THE BEE. 285 
and described, and it may lead the ingenious to adopt it on a better 
plan : 
“ It consists of a tin pan, or tray, placed in a wooden box, with a 
float to fit, and a tin tube passes through the float and is secured to it 
on the under side. The float may be raised at any time, even if it is 
covered with bees, by means of the tube, and the syrup poured into the 
pan through the tube by inserting a funnel in the top of it. The float 
supports the bees and prevents them from getting into the syrup, and 
as they consume the syrup it settles down with them. A piece of wood 
across the top of the box, with a hole for the tube, keeps it in its place, 
and a pane of glass on each side of this confines the bees, and affords an 
opportunity to observe their operations while feeding.” 
The same author recommends the following compositions for feeding 
bees : 
First: two pounds West India or Orleans sugar; three gills ale; one 
gill Malaga wine ; (if the ale and wine cannot be had, use sap or water,) 
one teaspoonful fine salt. Mix together in a tin or copper vessel ; set 
it over a slow fire; stir occasionally until it arrives to a boiling point; 
set it off, and let it cool, remove the scum, and it is fit for use. 
Second : one gallon (or twelve pounds) of West India or any other 
honey; four pounds West India or Orleans sugar; one gallon maple 
sap or water ; half a pint ale ; two tablespoonsfuls fine salt. Heat and 
mix as above. This composition may be made without the ale by using 
water. 
It is however doubted by some experienced bee-keepers, whether the 
general feeding of bees is, upon the whole profitable. It is argued that 
while it is wise to feed bees that have not sufficient food to keep them 
alive, any thing given them beyond that is unprofitable, and produces 
an inferior article of honey, if any thing but pure honey be fed. The 
following is Mr. Eddy’s argumeut : 
“ The theory of feeding bees on a large scale has had its day. It has 
presented splendid results for a time, and resulted at length in splendid 
failures. Cheap honey, or a composition, has been used, and the bees 
have been fed freely, under the impression that whatever they stored in 
their cells must of course be honey of the first quality. I would ask 
why Cuba or Southern honey is not made of the first quality when it is 
stored up for the first time in Cuba or Florida, if bees have the power 
of converting an inferior article into one of superior quality. The true 
reason is, that much of this so-called honey is taken from the sugar 
plantations, or from flowers which do not furnish the best honey. And 
the second transportation, although done by “ Yankee ” bees, does not 
produce any chemical change in the article which is fed. Honey is 
gathered, not made by the bees. Those who purchase in market Cuba 
honey which is packed up in “ Yankee” boxes, do not get the best end 
of the bargain. They have yet to learn that the packing or transpor- 
tation does not make it the fine-flavored and wholesome article which 
is found in white clover upon all our hills in New England. The feed- 
ing of the bees on a large scale, or with a view to secure larger quan- 
tities of surplus honey, operates unfavorably upon the bees in a variety 
of ways, and the principal objections to it are the following; 1. There 
