1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



345 



if they but have stores and a good queen; but 

 not so later on. 



When early pollen appears from the willows 

 and maples, which is usually in the fore part of 

 April in this locality, the queen gradually ex- 

 pands the brood-nest by laying around the out- 

 side until the first or earliest in the center of the 

 combs begin to hatch, when she will return to 

 the center and commence to refill the combs 

 with eggs as the brood hatches. In the mean 

 time the old bees fail rapidly, and there comes 

 a time when the disappearance of the old bees 

 gives the colony a very feeble appearance; 

 and. indeed, it is a very critical time, and must 

 be bridged over by the few young bees already 

 hatched. A cold spell at this time is sometimes 

 disastrous, although the sealed brood generates 

 considerable warmth, which helps to protect the 

 central brood-nest, which is now being filled 

 with eggs. 



It will be readily understood that feeding at 

 this time would do very little good, and only 

 imperil the colony by exposure to robbing. 

 Many colonies will be so weak in workers as to 

 refuse feed entirely. About the first of May 

 the colonies will usually begin to build up rap- 

 idly from the hatching brood. At this time, or 

 as soon after as the weather and the condition 

 of the bees will warrant, the giving of liquid 

 feed may be safely and profitably begun; and 

 the brood raised from the stimulus of the feed- 

 ing will furnish workers for the early honey- 

 gathering. The natural pollen-supply is of 

 much importance in connection with the feed, 

 and should be carefully watched. 



FEEDING UP TO THE SWAKMING SEASON. 



Feeding before the swarming season to sup- 

 ply winter stores is another kind of feeding that 

 I have practiced with quite gratifying results 

 for several years. It is expected that worker- 

 bees, raised on honey for the honey -harvest, 

 will more than pay the expense of raising them; 

 but it is not very gratifying in a poor season to 

 have only enough honey to raise them, and 

 none to go into the surplus for the bee-keeper's 

 share. By the time the surplus season begins 

 (10th to 15th of June in this locality), the brood- 

 combs will usually be exhausted of stores, or 

 nearly so. and no work can be expected in the 

 sections until these are filled to their utmost ca- 

 pacity; and the amount of the choicest honey 

 of the season required for this purpose would 

 be an important item if secured in the sec- 

 tions, especially in a poor season. 



It occurred to me some years ago that sugar, 

 exchanged for honey at the prices of the two, if 

 the exchange could be economically effected, 

 ought to be a good trade for the bee-keeper, and 

 it is this kind of exchange that I have been try- 

 ing to make with ray bees by supplying them 

 with sugar for winter stores before the honey 

 season, and allowing them to put the honey 

 into the sections for my share in return. The 

 advantages of this plan are, it furnishes stores 



for wintering the bees, that are unsurpassed by 

 any gathered from natural sources. It answers 

 at once for stimulative and store feeding. It 

 keeps brood-rearing going without interrup- 

 tion from failure of the natural honey-yield. It 

 takes the place of the same amount of honey 

 that will be stored in the sections. I expect to 

 commence feeding only moderately — just suffi- 

 cient to stimulate brood -rearing and increase as 

 the season advances, so that, at the beginning 

 of the surplus season, the combs will be filled 

 and sealed over outside of the brood -nest. It is 

 hardly necessary to explain that these stores 

 will not be used by the bees except in an emer- 

 gency, but will remain for winter stores and for 

 brood-rearing the following spring. I want the 

 hives well filled with brood at the beginning of 

 the surplus season — the more the better; and if 

 all combs outside of the brood are occupied with 

 sealed stores I should not expect to wait long 

 for work to begin in the sections, provided the 

 bees were gathering any honey; but the persis- 

 tence with which they continue to store in the 

 brood-combs at this time is often disappointing. 

 But, " the best-laid plans of mice and men gang 

 aft agley," and this plan is not without its dif- 

 ficulties and perplexities. The prosperity of 

 the bees under such generous treatment encour- 

 ages swarming; and just as our plans may all 

 be perfected the bees often upset them by intro- 

 ducing something of their own, and swarming 

 out, leaving our well-filled hive and our well- 

 laid plans for prospective surplus, to start busi- 

 ness anew. Then we meet the same old diffi- 

 culty — no more nor less than under the influ- 

 ence of a liberal honey-yield from the flowers. 

 To get the full benefit of this plan, then, it is 

 necessary to prevent swarming, or return the 

 swarms; or if increase is desired, feed up the 

 new colony. 



I mention this difficulty, as it seems to be the 

 most serious one in this plan. I think most 

 practical bee-keepers would feel able to over- 

 come this in some way. Almost every bee- 

 keeper has a non-swarming remedy; but mine 

 is — young prolific (lueens. 



East Townsend, O. 



[Mr. Boardman has made the subject of feed- 

 ing a very careful and critical study for the 

 last four or five years; and it is only now that 

 he has reduced this valuable experience to 

 writing. Of course, many of the veterans will 

 say there is nothing new to say on the subject 

 of feeding. In a certain sense that is true; but 

 in another sense it is not true. 



Regarding fall feeding, I might explain that 

 I called on Mr. Boardman last summer, after 

 the honey-flow, and he was feeding his bees 

 with his entrance feeder, right along during 

 the robbing sea-on. The construction of the 

 feeder is such that it is not necessary to open 

 the iiive. and almost impossible for robber-bees 

 to get at the feed without going clear through 

 the entrance, past the sentinels, and getting out 

 again with their load if they can. At the time 

 of my visit friend B. was not ready to have his 

 feeder described; but now that he has it fully 

 perfected he has consented to have it done, and 



