102 



FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



It seems to be a beneficent natural law, that bees do 

 not like to crowd one another in their search for pollen or 

 nectar, or else the meal-boxes would be untouched and all 

 the bees would work upon the insufficient supply of 

 pollen. In consequence of this law it is necessary to fur- 

 nish a sufficient number of boxes, for although the bees 

 will work quite thick if only 5 boxes are left for 150 

 colonies, they will work scarcely thicker if only one box 

 is left. 



k. 



t 



— ~R| 



;r 



Fig. 32 — Combs of Honey. 



OUT-DOOR FEEDING. 



I have fed barrels of sugar syrup in the open air, 

 and it is possible that circumstances may arise to induce 

 me to do it again, but I doubt. 



There are serious objections to this out-door feeding. 

 You are not sure what portion of it your own bees will 

 get, if other bees are in flying distance. Considerable ex- 

 perience has proved to me that by this method of feeding, 

 the strong colonies get the lion's share, and the weak 



