Thanks Jim!

I think you are right about the square rim inside one of the holes being for a piece of glass.

Also I think you are right about the brass knob being re-purposed.  That is what Tom Seeley told me, too...he thinks it was a found object put to use.

And I think you are right about allowing bees to get into the box by placing it over a foraging bee on a flower, and then closing the slide.  That would work for one bee...

Since the box comes apart, with the slide being in the lower compartment, and since there is a rim around the inside of the lower (large) hole (not apparent in the pictures, my fault) I think it is also possible to use the lower compartment to attract bees by putting a small saucer of honey or syrup in there, setting it among the flowers bees are working, then sliding it shut when a goodly number have started arriving at the feeder.  One could then open the slide, allowing the bees up into the upper chamber with the small holes, and shut the slide behind them.

I think it is particularly interesting that the slide has a "pointer" fashioned into the handle.  It is possible to rotate the upper chamber so that the exit hole lines up with that pointer.  Maybe the bee liner set a compass into that brass fitting, and lined up the slide pointer with the direction the bee went off in, and got a bearing on it that way....?

The idea that this box was inefficient and then put aside in favor of one receiving heavy use doesn't make sense to me.  This box has a patina of extensive hand-held use.  I believe people took good care of such things 100+ years ago, and I know this box hasn't been used for at least 70 years.  But before that, I think it was a favorite tool and cared for as such.

So how do we contact Fischer Sr. to obtain and try a modern-day bee line box?

Christina


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