FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 293 



the feed very thin, and I suspect it is all the better. I 

 have never had any trouble from robber-bees while leav- 

 ing the feeders open in the way mentioned, of course 

 covering up as soon as water is all in ; although I have 

 had trouble by leaving a cover on a feeder that was not 

 bee-tight, and with such a cover it is better first to put 

 on a cover of cotton cloth that hangs down all around. 



SELECTING COLONIES TO FEED, 



I have spoken as if a feeder was put over each col- 

 ony lacking stores. That is by no means always the 

 case — indeed, not often the case. There are reasons 

 why it is better to have a comparatively small number of 

 colonies do the storing, taking sealed combs from these 

 to give to the weaker ones. It is a good deal less trouble, 

 when the feeding is begun in good season, to have one 

 colony store enough for five or ten others besides itself 

 than it is to have feeders on all of the five or ten colonies. 

 Some colonies will store better than others, and the best 

 can be chosen. 



FEEDING IN FALL FOR SPRING. 



For some reason, bees seem to store from a feeder 

 much better late in the season than they do before the 

 harvest time. The greater strength of the colonies and 

 the warmer weather would make one expect a difference, 

 but it has always seemed to me that there was more dif- 

 ference than could be accounted for without some other 

 reason. So it is desirable at this time to have not only 

 enough combs filled to bridge over the winter, but to 

 supply any possible deficiency up to the harvest time. 



An upper story of empty combs is put on, possibly 

 two. As fast as combs are completely filled and sealed 

 they can be removed and replaced by empty ones. If it 

 is desired to have combs filled out upon foundation, beau- 

 tiful work will be done upon them in these upper stories. 

 It will easily be seen that it is less trouble to add sugar 



