FEEDING. 
271 
and its smell »„ aot so likely to attract robber bees. To 
make a cheap and convenient feeder (see Plate XI., Fig. 
26), take any wooden box holding at least two quarts; 
about two inches from one end put a thin partition, com¬ 
ing within half an inch of the top; cut a hole in the 
bottom of the small apartment, so that when the feeder 
is put over any hole, the bees can pass into it and get 
access to the division holding the food. The joints of the 
feeding apartment should be made honey-tight , by running 
into the comers a mixture (p. 78) of wax and rosin ; and 
if the sides are washed with the same hot mixture, the 
wood, absorbing no honey, will keep sweet. The lid 
should have a piece of glass, to show when the feeder 
needs replenishing, and a hole, for pouring in the food, 
made and closed like those admitting the bees to the 
spare honey receptacles. Some clean straw, cut short 
enough to sink readily, as the bees consume the honey, 
will prevent them from being drowned.* 
Water is indispensable to bees when building comb or 
raising brood. They take advantage of any warm Win¬ 
ter day (see Chapter on Wintering Bees) to bring it to 
their hives; and, in early Spring, may be seen busily 
drinking around pumps, drains, and other moist places. 
Later in the season, they sip the dew from the grass and 
leaves. 
Every careful bee-keeper will see that his bees are well 
supplied with water.f If he has not some sunny spot 
where they can safely obtain it, he will furnish them with 
♦ If sucli a box is covered thickly with cotton or wool, so as to retain the 
ascending heat, it may be used all Winter as a honey or water-feeder. 
Columella recommends wool, soaked in honey, for feeding bees. When the 
weathor is not too cold, a saucer, bowl, or vessel of any kind, filled with straw, will 
make a convenient feeder. 
t An old Grecian bee-keeper says, “ that if the weather is such that the bees 
are prevented from flying, for only a few days, the brood will perish from want of 
*ater.” 
