> No, the slit you cut into the zip-loc bag would limit the use to a >one-time thing, but this technique is handy when you don't have the other >feeding equipment available. Though it has been a few years since I used plastic bags as an emergency feeder for sugar syrup, I recall that I didn't actually slit the bag, but rather poked a few holes in it. Even just a few holes around on the surface was enough to provide the feeding bees access. But I guess a slash or two would provide even faster conversion of the sugar syrup to stores. The first article I ever wrote for a bee magazine described the construction and use of a number of types of feeders, including the plastic bag. It mentions that the plastic bag was described in the August 1970 issue of the NZ Beekeeper: Doull, Keith M and Winn, R A, Waite Agricultural Research Institute, Adelaide, S.A. N Z Beekeeper, August 1970, pp 22-23. By the looks of that article, it may have been a reprint from one of the Australian bee magazines. It refers to the method being developed in the summer of 1964-65. The article on feeding and feeders that I wrote is: Wallingford, Nick. To feed or not to feed. NZ Beekeeper, Sept 1976, pp 13-16. Headings include: spring feeding winter feeding feeding dry sugar feeding sugar syrup -boardman -over the hive feeder -friction tins -division board feeder -plastic bag (around a frame) -plastic bag (on top of the hive) ------------------------------------ Nick Wallingford, President National Beekeepers Assn of NZ [log in to unmask] ------------------------------------