THE BEE. 



167 



and not unfrequently several stocks ■will thus be destroyed before their 

 depredations can be stopped. 



This feeder is so constructed and arranged, and so harmonizes with 

 the construction of the hives, that there is little or no danger to be 

 apprehended from other bees being attracted to the hive or gaining 

 access into it or to the feed, as the feeder is placed in the case, at the 

 side of the brood-hive, near the top, with a Small communication into 

 the feeder, near the top of the hive, and therefore the robbers must 

 pass up among the bees and combs through the body of the hive, to 

 gain access to the feed. This they will not do, if the instructions are 

 followed, which are : " to nearly close the entrance tube while feeding, 

 leaving a space of only half an inch or so, that only one or two bees 

 can enter at a time." In this condition a few bees are able to defend 

 themselves against all intruders. 



Fis. 1. Tig. 2. 



FEEDER AND FLOAT. 



Fig 1 is a view of the feed-box. Fig 2, the float which is made to 

 fit in it, to support the bees and prevent their becoming mired in the 

 feed while feeding. 



Fig. 1 consists of a wooden box made of half-inch boards, and is ten 

 or twelve inches long, six inches wide, and four and a half inches deep, 

 having one or two apertures an inch or so in diameter, near the upper 

 edge, to communicate with the hive while feeding. A square tin pan, 

 two inches deep, is made to fit closely in the box, even with the bottom, 

 and secured there with small tacks. 



The float, fig 2, is made of thin slats of light wood, about one inch 

 wide, and one eighth of an inch thick, tacked on to a cross piece at the 

 center, leaving a space between the slats of one eighth of an inch. The 

 under side of the float is lined with strips of cork one eighth of an inch 

 thick, tacked to the wood. A hole, five-eighths in diameter, is made in 

 the center of the float, and a tin tube five inches long fitted in even on 

 the under side. Another thin strip two inches wide is fitted across the 

 top of the box, with a hole in the center one eighth of an inch larger 

 than the tin tube, to receive it ; and on each side of this top strip, a pane 

 of glass is fitted to confine the bees, and afford means to observe their 

 operations while feeding. By means of the tin tube, the float can be 

 raised when the feed is put in the feeder, and the feed poured through 

 it with a tunnel. The float can then be eased down on the feed, and 

 the bees come on to it and feed through the apertures between the slats 

 without being mixed and drowned in the feed. It is surprising and also 

 amusing, to see how eager they are to remove the feed and store it in 



