FEEDING. 271 



and its smell is not so likely to attract robber bees. To 

 make a cheap and convenient feeder (see Plate XL, Fig. 

 26), take any wooden box holding at least two quarts; 

 about two inches from one end put a thin partition, com- 

 ing within half an inch of the top; cut a hole in the 

 bottom of the small apartment, so that when the feeder 

 is put over any hole, the bees can pass into it and get 

 access to the division holding the food. The joints of the 

 feeding apartment should be made honey-tight, by running 

 into the corners a mixture (p. 78) of wax and rosin ; and 

 if the sides are washed with the same hot mixture, the 

 wood, absorbing no honey, will keep sweet. The lid 

 should have a piece of glass, to show when the feeder 

 needs replenishing, and a hole, for pouring in the food, 

 made and closed like those admitting the bees to the 

 spare honey receptacles. Some clean straw, cut short 

 enough to sink readily, as the bees consume the honey, 

 will prevent them from being drowned.* 



Water is indispensable to bees when building comb or 

 raising brood. They take advantage of any warm Win- 

 ter day (see Chapter on Wintering Bees) to bring it to 

 their hives; and, in early Spring, may be seen busily 

 drinking around pumps, drains, and other moist places. 

 Later in the season, they sip the dew from the grass and 

 leaves. 



Every careful bee-keeper will see that his bees are well 

 supplied with water.f If he has not some sunny spot 

 where they can safely obtain it, he will furnish them with 



* If such a box Is covered thickly with cotton or wool, so as to retain the 

 ascending heat, it may be used all Winter as a honey or water-feeder. 



Columella recommends -wool, soaked in honey, for feeding bees. When the 

 weather is not too cold, a saucer, bowl, or vessel of any kind, filled with straw, will 

 make a convenient feeder. 



t An old Grecian bee-keeper says, " that if the weather is such that the bees 

 are prevented from flying, for only a few days, the brood will perish from want of 

 water." 



