morning was dark 

 and dreary, so I told the boys to rest up, as 

 we should have to feed again that night. 

 About 2 A. M. it began to rain in sheets, and 

 continued to pour down until every vestige of 

 cloud was gone. At noon I told the boys that, 

 instead of feeding, we should have to give 

 room to all the bees that were crowded, and 

 accordingly each man went to a different api- 

 ary, and by night we had supers or extracting 

 stories on all hives that were crowded with 

 bees, although we had opened some 300 to 500 



