122 



GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



A Fl'RTHER IMPROVEMENT ON THE 

 HAINS FEEDER. 



I.ITE directions I have given for filling 

 the Hains feeder, are, as you know, to 

 imff>erse it in the syrup while held by 

 one corner, as you may" remember. Well, 

 a great many do not like this way, and I rec- 

 ollect that one of our friends in Canada, who 

 attempted to do this with thick honey, was 

 not only disgusted with such a sticky way of 

 doing things, but 1 do not know but that he 

 came pretty near being- disgusted Avith the 

 whole race of Yankees, on account of their 

 flimsy, dauby, and slip-shod way of doing 

 things. It is true, he did not say all this, 

 but I am a little afraid, from the way he 

 wrote, that he came pretty near thinking it. 

 If he didn't, I beg his pardon. You may re- 

 member what I have said about our grooved- 

 board feeder being such a splendid way of 

 feeding grape sugar, for all we had to do was 

 to fill the jar with lumps, pour on some 

 water, and then invert it. It all works hand- 

 somely, except the inverting part. In fact, 

 this inverting part seems to be an objection 

 to all of the atmospheric feeders. Well, a 

 few days ago a gentleman who was visiting 

 us was telling me of a feeder he used, but I 

 had heard of and seen so many feeders. I 

 fear I did not pay very much attention to it, 

 thinking it would probably be too much ma- 

 chinery, like the greater part of them; but 

 when he said he could fill and invert it witli- 

 out spilling a drop, I asked to see one. It 

 seemed, wlien examined, but a common 

 Ilains feeder, and so I asked to see him fill 

 it full of water, and then invert it without 

 spilling any. .Sure enough, he did it, and 

 he explained to me that it gave the bees a 

 larger feeding ground than the usual Ilains 

 feeder. Come to look into it, I found where 

 the secret lay. After he had gone (!?o.00 bet- 

 ter off, for his invention) I made one after 

 my own fancy, as per the figure below. 



I simply got a honey- 

 tumbler f ro'm the 5-cent 

 counter, and asked the 

 tinner to drive his 2- 

 inch hollow punch 

 through its tin cap. 

 Then he made a little 

 pan, 4 inches square, 

 with sides i inch tiigh ; 

 with a pair of tinner's 

 snips and a soldering 

 iron you can make theni 

 •■' like smoke,'' of a sheet glass-tumbler 

 of thin light tin. The feeder. 



tumbler ca]i was then placed in the bottom, 

 raised on four bits of folded tin, and sold- 

 ered fast. It was then filled Avith water, the 

 cap with its stpiare pan attachment placed 

 over it, and, sure enough, it could be invert- 

 ed very easily witliout spilling a drop. If 

 you can't make them, Ave Avill make them 

 for you for luc each, $1.00 per dozen, or $7.00 

 per hundred. These hold a little more than 

 half a pint ; pint size, just double the money. 

 As the glass is not mailable, Ave shall use 

 a tin tumbler when ordered by mail. Post- 

 age on each will be 5c. What shall we call 

 this feeder? To call it after the inventors' 

 names it would be the ''Ilains, Finch and 



Crane, Root feeder." You see, my part of 

 it Avas in thinking of making it out of tin- 

 topped honey-tumblers. Messrs. Finch and 

 Crane, of Strongsville, O.. invented the idea 

 of having it open, to put in the sugar, and 

 invert Avithout spilling. To cut it short, I 

 haA^e called it the glass-tumbler feeder. Put 

 in some sugar, i)our on some water, then put 

 on the cover and tuni it over, and tell the 

 bees to come to supper. If you put it in the 

 upper part of the hive, you can bid them 

 come to dinner if you clioose. It Avill also 

 work Avith very thick honey or syrup ; but a 

 little Avater put in Avould perhaps make it 

 work faster. No bee cnn ever get daubed 

 or soiled by any possibility. Now, really, 

 do you not lliink it is a handsome feeder for 

 such a little bit of money? I should not 

 wonder if it would please our English, 

 friends aAvay across the water. I do not 

 blame them one bit for wanting nice, strong, 

 and substantial things. My wife is one of 

 England's daughters, you see. and she has 

 talked to me so mucli I begin sometimes to 

 really think I may yet turn out ''right 

 smart."' 



A NEAV NAIL-BOX. 



S our lives are smoothed by little things, I will 

 mention a convenience which I have never 

 seen used but by myself, although perhaps 

 everybody knows of it. I have had them in use 

 many years. Square empty oyster-cans can almost 

 always be procured in abundance. Now, take them 

 and cut away one end and a part of one side, as seen 

 in the picture; then take a strip of wood Jax'a, long 

 enough to go across the end inside. Bore a fj hole 

 through the center, and tuck it in at the end thus:— 



NORMAN CLARK'S NAIL-BOX. 



and you have a tack or small nail box which, when 

 laid down, is right to take nails from; and when not 

 in use they may be hung on nail?, in a row, one for 

 each kind of nail^, tacks, and screws, brad?, etc. 

 They will hold about 2 lbs. each. 

 Sterling, 111 , Jan. 25, 1881. Norman Clark. 



Many thanks, friend C. I would suggest 

 that, after the boxes are nicely hung up in a 

 row, Ave have a A'ery plain and conspicuous 

 label over each, that the boxes may all be 

 put away in the same relative position, so 

 that you can at any time lay your hand in- 

 stantly on just the box you Avant. Under no 

 circumstances pei'mit nails of different kinds 

 to be put in the same box, for it is more than 

 they are worth to sort them out so they can 

 be used conveniently. We have tried it 

 here, and knoAv just Avhat it costs, especially 

 Avith tacks and small wire nails ; and yet ev- 

 ery ncAV handAvill, if not AA'atched, almost 

 always put a handful of these small tacks or 

 nails in some otlier nail-box than the one it 

 belongs in. 



