April 9, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



2il 



Why Feed Bees Sparingly and Often ? 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



A FEW letters of enquiry received by me since the publi- 

 cation of the article about spring care of bees, on pnt^e 

 149, have shown me that some of the beginners do not 

 understand the reason v^hy the bees should be fed spariii^^ly 

 and often, to stimulate spring- breeding. This is an impor- 

 tant matter, and I believe it should be elucidated as fully as 

 necessary. 



When the bees are not harvesting anything in the fields, 

 they are comparatively quiet. The breeding takes place, 

 as the warm days come, but is not pushed with much vigor 

 until the blossoms begin to appear and a little nectar is 

 found. Whenever they begin to find nectar, there is more 

 stir in the hive. The bees that come home from the field, 

 instead of depositing it in the cells, often hand their load to 

 the young bees, so as to be able to get off to the field again. 

 Thus a number of bees are carrying about. Whenever one 

 of them meets the queen, she respectfully and deferentially 

 holds her proboscis towards her and offers her a taste. Be- 

 ing oftener solicited to eat, the queen consumes more honey, 

 and her eggs are matured more rapidly. So, during a honey- 

 flow, no matter how light it be, the queen's breeding in- 

 creases until the fatigue of a protracted laying puts an end 

 to her prolificness. 



The doings that I have just mentioned may be witnessed 

 daily in an obervation hive, made of one single comb, with 

 glass on both sides. Such a hive is very useful to learn the 

 habits of bees. You may read of such things in books or in 

 the journals, but they do not impress themselves upon your 

 mind when you read of them as they will if you are an eye- 

 witness to the details of the hive-life. With such a hive, 

 you have a source of endless information and amusement. 

 You can see the actions of the bees when returning from 

 the fields, the nursing of the young, thelayingof thequeen, 

 the respectful care which the bees take of her, their sorrow 

 when she is taken away, their labor to replace her, the rear- 

 ing and hatching of both bees and queens, etc. An obser- 

 vation hive ought to be kept at least for a portion of the 

 year, by every one who is desirous of becoming fully in- 

 formed as to the habits of the bees. 



If the bees are fed sparingly and often, there is a con- 

 stant carrying about of nectar, the queen is offered food 

 often, the bees are stirred up and create more heat than if 

 quiet, and the result is a greater amount of brood produced. 

 If the feed is given in large quantities, all at one time, for 

 the entire season and to enable them to reach the honey 

 crop in safety, it will, of course, have a good effect, but will 

 not be so advantageous as the same amount given at differ- 

 rent times. The bees will store it away to use as is needed, 

 but, a few days after feeding, they will be back again to a 

 quiet condition, unless the flowers are appearing. To be 

 sure, if there were flowers yielding honey, I should not 

 think of advising any one to do any feeding. We are only 

 speaking of the days, unluckily too numerous, in early 

 spring, when the bees can find nothing, or next to nothing, 

 in the field. With repeated light feeding, the colony is kept 

 in a stimulated condition, the amount of food consumed will 

 be greater than if the nourishment is given all at one time, 

 but the number of eggs laid will be much greater, and the 

 colony will be strong earlier. 



It is not all to have plenty of bees in your hives, you 

 must have them at the right time. If a colony remains 

 weak till the opening of the crop has begun, unless this 

 crop is to be protracted six weeks or more, for it takes 21 

 days on the average for the worker-bee to hatch, and after 

 that about 10 days more before she becomes an active field- 

 worker ; so it is in March and April that we must induce 

 our bees to breed. The March bees strengthen the colony 

 and enable it to rear the April brood on a larger scale, and 

 the latter is in the field just about the time of the opening 

 of the harvest. 



The colonies which were fed sufiiciently and properly, 

 sparingly and often, during the spring months, are sure to 

 make the good colonies for the harvest, unless their queen 

 lacks in prolificness. Let me cite you an instance of invol- 

 untary feeding which will show the help that light and con- 

 stant feeding gives to a colony. 



