138 HOW TO KEEP BEES 



should be thin when finished, as it is better to let 

 the bees attend to the ripening of it. 



HOW TO FEED 



There are two general plans for feeding bees. One 

 IS to place the syrup outside the hive, and the other 

 to place it within the hive. The first is much more 

 convenient for the apiarist, but unless the work be 

 done very carefully or in the evening, and the 

 syrup well guarded, the bees may become demoralised 

 and begin robbing. Feeding outside the hive can 

 be done only during warm weather. There are 

 several simple feeders in which the syrup is placed at 

 night, and taken away in the morning; but the method 

 most generally followed is to fill a INIason fruit can 

 with the syrup and place on it a perforated cover, 

 then invert it in a box in front of the hive; the 

 entrance to this box is so connected with the entrance 

 to the hive that robbing is impossible. The box 

 and cover are sold under the name of the Boardman 

 feeder. As there is very little air in the can, the 

 syrup oozes out very slowly through the perforated 

 cover, and the bees take it as fast as it comes. This 

 feeder is satisfactory in that we can tell at a glance 

 when it needs replenishing. 



However, most apiarists follow the custom of 

 feeding within the hive, and strive to accomplish 

 this without loss of warmth in the brood-chambers, 

 and without disturbing or daubing the bees. Of 

 all the devices for feeding within the hive, the 

 division-board feeder is the most practical. It con- 



