THOUSAND ANSWERS 263 



Will not drink it. As in so many other things, prevention is bet- 

 ter than cure. In the spring, when bees first begin to get water, 

 do all you can to prevent their getting a start in the wrong place, 

 and to start them in the right place. In a sheltered place where 

 the sun will keep it warm, put a tub or pail of water, throw over 

 i; some cork chips, such as grocers get as packing in kegs of 

 grapes, and you will have a watering place where no bees will 

 drown, and all you will need to do will be to fill up occasionally 

 with water. Once started there, they will be likely to continue. 

 One would be likely to think the bees would prefer the nearby 

 irrigating ditch to the water trough farther away. But bees do 

 not object to a considerable distance, and it is possible that the 

 trough gives better footing for the bees, and that the water in 

 it is warmer than in the ditch. 



Water for Bees — Cork Chips. — Q. What size of cork chips do 

 you use in water to keep bees from getting drowned? Also, about 

 how thick is the layer of corks on top of the water? I am trying 

 to get cork chips here. I can get granulated cork, of which I have 

 samples, Nos. 2, 3 and 4. Watering bees in this locality is quite an 

 item. My 75 colonies get away with as high as 60 gallons per day. 

 I have to haul it all. I have been using a large trough filled with 

 brickbats, but the brickbats take up almost all of the space. I 

 also tried second-hand corks (cut them up), but in a few days the 

 water would be foul; mostly wine corks. I am sending samples 

 of cork chips. Should they be finer, or coarser, etc? (California.) 



A. I don't believe it makes so very much difference as to the 

 size of the cork chips, although I suppose the finest chips will 

 lose their buoyancy soonest. Neither does it matter greatly as 

 to the depth of the layer, only so it be not so thin that the bees 

 will sink down into the water, nor so thick that they cannot reach 

 the water. The chips I have been using are those which the 

 grocers receive as packing in kegs of grapes that come in winter, 

 or at least very late in the fall. The chips are of various diame- 

 ters, from very fine ones, up to those that are one-eighth inch or 

 more in diameter. A layer about three-quarters inch deep is 

 first used, and more added later as they become soaked. The idea 

 i- to have enough chips so that the top surface will be a little out 

 of the water. Although I never tried that size, I suspect that the 

 coarsest you send, (something like one-quarter inch in diameter) 

 would be ideal. 



Water, Bees Near.— Q. (a) Would bees be likely to do well 

 near a large body of water, or would they be likely to fall into the 

 lake? 



