THE HONEY-BEE. 
189 
strangers, and eventually lead to plunder. It is a good 
method, therefore, to administer the food, when it is 
given at the external entrance,in a covered vessel,hav- 
ing its opening at one side placed close to that of the 
hive, so that the bees proceed directly to the trough, 
without having any communication with the open air, 
and, consequently, without affording an opportunity of 
admittance to strangers. A trough of this kind is de- 
O O 
scribed in the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, and, with some 
little improvement, by Howatson. We have used it, 
and found it to answer pretty well, and shall, there- 
fore, for the benefit of others, describe it here. (See 
PI. XIII. fig. 3.) “ It consists of an oblong box, in one 
end of which is a reservoir containing honey that is 
allowed to flow from the bottom, under a thin float, 
buoyed up with cork, and perforated with small holes, 
through which the bees, standing on the float, supply 
themselves with the honey. There is a hole in the 
side of the box, which is to be applied to the entrance 
of the hive for admitting the bees above the float, and 
another on the opposite side which is opened at 
pleasure, to allow them to escape, should the box be 
too much crowded. The lid of the box is a glass pane. 
On pouring the honey into the reservoir, the float 
rises, whence there should not be such a quantity as 
to raise it close to the lid or pane above. The box is 
about 10 inches long, 4 broad, and 2J deep, and the 
reservoir is an inch wide. When used, the hole in 
the side is to be placed close to the entrance of the 
hive, which must be gently rapped on, if the bees do 
not immediately find the way down. It is entertain- 