At the end of the winter in 1902, we had a few hives in 

 which the bees had died, though their supply of honey had 

 been ample. I5ach of these hives contained several combs 

 heavy with honey. They were cleaned up and closed up, 

 awaiting the proper time to re-stock them with bees. They 

 were very old hives, had been manufactured by us in 1S70, 

 and had been in constant use since that time. One of the 



hives had a very small hole on llie underside, in its bottom- 

 board, a hole so small thst only one bee could get through it 

 at one time, and th-s even witii some difficulty. This small 

 hole was discovered by the bees of one of the colonies in the 

 yard and they immediately went to work to appropriate the 

 spoils. We had noticed the bees flying about, a few at a 

 time, but a cursory examination had failed to reveal any 

 trouble, so nothing was done to interfere with them. The 

 robbing of that honey extended over the space of at least 

 two weeks, by the bees of just one hive. It changed the 

 condition of that colony so much that it seemed to have 

 doubled its strength within a month or so, and its crop was 

 about double that of the next best hive in the yard. It had 

 bred its bees at the right time. The robbing of the combs 

 had extended over this long period of time, just because it 

 was impossible for the bees to get through the hole any 

 faster, even their own eagerness being an impediment to 

 their progress, as two or three bees would often try to get 

 in at the same time and interfere with one another's speed. 



This is a good instance of the good done by feeding 

 sparingly and often. I would, however, not recommend a 

 voluntary following of a similar course. The bees that be- 

 come accustomed to this robbing in the open air soon be- 

 come a nuisance, while the bees that are fed at home in the 

 evening are never led into bad practices unless pilfering 

 chances are opened to them. 



It is hardly necessary to repeat what I said before, that 

 feeding should be done with judgment. A colony heavy with 

 honey should not be fed, as it may accumulate too much. A 

 good way to stimulate such a colony is to uncap a few cells 

 of its sealed honey from time to time. The doing of this 

 forces them to handle their honey, and acts in a similar way 

 to feeding. On the other hand, a very weak colony that has 

 but a few handfuls of bees requires but a very scanty feed. 

 Too much will cause its ruin, for it will be unable to take 

 care of it, and the robber-bees from stronger colonies will 

 attack and may overpower this one. The apiarist must 

 examine his colonies often, judge of their strength and 

 their needs, and use care and discernment as to the amount 

 and frequency of feeding to be done. 



Hancock Co., 111. 



I Association Notes. | 



Good Advice to Bee-Keepers. 



There are many keeping bees in the suburbs of cities, 

 and whose bees are an annoyance to neighbors. 



SPOTTING CLOTHES. 



This is generally worse the day bees are set out on the 

 summer stands. Bees go only short distances at that date. 

 It is best not to set the bees out on washdays, but the day 

 following ; by the next week the trouble will be over. If 

 they must be set out, and it is wash-day, go to the neighbor 

 who is washing, explain the situation, and offer a present 

 of some honey if she will delay washing one day. 

 AT W.4.TERING-PI,ACES. 



Always provide abundance of water in several places 

 for bees. Shallow wooden dishes with sloping sides, with 

 a slatted-board float, is a good form of watering dish. 

 Somewhere have some salt, also air-slacked lime where 

 bees can go to. There is something about it bees like, and 

 it will save trouble to supply the bees' demands. If your 

 bees bother a neighbor's pump, go and put a piece of cheese- 

 cloth over the spout and fence the bees out as well as fur- 

 nishing a strainer for the water. Stock tanks are places of 

 annoyance. Just above the water line on the inside of the 

 tank fasten a 3-inch strip, it will not bother the stock, and 

 will keep the bees from going there. Also see to it that the 

 overflow is so arranged as not to make a mud-hole near the 

 tank. 



IN THE neighbor's GARDEN OR FIELD. 



If your neighbor or his horse are stung by your bees in 

 his garden or field, I find it a good plan to donate some 

 honey, at the same time ask him to do such work on cool 

 days or early mornings. If he is unable to keep the gar- 

 den clean, then some early morning surprise him by taking 



