A bead feeder for serially delivering beads 12 to a downstream location comprises a bead supply wheel 14 which rotates about a vertical axis 20. The bead supply wheel includes a bead supply bowl 22 and a plurality of radially arranged channels 24 below the bowl connected to rotate with the bowl. Discharge openings 26 in the bowl are in alignment with the radially arranged channels to delivery beads to those channels, and a bead receiving pocket 28 is positioned at the outer end of each channel. A transfer wheel 16 picks up beads from the bead receiving pockets and transfers those beads to a delivery wheel 18 by vacuum transfer and release. The delivery wheel serially delivers the beads to the downstream location.
