1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



803 



to stand on when inverted over the bees or 

 brood- chamber. 



" But, how do you tell when they are full ?" 

 some one asks. 



Just this way : Place them on a scale, and 

 when full the scale comes down — simplest 

 thing in the world ! 



I melt my sugar on a stove in my honey- 

 room, adding 1 lb. of water to every 2 lbs. of 

 sugar. To prevent granulating I use or add 

 liquid honey, if I have it to spare, something 

 after Doolittle's formula ; but last season we 

 did not have it, and I did as some of our best 

 bee-keepers here in Vermont have been doing 

 for some time — I used cider vinegar instead. 

 The rule is, one tablespoonful of vinegar to 

 each 10 lbs. of sugar. I found that half this 

 amount, if the vinegar was sharp, answered 

 verj' well. While it changes the flavor of the 

 syrup somewhat, it does not taste perceptibly 

 acid, and the bees seem to like it quite as well 

 — I am not sure but better. 



I usually melt up about 1% barrels of sugar 

 in the forenoon, pouring it, as fast as made, 

 into a galvanized-iron tank holding about 800 

 lbs. This tank is rather flat, or drum-shaped; 

 and, while only about 2 feet high, it extends 

 nearly across my wagon-box, and rests on a 

 wooden bottom made of boards, and cleated 

 at the ends, so that, by prying up the end of 

 the bottom and putting a roller under it, I can 

 draw it to the rear end of my wagon -box to 

 draw off the syrup. Of course, there is a hon- 

 ey-gate near the bottom of this tank, toward 

 the rear end, for this purpose. On top of the 

 can, near one edge, is a screw cap for filling, 

 and in the center of the top is a cone-shaped 

 tube four or five inches high, with screw cap 

 fitted for the escape of steam when filling, and 

 also when moving to outyards if necessary. If 

 such a tank is full, not much steam seems to 

 generate ; but if only partly filled, the motion 

 of the syrup generates a good deal of steam 

 and causes strong pressure ; and if the can is 

 not pretty strong, or if there is the smallest 

 leak, a part of its contents is liable to be on 

 the outside when it reaches its destination. 



I formerly used a pair of iron scales ; but as 

 they were heavy and inconvenient to transport 

 to outyards I have made one or two of wood 

 that work very well, and this is the way : 



Take a piece of wood, say 8 or 10 inches 

 wide by 15 or 18 long. About 5 or 6 inches 

 from one end make a saw kerf across the board 

 % or y?, deep. In this, place a piece of hoop 

 iron firmly so the edge of the iron will come 

 yi inch above the face of the board. Now 

 take another board, 6 inches wide, and as long 

 as the first, and 6 inches from one end make a 

 V-shaped groove across it to rest in the upper 

 edge of the hoop iron. Now nail a cleat (it 

 may be thin and narrow) to keep your can in 

 place, and another cleat to keep your weight 

 in its place when you have found by testing 

 where it is. For this weight I use an old flat- 

 iron that has lost its handle ; but any thing 

 else can be used as well. Thus you have a 

 pair of scales that will work very well, at a 

 cost not to exceed ten cents, like one on which 

 I have weighed a great many tons of syrup. I 

 build a platform at the rear of my wagon to 



set my scales on, with one man to unscrew the 

 caps and hand the feeders and take them 

 away, while another, with his hand on the 

 gate of the tank, draws off the syrup. In this 

 ^yay 1000 lbs. can be drawn off in an hour's 

 time, and in another hour distributed to the 

 hives that need it. As the feeders are drawn 

 off they are usually placed in a large box to 

 keep them warm ; for I like to feed the syrup 

 warm, as it quickly arouses the bees and facil- 

 itates removing it to their combs. 



In removing the filled feeders to the hives I 

 use what I call, for the want of a better name, 

 "carriers," which consist of a simple board, 

 say 6 inches wide by 2 feet long, with a han- 

 dle made of two half-inch strips nailed on 

 each side of the board, and to the end of a 

 cross-piece at the top. It is placed at the mid- 

 dle, of course, to balance the load. A man can 



walk off with two such, thus carrying 70 lbs. 

 or more at once. The illustrations show both 

 the carrier and scales as well as the feeders. 

 The one on the scales has a funnel in, ready 

 for filling. 



As I have already stated, I use two sizes of 

 feeders — one holding 6 lbs., and the other 9. 

 In feeding I can use one size or the other as I 

 need. For instance, if I want but 6 lbs., give 

 one small feeder ; if 9 lbs., one large feeder ; 

 if 12, two small ones ; and if 15 lbs., one large 

 and one small six-pounder, and so on. By 

 this method of feeding, two men or one man 

 and a boy and a horse can feed 800 lbs. of syr- 

 up a day to a yard of bees many miles from 

 home. 



I usually find most of my feeders empty in 

 24 hours, so they can be used day after day, 

 over and over again, till the close of the rea- 

 son. I have fed some colonies the past year 

 over 30 lbs. at a feed, to find nearly or quite 

 all gone the next afternoon. 



Middlebury, Vt. 



[You have your method of feeding elabo- 

 rated into a system that certainly economizes 

 labor. I have been wondering why you used 

 the flat or shallow storage-can for transporting 

 the syrup by means of the wagon. A tall 

 round can would be cheaper to make. You 

 doubtless have a reason, and we should like 

 to have it. 



