Jan. 28, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



53 





Contributed Articles 



1 



Feeding Bees in Winter— Sugar Candy 



BT C. P. DADANT. 



" I have a colony of bees that has been neglected and is very light, 

 I do not believe that they have honey enough to last them to the end 

 of the month. How would you feed them? Would you advise using 

 the Hill atmospheric t)ee-feeder, which you have recommended i " — 

 Illinois. 



Feeding bees in the winter after they have ceased to fly 

 has always been a risky task. Even if the weather is warm 

 enough for the bees to be able to go about the hive a little, 

 if they are fed they are induced to fly out more or less, for 

 the feeding of liquid food gives them the idea that there is 

 something to be found in the field. But if the weather is 

 cold, they are unable to reach the food, or, if they can reach 

 it, they are apt to stir about and some of the bees will get 

 chilled by leaving the cluster. The feeding of liquid food, 

 unless it is in exact quantities so as to leave no residue in 

 their intestines, will compel them to seek flight. The more 

 liquid the food, the more necessary it is fpr them to be at 

 liberty to take wing. 



We would therefore deprecate the feeding of honey or 

 sugar syrup in the hive in winter. But there is a method 

 by which bees may be fed sufficiently to keep them alive till 

 the weather is warm enough for them to take and use liquid 

 food. It is by feeding candy. This food is taken with 

 more difficulty by the bees than sugar syrup or honey, and 

 they seem to use it only as far as their immediate needs re- 

 quire. It does not excite them, does not prompt them to 

 leave the cluster in search of more, in fact it seems to be to 

 them as that much sealed honey, to be used when they want 

 it. For it is a fact well known to apiarists, that although 

 honey and sugar syrup fed in the liquid form in any sort of 

 feeder cause the bees to stir, and promote and increase 

 breeding, the same quantity of honey furnished to them in 

 clean, sealed combs does not excite them, and they use it 

 sparingly as needed, just as they would if it was their own 

 stores. 



This candy for bee-feed is not a new thing. The first 

 suggestion of it belongs to a German apiarist — Weigel, of 

 Silesia — who, more than half a century ago, recommended 

 its use, and it was very much commended by German apia- 

 rists. The method of preparing it was given in the early 

 editions of Langstroth. He recommended brown Havana 

 sugar mixed with enough water to dissolve it, and boiled 

 until the water was evaporated. Later it has been found 

 much better to use the best granulated sugar with as little 

 water as possible. Stir this constantly while heating, so 

 that it will not burn, for burnt sugar is not nourishing, and 

 would be a dead weight on their stomachs, and therefore 

 much worse than no food at all. To know when it is done, 

 all that is required is to dip your finger, first in cold water, 

 then into the syrup. If what adheres to the finger is brittle, 

 it is boiled enough. 



It is then poured into shallow pans or on thin paper, 

 and allowed to form into cakes. The pan should be slightly 

 greased to keep it from sticking. The cakes are then broken 

 into pieces of what ever size you may wish, and placed over 

 the cluster in the hive. The quantity of such candy to be 

 given to the bees need not be very great. It is very rich 

 food, does not contain more moisture than they require, and 

 so there is no loss. Three or four pounds will help a colony 

 along quite a while, though of course very much depends 

 upon the strength of the colony and the temperature. 



The feeding of bees in this way, on their summer 

 stands, is not generally successful because the bees are 

 often unable to move owing to the cold. So they may starve 

 almost in reach of the food, unless it is given on a warm 

 day, when they will be able to move up to it. Of course, 

 the space above the feed must be kept warm, that is, the 

 upper story must not be left empty. On the contrary, it 

 would best be filled with a cushion or some absorbents 

 which although helping to remove the moisture will never- 

 theless prevent a current of cold air from passing through. 



