llo 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



the cells are cut out, we hive the swarm 

 back where it came from. The queeu 

 soon mates, the nurse-bees begin to move 

 the honey which has accumulated in the 

 brood-nest during the absence of a queen, 

 to give room for the young step- mother 

 to raise her family, and the resvilt will be 

 sections filling up with wonderful rapidi- 

 ty. After a while the swarming subsides, 

 and the honey in the field begins to wane. 

 We don't give an}' more room now, but 

 remove the full boxes to the outside, and 

 the unfinished to the middle. Should the 

 flow linger a few days we will probably 

 get most of them filled. A short stop in 

 the flow leaves many unfinished boxes. 

 These I place in wide frames holding 

 eight sections each, with wire cloth tack- 

 ed on one side, and extract as we would 

 ordinary combs. The combs are stacked 

 up on one or two colonies to be cleaned 

 up; after which they are packed awa}' to 

 be used as baits next season. 



Dark Ridge, N. C, March 5, 1900. 



TIMULATURE FEEDING OF 

 BEES IN THE SPRING. BY 

 IRA BARBER. 



As I have never seen 

 a plan given in the bee papers for stim- 

 ulating brood rearing in the spring which 

 I think is as ef- 

 fectual as the 

 one I use, I will 

 describe my 

 method. When 

 the bees are set 



1 



out in the spring, 



eaqh colony that 



is short of honey 



has a two-quart 



fruit jar of feed 



given it at once, 



the first evening; 



then, as soon as I can look over the others, 



all those that are short for bees are fed in 



the same way. 



The object in feeding the weak ones 

 first is to get them started in brood rear- 

 ing as soon as possible; so that they will 

 be up with the best of the others the first 

 of June. 



It is the strong colonies that call for lots 

 of sections, while the weak ones call for 

 only a few; and one can hardly expect a 

 large crop of honey, •ven in a good sea- 

 son, when only 30 or 40 per cent, of his 

 colonies are strong enough to enter the 

 sections at the beginning of the honey 

 season. 



In my locality I am surrounded with 

 large yards of bees, two miles away, 

 my bees being in the center, and I 

 am compelled to feed; as the natu- 

 ral supply is too limited in the spring. 



The feed I use is made of best coffee A 

 sugar; and is fed as thin as the bees will 

 take it. The object in feeding thin 

 syrup is to give the bees all the work 

 possible in bringing it down to a proper 

 thickness to be of any use to them. 

 This causes them to raise the heat in the 

 hive so that all the eggs that the queen 

 lays are quite sure to be cared for. If 

 the feed were given them as thick as 

 honey there would be nothing for tlieni 

 to do except to take it down and store it 

 in their combs; and there would be a cold 

 hive, and very little effort at brood rear- 

 ing. The warmer the weather the thin- 

 ner the feed can be fed. 



The top-board for my hive has a hole 

 large enough to take the open end of a 

 two-quart fruit jar. When I am not 

 using the feeders this hole is covered with 

 an old separator, tacked on with carpet 

 tacks, and can be taken off and put on 

 without much trouble, and is never in the 

 way. I make the hole with an extension 

 bit just large enough to take the mouth 

 of the jar, then fill the jar with feed, and, 

 for a cover, use a piece of cheese cloth 

 large enough so it can be held on by a 

 small string or a rubber band. 



When the jar is put in place it should 

 be turned over quickly so that the air 

 will not get in and allow the feed to run 

 out. When the feeders are in position 



