FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



20:} 



FEEDING AND FP^:DEKS. 



is cold enough so that the ohister is con- 

 tracted. After all the hives have been fed 

 up we go over the hives again, this time 

 making a careful examination of the brood- 

 nest. If more s^rup still is required we 

 mark the hive again and later on feed it and 

 all others that may be short. 



FKEDING IN FREEZING WEATHER. 



Though colonies have been wintered well 

 when fed after cold or freezing weather, we 

 think much the safer plan is to have it all 

 done during fall not later than October, that 

 they may have the syrup ripened and entirely 

 sealed. If the weather is not too cold you 

 can feed with the Miller feeder as previous- 

 ly intimated. If you have been so careless 

 as to have bees that are in need of stores, at 

 the beginning of winter, we would advise 

 frames of sealed honey if you can get them; 

 and if you can not, use candy. 



If the candy is covered up with warm chaff 

 cushions or something equivalent, it may 

 be fed at any time, although it does not 

 seem to be as satisfactory under all circum- 

 stances as stores sealed up in their combs. 



When feeding in cool or cold weather, you 

 are very apt to uncover the cluster, or leave 

 openings that will permit the warmth of the 

 cluster to pass off. We have several times 

 had colonies die in the spring after com- 

 mencing feeding, and we imagined it was 

 from this cause alone. When they first com- 

 mence raising brood in the spring, t|aey need 

 to be packed up closely and snugly. Making 

 a hole in the quilt or cushions above the clus- 

 ter, and placing the feeder over this so as to 

 close it completely, does very well, but is not, 

 after all, as safe as giving the feed from be- 

 low. For feeding in early spring, especially 

 where the colony is weak, we would prefer 

 candy or well-filled combs of sealed stores. 



FEEDING IN THE SPRING, OR FEEDING 



ENOUGH IN THE FALL TO LAST TILL 



THE NEXT HONEY-FLOW. 



Some years ago it was the general practice 

 to feed in the spring to stimulate brood- 

 rearing, such feeding taking place as soon as 

 settled warm weather came on. The pur- 

 pose of this was to get a large force of young 

 bees for the harvest when it came; but in 

 later years the tendency on the part of our 

 best bee-keepers has been toward feeding 

 copiously in the fall enough to last not only 

 all winter but during the spring and until 

 the honey-flow. Experience seems to show 

 that spring feeding very often does more 

 harm than good by over-stimulation. Brood 

 is expanded beyond the capacity of the bees 



to liover and keep warm. Robbing is often in- 

 duced. Beginners especially are apt to over- 

 do it; and even a veteran will sometimes get 

 his colonies so strong before an extra supply 

 of nectar comes in, that swarming will be 

 brought on prematurely. 



This question of feeding lieavily in the fall 

 to last until the next honey-flow the follow- 

 ing year, or feeding moderately in the fall 

 and stimulating the following spring, 

 depends somewhat on the locality, and 

 very largely on the man himself. Many 

 bee-keepers of experience, especially in 

 some localities, can doubtless practice 

 spring feeding to advantage; but as a rule 

 beginners will do better to give all their colo- 

 nies enough in the fall so that they will have 

 about 25 lbs. of sealed stores about the time 

 cold weather begins to come on. In most 

 of the northern States this will be about the 

 first or middle of November. In our more 

 northern States and in Canada tlie stores 

 should be sealed about the first of October. 



SPRING FEEDING A LA BOARDMAN. 



After what we have just said on the ad- 

 vantage of fall feeding it may at first seem 

 a little contradictory even to suggest spring 

 feeding, but Mr. H. R. Boardman, of Collins, 

 Ohio, does it for a different purpose. In 

 brief his plan is this : He feeds as soon as 

 it becomes settled warm weather, whether 

 the bees need stores or not. The syrup 

 is given them slowly to stimulate brood- 

 rearing. This feeding is continued clear on 

 to the honey-flow, when, of course, it is dis- 

 continued. The result is that the hives are 

 overflowing with bees and brood, and all 

 available space in the brood-nest is filled 

 clear full with sealed sugar stores. Just as 

 soon as the honey-flow commences, supers 

 are given ; and with a tremendous force of 

 bees secured by stimulative feeding, and 

 with a brood-nest already filled to its utmost 

 capacity with sugar stores, the honey, when 

 it does come, is forced right into the supers, 

 because there is no place for it in the brood- 

 nest. 



Our friend was driven to this mode of 

 procedure because of a series of very poor 

 honey-flows one year after another. Figur- 

 ing that sugar syrup cost only about a fourth 

 as much as the first quality of comb honey, 

 he reasoned that, if he could make a legiti- 

 mate trade with the bees, he could take their 

 product in exchange for his sugar, and al- 

 most quadruple his money. 



While it costs considerable to feed bees in 

 this way, we believe that Mr. Boardman 's 

 experience has been such that he feels war- 



