60 
A BEE FEEDER. 
eagerly sought after and attentively read. The 
raising of new varieties of various kinds of fruits 
from seeds, has for a few years past attracted much 
attention, and the time is probably not far distant 
when we shall be supplied with choice fruits, the 
results of our own experiments. Why should not 
our country take the lead in such matters ? It is 
naturally rich in horticulture and botany, and with 
a genial clime favorable to the production of every 
fruit and flower. _ L. T. Talbot. 
A BEifFEiDER. 
It is well known to be customary in these days, 
to obtain a patent for every new invention that one 
is so fortunate as to hit upon. That idea, I must 
confess as a matter of course, occurred to me in rela¬ 
tion to a bee feeder, but I shall do no such thing. I 
will deprive no man who wishes to feed his starv¬ 
ing bees the free use of my mode of doing it. 
“ The common mode of presenting them with 
food,” says Bevan in his work on Bees, “ is to 
introduce it through the mouth of the hive in 
a long boat formed by scooping out the pith from 
an alder stem. This plan of feeding, independently 
of other objections, can only be adopted in mild 
weather; for whenever the thermometer, generally 
speaking, ranges below 45° Fahrenheit, the bees 
are indisposed to descend, and in severe weather 
none of them will quit the central combs between 
which they cluster, even to feed upon their own 
collected treasures, but will rather hang together 
and starve unless those very combs be the deposi¬ 
tories of those treasures. To guard against this 
evil, a supply of warm food placed over the hive or 
box will tempt them to quit the cluster, and partake 
freely of the donation, secure from all danger of the 
food being scented by other families, as well as 
from the destructive effects of exposure to cold 
while partaking of it. His own mode of presenting 
it to them in the spring, is by means of a trough 
formed out of a board of close grained wood, such 
as sycamore or beech grooved by a turner into con¬ 
centric circular channels surmounted by a bell glass.” 
(See his work, p. 65.) 
Further, “if feeding be required in cold weather, 
which should always, if possible, be avoided, it 
will be prudent to allow access only to the inner 
groove, and over this to invert a small glass that will 
dip nearly but not quite to the bottom of it. This 
will prevent those chills which are apt to be expe¬ 
rienced where the warmth of the family cannot 
reach it, and will secure any incautious bees from 
drowning. The trough is moqe particularly suited 
to spring feeding. At this season, if the bees have 
had a sufficient winter’s supply, feeding will only 
be required on a small scale, it being chiefly intended 
as a cordial to promote early breeding. The au¬ 
tumnal supply on the contrary should always be 
large, for feeding by driblets at this season of the 
year keeps up a continualexcitement, and increases 
the heat of the hive to such a degree as to cause 
increased consumption and probably to injure the 
health of the bees. For this wholesale feeding he 
recommends the trough invented by Mr. Dunbar. 
It is turned in a lathe out of a solid piece of close 
grained wood, holding half a pint of syrup, into 
which the bees ascend through a wooden tube, pass¬ 
ing over the top and down the outside till they 
reach a float which is pierced with small holes. 
There are other particulars connected with it which 
it is not necessary here to detail.” 
I have extracted thus largely from Bevan’s woik 
(believed to be sufficient authority) to present several 
facts connected with the subject of feeding which it 
is necessary to consider in determining the merit of 
a new invention. . 
The feeder now to be described is made of tin, 
and consists of a cylindrical vessel with a tube in¬ 
serted, to which is applied a small cup that must 
always be partially filled with liquid while the ves¬ 
sel contains any. Whenever the syrup is reduced 
below the apertures in the tubes at the bottom of 
the cup, a bubble of air ascends into the vessel, by 
which a fresh supply is let down. It is prevented 
from overflowing by the pressure of the atmosphere. 
The apertures in the tube of the cup are four, to 
which the end of the tube over which it is applied 
is cut to correspond. 
Fig. 13, is a section of my 
feeder in a vertical plane, 
through the apertures in the 
tube of the cup, shown as fill¬ 
ed and inverted, in order to 
be applied to the hive, (c) is 
a tube four inches in length 
and half an inch in diameter, 
over which the tube of the 
cup (6) fits closely and is pres- Fig. 13. 
sed on the former until that is in contact with the cup, 
care being taken that the apertures for the passage of 
the syrup, as shown (e e), be preserved through both. 
The cup is one inch in diameter and half an inch in 
depth. The tubes and cup are covered with wax, as 
being more agreeable to the bees, (d) Is wood sur¬ 
rounding the tube, and exactly fitting the aperture in 
the top of the hive. (/) Is a section of the cup and its 
tube, shown as removed from the other portion of the 
feeder, and exhibiting two of the four points where 
they are soldered together, (g) Is an instrument of 
tin of cylindrical form, stopped at one end and 
notched at the other, for making an aperture in the 
hive to admit the tube of the feeder. Press down 
very gently while turning it round. The portion of 
comb included in it will thus be removed without 
injury to the rest or to the bees. The application of 
the feeder would be facilitated were a wooden tube 
to be inserted through the top board of the hive, or 
at least a suitable aperture made before the bees had 
possession. “ 
Two advantages are claimed for this feeder.which 
it may now be proper to state. 1st. When the 
feeder has been applied, the bees will require n© 
further attention until the quantity allowed them has 
become exhausted. 2d. It is adapted to winter¬ 
feeding as well as that of fall and spring. The 
bees have a constant supply in the upper part of the 
hive kept warm and fluid by their own heat, to 
which they can help themselves at any time and in 
any quantity they please. t 
I have had four feeders, holding from two to five 
pounds of syrup, in use two seasons, the contents of 
which have been entirely emptied except in a sin¬ 
gle instance, where the small passages from the 
tubes to the cup were clogged by sediment. This 
circumstance taught me the necessity of straining 
the syrup. 
