238 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTTJEE. 



Sept. 



invented, patented, and offered for sale are 

 almost witliout number, I would pass them 

 all without notice (and I have pretty tlior- 

 oughly tried nearly all of them), except the 

 simple atmospheric or''i)epperbox feeder," 

 that has been so often desciibed. A pepper 

 box explains the whole principle, if you fill 

 it with water and invert it, and in fact you 

 may use the cheai> tin pepperboxes for feed- 

 ers if you have but few colonies. Fill one 

 witli honey or synip, place it in front of 

 the hive at nightfall, and you will find it all 

 taken into the hive by moniing', without a 

 single bee or any part of the liive having be- 

 come daubed or sticky; those who have 

 fussed with feedei*s know how untidy and 

 disagreeable everything soon gets, iniless 

 great care is taken. 



I would feed outside the hive, because I 

 think the bees behave more naturally when 

 the food comes in this way, and because 

 by so doing the labor of opening and closing 

 the liives and disturbing things inside for 

 the accommodation of a feeder, is avoided ; 

 also, if we feed during the day time, the 

 bees all stay at home, and the honey that 

 might otherwise have been gathered is lost. 

 I have several times fed stocks during the 

 fall to build them up, and although they 

 were induced to take many pounds of honey 

 or syrup, they would be in no better condi- 

 tion than others that had not been fed at all, 

 for they ''loafed" and fussed with their 

 feeder, wliile the rest were doing veiy fair 

 day's works. Again, I once gave a partic- 

 ular colony all the cappings during extract- 

 ing time ; the honey they got out of them 

 amounted to 3 or 4 lbs. per day, but this was 

 only about half as mucli as we were before 

 getting from tliem, and we soon became sat- 

 isfied that the honey in the cappings was 

 even worse than thrown away, for it liad in- 

 duced the bees to stay at home, when they 

 would othenvise have gathered a much lar- 

 ger quantity from the fields. Tliis result 

 has followed feeding so many times, that we 

 are loth to resort to it, when it can be avoid- 

 ed. Feeding sugar, especially the cheap 

 sugars, is less liable to disturb their work 

 in the fields, than honey, for they will desert 

 the sugar as soon as honey is to be obtained 

 even in small quantities. 



The feeders we use generally, are one 

 quart fruit cans with a cover of perforated 

 tin ; these cost only 10 cents each, and they 

 are pretty siu'e to be emptied in a single 

 night. When i)laced in front of the hive 

 near the entrance, they should be slightly 

 raised with bits of wood, that the bees may 



have a fair chance at all the holes in the cap 

 at once. If by any means the feeding has 

 been delayed until veiy late, or if you have 

 many colonies to feed and but little time in 

 which to do it, you can use a feeder that 

 will hold enough at mie time to give them 

 their winter rations. This size has been 

 termed a '•'tea-kettle feeder" on account of 

 its size and shape. I have with such a feed- 

 er given a colony 25 lbs. of syiiip in less than 

 a half day. These large ones we place in 

 the iipper stoiy, as they may not be emptied 

 in a day or two. If they are set directly on. 

 the frames, right over the brood, they will 

 be emptied soonest. "When these feeders 

 are first inverted it should be done over a 

 pan of the syiiip, for a little will iiin out be- 

 fore it gets level and quiet. After Inver- 

 sion, they may be earned to any part of the 

 apiary. 



HOW TO MAKK THE SYRITP. 



After stining the sugar and water yon 

 can boil it if you choose, but I assure you it 

 does not do a particle of good, and should 

 you bum it a little, it may do a great deal of 

 harm. If you have an extractor, pour in 

 your sugar, and some boiling water on it, 

 then turn briskly, and your symp Avill be all 

 ready to draw off into the feeders. I have 

 fed a baiTel of sugar in less than 3 hours 

 andhad it all done with, except removing 

 the feeders when they were done. The bar- 

 rel was broken open in a large tank, and 

 the staves and heads were washed witli a 

 tea-kettle of boiling water. More water 

 was poured in, and the whole was stin-ed 

 with a hoe, imtil it was a fair syrup. Large 

 feeders were then filled and placed on a 

 shelf in the tank, until tliey had ceased to 

 drip. From this they were removed to the 

 hives just at dusk, that no robbers might 

 interfere. When all were filled, the tank 

 was rinsed out Avith the tea-kettle, and the 

 rinsings placed over a hive, in the feeder, 

 so that not an oiuice of sugar was wasted. 

 There is no need at all of cream of tartar, 

 vinegar, or anything of the sort, for abund- 

 ant experiments have shown that sugar and 

 water is all that is needed, and it matters 

 veiy little what tlie proportions are. 



FEEDING FAST OK SLOWLY. 



I have not been able to see that it makes 

 any material difference Avhether we feed it 

 all at once, or a little at a time for wintei-- 

 ing i)uii)oses only, but for brood rearing it 

 is assuredly best to feed a little at a time, say 

 a pint every night. I have during severe 

 drouths reared queens, brood, and had beau- 

 tiful comb built, by the latter plan. 



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