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, having 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 described in the Edinburgh Encyclopædia, and, with some little improvement, by Howatson. We have used it, and found it to answer pretty well, and shall, therefore, for the benefit of others, describe it here. (See Pl. 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 2½ 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-
