AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



639 



the price of comb honey and the sugar 

 syrup fed back in the fall. 



The question now at issue is What 

 style of feeder and feeding is best to use 

 for the desired result, that of having 

 strong colonies ready to harvest the 

 honey crop ? The one that I have used 

 for six or seven years is the " Perfection 

 Feeder." For an all-purpose feeder it 

 cannot be excelled. It can be used the 

 year round, winter and summer. My 

 bees were fed in December, 1891, and 

 wintered O. K. Out of 45 colonies the 

 loss was only three. With any other 

 feeder it could not very well have been 

 done at that time, as the thermometer 

 several times reached zero and below it. 



It can be used in zero weather or 

 lower, in-doors or out - of - doors, as 

 the syrup is directly over the cluster, 

 and the bees do not leave the hive to 

 get it. The heat rising from the cluster 

 against the cloth on the bottom of the 

 feeder allows the honey to flow freely. 

 If I want to feed up quickly, I put on 

 two or three feeders at a time, and reg- 



The Perfection Bee-Feeder. 



ulate the flow as fast as they can take 

 it. It can be refilled without disturbing 

 the bees, or removing the feeder. 



For spring feeding it is just the thing, 

 and can be used as before stated during 

 cool weather, there being no possible 

 danger from robbers, as the honey is 

 directly over the cluster, and there is no 

 scent outside of the hive to guide them. 



For stimulating brood rearing it is 

 perfection itself, as the flow can be reg- 

 ulated to any desired amount just 

 enough to keep the queen laying until 

 the principal harvest is ready. I have 

 practiced stimulating for some years, 

 and it has paid me well. 



The Habit of Observation. — This is a 

 habit that will pay to carefully culti- 

 vate. Hon. Eugene Secor, of Forest 

 City, Iowa, writes thus upon this subject 

 in a recent number of Gleanings : 



Isn't it strange that so many people 

 go through this world without observing 



the little things about them ? Farmers, 

 especially, fail to notice many interest- 

 ing things in nature with which they 

 constantly come in contact. I have 

 talked with many farmers about the 

 fertilization of flowers by bees or bum- 

 ble-bees, and I do not now remember 

 one who had any idea that they were in- 

 debted to the honey-gathering insects 

 for the complete fertilization of the 

 clovers. Although constantly in the 

 fields, and, may be, aware that bumble- 

 bees visit their red clover, they had not 

 given them any credit for the work done 

 in insuring a crop of seed. The nests, 

 perhaps, are destroyed on sight. I ven- 

 ture the assertion, that nine out of ten 

 farmers, fail to give bees any credit for 

 their valuable aid to agriculture. They 

 have been reared in the midst of the 

 most wonderful exhibitions of divine 

 wisdom and beneficence with the faculty 

 of observation as blind as a bat. 



There is one argument in favor of bee- 

 keeping that ought not to be lost sight 

 of— it trains the mind to observe. If he 

 would make a success, the bee-keeper 

 must train this faculty. If education 

 consists in storing the mind with facts, 

 and if observation leads one to investi- 

 gate, prove and apply, it is as good as a 

 school so far as it goes. This is probably 

 the reason that a successful bee-keeper 

 is above the average in intelligence. He 

 has learned to observe, and hence is 

 continually gathering new facts and 

 adding to his store of knowledge. 



If a person does not know the average 

 season for white clover and linden to 

 bloom, he is not likely to know when to 

 put on supers, or to be on the lookout 

 for swarms ; and if he does not know 

 the source from whence comes this 

 honey, he is likely to put on supers until 

 frost comes. It sounds odd enough to 

 charge bee-keepers with such a lack of 

 bee-lore ; but I know of persons who are 

 as ignorant of essentials as that. It is 

 not necessary to add that such persons 

 never study books or papers on the sub- 

 ject, and that they never succeed. 



But study all we may, and read all we 

 may, we need to cultivate the faculty of 

 observation. There are always some 

 problems in apiculture which cannot be 

 solved by a general rule. Each one 

 must work it out for himself amidst his 

 own environments. 



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