A much better way yet is to remove the colony to the 

 cellar. It is not necessary to have a special cellar. One or 

 two destitute colonies may be kept through the cold weather. 



in a dark corner of any ordinary cellar. The main require- 

 ments are quiet and darkness. If the cellar is too light, a 

 very efBcient partition may be made by hanging an old 

 carpet between the hive and the light. The greatest ob- 

 jection to cellars is the warmth, generated by the bees, 

 which causes them to be restless ; but a cellar that will keep 

 potatoes without freezing will keep two or three colonies 

 very nicely, for their warmth is insufficient to raise the 

 temperature. 



Usually, destitute colonies are weak, and such colonies 

 are easily carried in and out. They are not heavy, and not 

 easily aroused. We have kept small colonies often in an 

 ordinary cellar with the hive-cover entirely off, placing the 

 candy over the frames and simple covering the hive with a 

 thick cloth. So, without much trouble, the condition of the 

 bees can be ascertained at any time, and more feed may be 

 added, by using the precaution of avoiding a jar, that would 

 disturb them. 



Honey-sugar candy, or what is called the "Scholz" 

 candy, or "Good " candy — thus named from the two persons 

 who first recommended it, Mr. Scholz in Germany, and Mr. 

 Good in the United States later — is also very good bee-feed. 

 It is used mainly in mailing of queen-bees, or transporting 

 of colonies that are without food. This candy is made by 

 heating a little honey and mixing with it as much pulver- 

 ized sugar as it will absorb, until the mass is hardened to a 

 thick paste. The honey is heated in order that it may ab- 

 sorb the more sugar. If it were not heated, it would soften 

 when placed under the influence of the bees' warmth, and 

 might liquefy enough to run. In either case it is very im- 

 portant not to overheat the honey or the sugar, and the 

 very best grade of either must be used so as to avoid the 

 feeding to the bees of any foreign substance that would in- 

 crease the load in their intestines during the time of their 

 confinement. Hancock Co., 111. 



Observatory Hives for Learning Bee-Habits. 



BY ALLEN LATHAM. 



WE may read all about the actions of bees inside their 

 hives and accept as truth all that we read. It is thus 

 that error gets well-grounded until a later observer 

 of independent thought comes forward with the truth (as he 

 sees it). Possibly both observers are right, at least saw the 

 same thing. Why, then, do they not agree 7 Presumably 

 because they interpret differently. After having inter- 

 preted an action in a certain way, that observer will here- 

 after have perverted vision. 



The late controversy between Messrs. Dadant and Mil- 

 ler was a source of enjoyment, and fun as well, to me. 

 Neither one (in my opinion) was wholly right or wholly 

 wrong, and in some instances, surely, they agree without 

 realizing it. That is, they agreed in the mind of a third and 

 unprejudiced observer. 



Allow me to illustrate : Both gentlemen have seen the 

 queen making her way about the comb over a path made 

 free by receding workers. One says that the workers get out 

 of the way through respect for their queen ; the other says, 

 " Not so ; they will do the same for a bee of their own 

 rank." Each gentleman is right, and any one who wishes 

 to investigate will see for himself. Workers make way for 

 their queen sometimes, but not always ; workers make way 

 for workers on certain occasions. Why the path is cleared 

 at one time and not at another I have not as yet decided. I 

 suggest that it may depend entirely upon the task which 

 the traveling queen or worker may be about. If not respect 

 for queen, it may still be respect for the welfare of the col- 

 ony — for bees are socialists. 



It is not, however, my purpose to revive the controversy 

 mentioned above. My purpose is to interest my fellow bee- 

 keepers in the means of observing for themselves. Let one 

 see for himself that bees give with folded tongue, but take 

 with extended tongue ; fhat field-bees rarely, if ever, put 

 honey into cells, handing it over to younger bees instead ; 

 that bees rest, those of different ages having their own 

 special way of taking rest ; that young bees do this task, 

 older ones that ; that at one time the queen is surrounded 

 by a crowd of solicitous attendants, at another is off in a 

 corner alone with no sign of royalty ; that honey is cured 

 inside the bee, being frequently expelled and retaken 

 again ; that, in fact, there are a host of facts which will in- 

 terest the observer for hours. 



The making of an observatory hive is not difficult. A 

 man handy with tools can make one in two hours. After 



