igoj 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



50 



he amiss, even though the editor gave a 

 very good exposition of the merits and 

 demerits of the subject. 



I have been and am still experiment- 

 ing with stimulating food for bees, but 

 I am already satisfied that, here at 

 least, feeding in the spring is done at 

 a loss. Cane sugar syrup has to be '"in- 

 verted" by the bees, and that process 

 calls for an expenditure of vitality that 

 old bees, after a winter's confinement, 

 can ill meet. Under normal conditions 

 — during the natural flow of nectar- 

 there are an abundance of young bees 

 to do such work, and it is believed that 

 they do much, if not the greater part, 

 of it. But in the early spring when 

 stimulative feeding must be done if to 

 be of any use, there are but very few 

 young bees and so the labor falls upon 

 the old ones. If we could afford to feed 

 honey or honey and W'ater at such 

 times, would not such evils be avoid- 

 ed, it may be asked. Not entirely. I 

 cannot discover that colonies stimulat- 

 ed with honey and water are in one 

 whit better condition for the harvest 

 than are colonies let entirely alone, but 

 having plenty of honey (and pollen) 

 left from their winter supply. On the 

 contrary, even with such skill as I have 

 acquired in the past twenty and odd 

 years, spring stimulated colonies are 

 more often behind the others than 

 ahead of them. Other things being 

 equal I believe bees winter better when 

 they have a superabundance of stores 

 than they do if they have barely enough 

 to carry them through. 



It may not be considered as econom- 

 ical management to give colonies 

 much more honey for winter than will 

 suffice them till fruit bloom. Perhaps 

 it is not in some places, but it certainly 

 is the best plan here and colonies so 

 supplied are ready for the supers first 

 and produce as fine a grade of white 

 comb hone^' as can be desired. The 

 dark honey, which maj' be in the combs 

 below, never seems to be carried into 

 the supers, so that feature is no bug- 

 bear. 



If the bees are in warm, dry hives 

 in a sheltered and sunny location they 

 will breed up as fast as any one can de- 

 sire. Mine began brood rearing in Jan- 

 uary' this year and now 'March 5) are 

 busily at it. In the matter of warmth I 

 find that the wrapping of tarred paper 

 about single-walled hives continues to 

 work most satisfactorily. During the 



past winter I have had seven colonies 

 so protected and they are now in prime 

 condition. The black surface of the pa- 

 per absorbs the sun's rays and the 

 hives are warmed through and through 

 and yet the bees do not seem to fly 

 almormally or in unseasonable weather. 



If any other bee-keepers in any part 

 of the country have tried this plan I 

 hope they will report the results. At 

 present it looks as if an abundance of 

 stores in warm hives is of more value 

 than any amount of stimulative feeding, 

 and certainly such arrangements will 

 be seen to be far the most economical 

 when compared with cost of food and 

 labor of feeding. 



Providence, R. I., March 5 1902. 



BETTER BEES. 



ANOTHEK PROPOSITION WITH .\ VIEW TO 

 SECURING THEM, 



(By A. E. Willcutt.) 



THE question is, how are we to get 

 them? This subject is a very im- 

 portant one, and is receiving 

 much attention of late. But there is 

 one thing we must do before we can 

 make very fast advancement. We must 

 control the mating of the queens. If 

 this can be done, we may be able to 

 make some wonderful strides forward 

 in a short time. Some seem to look upon 

 it as one of the unobtainable things, 

 and have given it up in despair. Now 

 let's not give up just yet, for I believe 

 it can and will be accomplished in time. 

 Why not make a mighty efifort dur- 

 ing 1902 to accomplish it? I believe 

 there has been many more difficult prob- 

 lems than this one solved, therefore 

 let's take courage and make the at- 

 tempt. The plan which looks most 

 promising is the tent. There is but 

 little doubt (in my mind^ that a large 

 enough tent would "do the business." 

 The cost of a large tent would be more 

 than most of us w^ould care to invest, 

 unless pretty certain of success. Why 

 not every bee-keeper interested in 

 these experiments, donate a "quarter" 

 to help along the work? I'm sure this 

 small sum would be given gladly by a 

 great many w^ho would be glad to help, 

 but could not make the experiments 

 alone. Why could not these experi- 

 ments be conducted by the "National 



