GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Jay Smith's feeder designed to slip into the entrance 

 is not as wide as it looks, for it does not extend over 



shaped piece of wood forced under it which 

 makes it solid as Avell as bee-tight, and also 

 brings it up level, as all hives should be 

 slightly tilted forward. It is fitted with a 

 screen so that the bees cannot fly out while 

 being fed. 



It will hold from four to five pounds of 

 honey or thick syrup which, I believe, is as 

 much as bees should be given at once for 

 fall feeding. If given more it will cool 

 before they can take it all; and if the 

 weather is cold they will not take it cold. 

 It also contracts the entrance, which is 

 necessary in cold weather, and this feature 

 prevents robbing. 



To feed, all that is necessary is to swing 

 back the cover and pour in the feed. One 

 hundred colonies can be fed in fifteen or 

 twenty minutes if each hive has a feeder. 

 When not in use it can be placed in the 

 honey-house. A large number can be put 

 in a small place, as they occupy little room. 



Last year while feeding in cool weather I 

 noticed that the bees would take feed from 

 this feeder when they would not take it any 

 other way — not even from my original feed- 

 er built in the bottom-board. The reason, 

 I believe, was because the entrance was 

 contracted by the feeder, keeping the bees 

 as well as the feed warm. 



It is not my intention to " knock " on any 

 feeder; but as improvement is what we are 

 all striving for, I do not believe any one 

 will object if I make a few comparisons. 

 The Boardman feeder I have used in a small 

 way for eight years. It will incite robbers 

 if the colony is not strong. Bees will not 

 take feed from it in cool weather. I have 

 had colonies refuse to take feed from it in 

 May. On cool nigh<:s the syrup cools and 

 contracts and takes in air. Then in the 

 morning a lot will leak out, making a mussy 

 mess, wasting the feed and inviting robbers. 

 The Boardman, of course, is not good for 

 fall feeding, and was not intended for such. 

 Furthermore, it is too slow. With my feed- 

 er I can feed ten in the time it would take 



under the combs. It 

 the full width of hive. 



me to feed one with 

 the Boardman. 



The Alexander feed- 

 er, I think, is the only 

 one approaching the 

 metal feeder described 

 above. The two seri- 

 ous objections to the 

 Alexander are that it 

 takes 30 long to fit it to 

 the hive, and it is too 

 small for fall feeding. 

 Another fault with all 

 feeders is, they are 

 made of wood. No mat- 

 ter liow much you wax them, when laid 

 away they will shrink and leak. The result 

 is that it takes so much time to get ready to 

 feed that the busy man cannot do it. 



I notice that more and more beekeepers 

 are coming to believe that slow feeding to 

 stimulate the queen does not pay; that if 

 there are plenty of stores in the hive the 

 colony will be just as strong. I believe this 

 is right if other factors besides plenty of 

 stores did not enter in. Bees should have 

 jDlenty of stores to winter on, plenty of 

 stores to build up on in the spring, and 

 plenty of room for the queen to lay. This 

 would take a very large hive — too large for 

 successful wintering, and too large to keep 

 the bees warm during brood-rearing in the 

 spring. 



So the solution for those using the regular 

 eight or ten frame hive is to feed in the fall, 

 and then, after brood-rearing is well on the 

 way in the spring, to feed about a pint of 

 good warm syrup every day till the hive is 

 filled with brood. I have tried giving it 

 slowly as with the Boardman, and giving it 

 to them so they can get it all in about ten 

 minutes, and I can see no difference as to 

 results. When given so they can get the 

 whole pint at once, they store it into the 



The front of one of Jay Smith's hives, showing the 

 feeder in position. 



