1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



325 



pleted. If at any place the combs come so near together that 

 a bee cannot pass between thera, a bridge of wax will be made 

 connecting the two combs, and when they are pulled apart, 

 the comb is broken, and the honey set to running. If too 

 wide a space is left between the combs, there is a disposition, 

 especially if the tees are' crowded, and the feeding generous, 

 to build patches of comb right on top of the sealed comb. 



When the combs are all in the supers, and ready to put 

 on the hives, then comes the selection of the colonies that are 

 to do the work. Bright yellow bees are simply worthless to 

 use in feeding back. Dark Italians will often do pretty fair 

 work. A cross between the Italians and the blacks comes 

 next, but the bee pw excellence for this work is the Simon- 

 pure black bee. A good, strong colony is needed, and if the 

 queen is of the current year, so much the better. A colony 

 with such a queen will very seldom swarm, even under the 

 stimulus of feeding, and she will not allow the bees to crowd 

 the feed into the brood-nest. It is better, too, if the combs in 

 the brood-nest could be of the current year, as old, black 

 combs in the brood-nest sometimes cause the sections to show 

 travel-stain if they are kept on the hives very long. It will 

 pay to take considerable pains to have the right kind of bees, 

 queen and combs, as success turns upon attention to all these 

 details. The brood-nest should be contracted to at least the 

 capacity of five Langstroth frames. Better work will be done 

 if it is contracted to only three combs, but such severe con- 

 traction is at the expense of the welfare of the colony. If five 

 combs are left, the feeding back is really an improvement to 

 the colony. 



Before putting the sections on the colonies that are to do 

 the work, set them on other strong colonies, putting one case 

 of sections on a hive. They will soon be filled with bees, when 

 they can be carried, bees and all, to the colonies that are to 

 do the work. There will be but little if any quarreling, and 

 most of the bees will remain where they are carried. This 

 gives a superabundance of bees — and that is what is needed. 

 Put two cases of sections on a hive, the lower case being of 

 the half-completed sections, and the upper one of those that 

 are nearly completed. 



The kind of feeder is important. It must be one in which 

 there is no possibility of the bees getting drowned, or cveu 

 daubed in the least ; and it must be capable of examination 

 and filling without coming in contact with the bees. My pref- 

 erence is decidedly for the Heddon. This covers the whole 



The Heddon Feeder. 



top of the hive, and meets the requirements just mentioned. 

 It is better that the first feeding be done after it is so dark 

 that the bees cannot fly, as it excites them considerably, es- 

 pecially if they have been getting no honey for a few days. 

 After the first feeding it does not matter when the feeding is 

 done. 



It is better if the honey is thinned somewhat and warmed. 

 One quart of boiling water to 10 pounds of honey is about 

 right. I heat 10 quarts of water until it boils, then mix it 

 with 100 pounds of honey. 



If all goes well, much depending upon the weather, some 

 of the cases of sections will^ soon be ready to come off. As 



during the honey harvest, I do not always wait until all of 

 the sections in a case are sealed over. If there are only one 

 or two in each corner, I take off the case, using the bee-es- 

 capes, and take out the unfinished sections, putting these to- 

 gether in another case until I get the case full, when it is, of 

 course, returned to the bees. 



As the feeding progresses I keep close watch of the char- 

 acteristics of each colony. It may seem strange, but colonies 

 that seem exactly alike in all respects often work entirely 

 different. One will put all of the honey in the sections, seal 

 it over quickly and smoothly, and the other will gorge the 

 brood-nest, or plaster the honey around here and there in 

 brace-combs, and make a regular " botch" of the whole job. 

 As the finished sections come off, these poor workers are dis- 

 carded. As a rule, there is little difficulty in getting the bees 

 to fill the combs with honey, but to get them to seal it over 

 quickly and smoothly is something that calls for the best of 

 management. With only one case of sections on the hive, and 

 continued feeding, I doubt if the sections would ever be com- 

 pletely sealed. So long as the honey keeps coming, the bees 

 seem to feel that they must hold some of the cells open to 

 receive it. They will build brace-combs, lengthen out others, 

 build on top of sealed combs, etc. Put another case of partly- 

 finished sections beneath the one that Is nearly completed, 

 and they will at once cap over the cells in the upper case. If a 

 large part of the sections are all completed except capping, and 

 a spell of hot weather comes on, better work at capping will 

 often be done if feeding is omitted for three or four days. As 

 the number of unfinished sections becomes less and less, and 

 the number of colonies engaged in the work also are less in 

 number, it may sometimes be best to use a case of the sections 

 that are less than one-half finished, as it will be impossible to 

 get the others all sealed over without using some others under 

 them. 



I know of only two objections to " feeding back." One is, 

 that "fed honey " has a slightly different taste from that 

 gathered directly from the flowers. This is not so very pro- 

 nounced, but it would be noticed by one who was experienced 

 in the matter. The other objection is that such honey will 

 candy more quickly than that stored direct from the blossoms. 

 When the sections are nearly completed, and feeding is re- 

 sorted to simply to have them completed and capped over, the 

 proportion of " fed honey " is so small that these objections 

 are not very serious. If a large proportion of the honey is 

 "fed honey," it would be well to see that it is sold in such a 

 market that it will be consumed before the beginning of cold 

 weather. 



The advantages of feeding back can be stated in a few 

 words. Comb honey is more salable, at a higher price, than 

 extracted, and, if the latter can be changed into the former, 

 at no great expense, there are quicker sales and greater 

 profits. The greatest advantage, however, is in securing the 

 completion of nearly finished sections. Taking one year with 

 another, I have secured about two pounds of comb honey from 

 the feeding of three pounds of extracted honey. With the 

 right kind of weather and bees, I have done much better — 

 securing four pounds for five. Flint, Mich. 



Expansion of the Honey-Exchange Idea. 



BY L. D. LEONARD. 



In the expansion of the "exchange" idea, I believe we 

 have a possible solution of, 1st, the overstocking of any mar- 

 ket with the honey-product at any time ; 2nd, the means of 

 disposing of said product; 3rd, the price; 4th, adulteration. 



I would have an Exchange in every State, with honey 

 depots in every large city, under its direction. It should be 

 the business of the Exchange to know how much honey was 

 being produced in the State during the honey season, and also 



