134 



A MANUAL OF BEE-KEEPING. 



edges of the left hand circle, allowing two and then 

 three Bees to sip at our sweets, and as the plate turns, 

 hole after hole comes into position until the maximum 

 is reached, when the stop at e arrests the revolution of 

 the vulcanite. For liquid food the bottle and feeding 

 stage are all that can be desired ; no one at all pretend- 

 ing to improved Bee-keeping will suffer a hive to exist 

 in his Apiary without a hole in the crown ; if not Origin- 

 ally there, let it be cut, and a small square of wood fixed 

 on the top with plaster of Paris will give a level stage 



on which to stand the 

 bottle, of course not 

 forgetting to cut the 

 corresponding round 

 hole in the wood. 

 With the use of a per- 

 forated feeding-stage, 

 such as I have de- 

 scribed, it is not ne- 

 cessary to tie over the 

 mouth of the bottle, 

 or to use perforated 

 zinc, and as the stage is intended to be a fixture, the fol- 

 lowing little appliance is used to invert the full bottle 

 without spilling the syrup : Of zinc, tin or galvanised iron, 

 is made a small shovel, as in Fig. 56, about 4 inches 

 square, exactly after the model of an ordinary ash shovel 

 without the sifting holes. The bottle having been filled, 

 the shovel (concave side down) is placed on the mouth, 

 and the whole inverted and stood on the feeding-stage ; 

 when there, the shovel may be withdrawn, leaving the 

 syrup at the disposal of the Bees. If it be desired to 

 remove the bottle again before it is empty, all we have 

 to do is to slide the shovel under it and invert as. 



Fig. 56- 



