64 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



THE FKRRY FEEDKK AND COVER COMBINED. 



Bee-keepers have had in time past consid- 

 erable trouble in spring feeding, also stim- 

 ulating small colonies, disturbing the bees, 

 getting them cross, as well as being badly 

 stung, taking off covers, killing ihem, and 

 getting them excited, causing them to con- 

 sume more honey while adjusting the feed- 

 er. These inconveniences and trouble have 

 caused me to invent a feeder that is a com- 

 bination of a winter cover and feeder; can 

 also be left on as a summer cover, and much 

 better than the thin cover; as it will keep 

 the sun from the top of the hive, it can be 

 used as a cover at all times, and is always 

 ready for a feeder or stimulator at any sea- 

 son of the year, and will not disturb the 

 bees, and there is no danger of being stung. 

 I will give you a description of the Ferry 

 feeder. 



Take a regular super which is 5 inches 

 deep, and in the center put a Simplicity 

 feeder, cutting into the sides of thp super 

 so the ends of said feeder will sit in, so the 

 bottom of it will be about '2 inch from the 

 bottom of the super. On both sides of the 

 Simplicity feeder put a partition '2 inch 

 from the feeder the width of the super, also 

 a bottom, and fill in these partitions, both 

 sides of the feeder, with ground cork, chaff, 

 or leaves, also a cover over the Simplicity 

 feeder, leaving I'/i inch space on top for 

 bees to go into the feeder above this, and 

 fill in with cork, chaff, or leaves. Through 

 the top cover on the super have a hole hav- 

 ing a pipe extending into the Simplicity 

 feeder, through which the feed can be put, 

 honey or syrup (sugar and water), and in 

 this pipe you put a cork. Your yard being 

 fitted up with the Ferry feeders, j'ou re- 

 quire little feeding or stimulating. Take 

 your pail of honey or syrup, a dipper hold- 

 ing "2 pint, and a funnel, and j-ou can go 

 over a yard of 100 colonies in a very short 

 time. Remove the cork from the pipe, put 

 in the funnel, put in a dipper of feed, and 

 so on through the yard. You little know 

 what a help this is until you trj' it. If the 

 stock of honey is getting low it is important. 



In the spring, even if your bees have 

 plenty of honejf, it is a stimulant, a change 

 of food, and gives the bees new life, and 

 they will work with more energy and vim. 

 You may say it is a little expensive, but it 

 is done only once, and you always have 

 them. Your bees will make more honey the 

 ■first season than the cost of this "Ferry 



Feeder." I will send 3'ou a drawing of the 

 " Ferry Feeder " and cover combined. 



H. S. Ferry. 

 Mount Vernon, N. Y., Oct. 29. 



[Your idea is all right, but, as you say, 

 it is a little expensive. From my stand- 

 point, however, a Doolittle " division-board 

 feeder, costing less than a fourth as much 

 as the one you describe, would secure to 

 you all the advantages you get in the feed- 

 er illustrated. It has the feature of warmth; 

 and being in the form of a division-board it 

 can be inserted right down in the brood- 

 nest where there is the greatest heat; and, 

 moreover, it will hold about three times the 

 amount of feed of the ordinary Simplicity 

 trough. — Ed.] 



ARE OUEEN.S FOUND ON THE OUTSIDE OF 



THE HIVK IN A CLU.STER OF BEES 



AFTER A SWARM HAS ISSUED? 



On page 800, speaking of clipped queens, 

 the editor says, " The queens coming out 

 with swarms should generally be found in 

 front of the hive with a cluster of bees." 

 Dr. Miller's Straw, page 845, commenting 

 says, " May be she should, but she isn't, at 

 least not in this locality.." The editor's 

 footnote still insists on the correctness of his 

 statement. My experience of nearly 40 

 3'ears, in Indiana and California, agrees 

 with Dr. Miller. Not more than one case 

 in fifty have I ever found a cluster of bees 

 with the queen. She either goes back into 

 the hive, or is found crawling around by her- 

 self. The text-books say the old queen 

 leads the swarm. In my experience the 

 clipped queen is among the last bees to leave 

 the hive, and sometimes does not come out 

 at all, while virgin queens are usually 

 among the first of the swarm. Writers gen- 

 erallj' say a queen on the combs may be 

 found with a body-guard following her, 

 making love to her, so to speak; and the 

 ,text-books picture her thus attended by her 

 loyal body-guard. This is not in accord- 

 ance with my observation. The queen is 

 rarely found thus, except when she is first 

 mated, and has not yet disposed of the drone 

 appendage, or when she is old, and her ab- 

 domen extended by disease or other cause. 

 In these two cases the bees will frequently 

 cluster around her, apparently tr^'ing to re- 

 move the difficulty. Is this the experience 

 of others? If I am not mistaken the editor 

 of Gleanings and man}^ of his correspond- 

 ents advocate raising queens from cells 

 where the bees are trying to supersede their 

 queen. I do not think as good queens can 

 be raised from egg'?, laid by a sick queen 

 as can be from a healthy and vigorous lay- 

 er; and bees rarely supersede before the 

 queen shows signs of failing, and some- 

 times hold to the old one until there is no 

 brood left to raise a young one from. 



Now, Mr. Editor, won't j'Ou "look a lee- 

 dle out" next year and see if I am not cor- 

 rect? Don't follow the old ideas just be- 

 cause such eminent men as Langstoth, 

 Quinby, and others taught them. All honor 



