212 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



boiler or other vessel will boil over very 

 readily, and may result in the destruction of 

 the building. Where such is not the case the 

 heated mass will not boil over so readily; 

 but just the same, never leave a stove unat- 

 tended that has stich material upon it that is 

 boiling or may come to the boiling-point at 

 any moment. I have known of at least two 

 buildings being destroyed by fire in this way. 

 Brantford, Canada. 



THICK SYRUP VERSUS THIN FOR 

 WINTER STORES. 



Why a Thick Syrup is to be Preferred. 



BY ALLAN LATHAM. 



I have been requested to express my views 

 upon the subject of feeding thick syrup late 

 in the fall after I have first read Mr. Alex- 

 ander's article on page 29. 



There is scarcely a statement in that entire 

 article which does not meet my unqualified 

 approval, there being but one thing which I 

 should wish to modify. I question the wis- 

 dom of feeding so large an amount as 14 lbs. 

 of dry sugar to each colony unless the combs 

 are very empty. 



As eight or ten pounds of stores will carry 

 a colony to the time of frequent spring flights, 

 it seems scarcely warrantable for us to put 

 an unnecessary amount of this foreign feed 

 into our hives and thereby lay ourselves 

 more open to the charge of sugar-fed honey. 

 We can truthfully say that a colony of bees 

 will, beyond all doubt, take cai'e of ten 

 pounds of sugar syrup which is fed late in 

 the fall, even though they have abundance of 

 honey beyond this; but there is too much 

 likelihood' of syrup becoming a part of future 

 surplus from a colony which has at the time 

 of the feeding a large store of honey, if more 

 than about ten pounds be fed. Let us err on 

 the right side rather than on the wrong side, 

 if we are to err. 



I believe in feeding thick syrup to bees for 

 their winter stores, rather than thin, and 

 feeding this syrup late. Why? Well, for two 

 or three reasons — reasons which the editor 

 has suggested in part in his fo'itnote to the 

 article of Mr. Alexander's. To feed thin 

 syrup means a loss of both syrup and bee 

 energy. The thinner the syrup, the greater 

 the It ss. Even with the proportion mention- 

 ed by Mr. Alexander there is a loss; and in- 

 stead of there being 21 pounds of thick syrup 

 in the combs as stores ater feeding 14 pounds 

 of sugar made into the 2-to-l syrup, there 

 will be but 17 (or at the most 18) pounds of 

 syrup. If these same 14 pounds of sugar be 

 fed in the form of a thin syrup, the resulting 

 stores will not exceed 14 lbs of thick cured 

 syrup, and they may fall even below 14. 



When a thin syrup is fed, the bees get 

 greatly excited, and will consume much syr- 

 up in the generation of useless heat; at the 

 same time they will use up much of the life 

 energy which they posses-s 



It is my honest belief that the idea that 

 bees must have an inverted sugar for their 



winter feed is sheer nonsense. The fact that 

 bees invert sugar when fed to them thin led 

 to the belief that the inversion was essential 

 before the syrup was fit food for the mature 

 bee. Where, may I ask, is the proof, or even 

 logical demand for sach a conclusion? Too 

 many times have many of us utterly dis- 

 proved that conclusion. My experience in 

 the wintering of baby nuclei has offered me 

 abundance of proof, for my best success has 

 always attended the feeding of thick syrup 

 late in the fall. The absurdity of the claim 

 is seen again when we consider that one of 

 the best of winter feeds for safety is a cake 

 of sugar laid over the frames. This cake of 

 sugar must be of the non-inverted kind, too, 

 for otherwise it is likely to get thin and run 

 down upon the bees to their ruin. 



That the need of using an acid for the pur- 

 pose of inverting the sugar fed is lacking so 

 far as rendering the syrup fit food for the 

 bees I have no doubt; that it is entirely lack- 

 ing as regards the rendering of the sy^'up 

 proof agamst crystallization 1 feel less cer- 

 tain. Personally, during all the years I 

 have kept bees, and with all the winter feed- 

 ing which I have pi'acticed, I can not now 

 i"ecall one single instance in wh ch the syi'up 

 crystallized in the combs. If it did so, it 

 was to such a small extent as to escape my 

 notice. I never use cream of tartar or other 

 acid. 



I have, however, never done much feeding 

 of syrup as thick as 2 to 1. I have always 

 found the bees little inclined to take care of 

 svrup thus thick Fed as Mr. Alexander ad- 

 vises — warm, and right under the cluster — it 

 may go all right; but fed in nine-tenths of 

 the various forms of feeders would result in 

 only about one-tenth of the syrup being taken 

 by the bees before the syrup got cold. Afcer 

 it was cold they would pay about as much 

 attenti(jn to that syrup late in the fall as they 

 would to ice-water. It is so thick when cold 

 that the bee can scarcely draw it through its 

 tongue, and it has no patience to stay away 

 from the warm cluster long enough to get a 

 load of syrup. No enthusiasm is aroused, 

 and the feeding lags. If fed a trifle thinner, 

 the bee loads up more quickly, and just 

 enough enthusiasm is aroused to warm up 

 the hive and make tliat syrup go into the 

 combs with a rush. I find that a 5-to-3 pro- 

 portion brings about such a result. 



If fed 2 to 1, unless the bees take the syrup 

 up immediately there will be more or less 

 crystallization over the surface and along 

 the edges, resulting in loss and bother. My 

 method of feeding is by means of an atmos- 

 pheric feeder, simply a fruit-jar or tin can 

 invei'ted full of syrup upon a piece of thin 

 board, and a wire nail placed under the edge 

 of the can — a method too fussy in a large 

 apiary, but excellent in a small one. Four 

 quarts thus arranged in an empty super 

 right over the brood nest will go over night, 

 or before the next four quarts are fed the 

 following night. Twelve and a half pounds 

 of sugar made into 20 pounds of syrup will 

 be taken in two feeds, and will result in 

 about 15 pounds of ripened stores. If fed 



