332 



FEEDING BEES. 



but bees thus helped, will not spend the next season in idle- 

 ness; nor will those deprived of their surplus limit their 

 gatherings to a bare competency. 



Before the first heavy frosts all feeding 

 required for wintering bees should be care- 

 fully attended to. 



609. Feeders of all descriptions are 

 made and sold. To feed our bees we have 

 used for years a fruit can, (fig. 123) cov- 

 ered with cloth and inverted over the hive. 

 It costs nothing and can be found in every 



house. We now use Hill's Feeder (fig. 124), 



in which the cloth is replaced by a perforated cover. 



Fig. 123. 



CAN FEEDEK. 



Fig. 124. 

 HILL'S BEE-FEBDEE. 



The bees can then get their food, without being chilled even 

 in cold weather, and they promptly store it away in the 

 combs, for later use. 



In order that the heat may be better retained, a hole of the 

 size of the feeder may be cut into a piece of enamel cloth 

 used for the purpose in place of the ordinary cloth. 



Columella recommended wool, soaked in honey, for feed- 

 ing bees. When the weather is not too cold, a saucer, bowl, 

 trough, or vessel of any kind, filled with straw, makes a con- 

 venient feeder. 



It is desirable to get through with Fall feeding as rapidly 

 as possible, as the bees are so excited by it that they con- 



