112 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



tract the entrances and try to have 

 something to form a wind-break, if it 

 is no more than a loose board to stand 

 up on tlie windward side of the hive. 

 Few realize the necessity of keeping- 

 their bees warm in early spring. 



IMPORTANCE OF JUDICIOUS FEEDING. 



And now comes (to me) one of the 

 most important things to be done in 

 the whole j-ear: That is, spring feed- 

 ing. I care not how mucli capped 

 honey a colony has wlien it is set out 

 in the spring, it will pay well to feed 

 every colony a little warm, thin syrup 

 nearly every day for the first 30 or 40 

 days. It is not necessary to feed more 

 than two cents worth of granulated 

 sugar a day, to each colony if made 

 into verj'^ thin syrup. When the 

 weather is warm and the bees are get- 

 ting some honey, you can skip a daj' 

 or two sometimes, but be sure there is 

 some honej' or syrup going into the 

 t\\&\v\\& every day, and you will have 

 j'our hives overflowing with bees and 

 brood, so earlj' in the season that you 

 will never again leave them to shift 

 for themselves. 



Supposing it does cost a few barrels 

 of sugar, what is that compared to 

 having ever}' hive crammed full of 

 bees and brood at the commencement 

 of the harvest, instead of leaving them 

 weak in bees and losing two-thirds of 

 the best harvest in getting colonies 

 read}'^ for it? 



Every dollar's worth of judicious 

 feeding at the proper time will bring 

 more than five dollars worth of bees 

 and honey before the season is over. 



And now what to feed is well worth 

 considering. I have tried all the 

 cheaper grades of sweets, and find 

 nothing as cheap, all things consider- 

 ed, as granulated sugar. If you have 

 a little extracted honej^ to mix with it, 

 the bees will like it some better. To 

 have the best results, make it very 

 thin, about like the nectar as gathered 

 from the flowers, and, feed it quite 

 warm. 



A SIMPLE, CHEAP, EFFECTIVE FEEDER. 



The next step is to know how to 

 feed, so there will be no robbing, and 

 not a spoonful lost, even if you feed a 

 ton of it, and not lose any heat from 

 the hive or drown a single bee, or kill 

 one in any way. I have tried nearly 

 every feeder that has ever been de- 

 scribed in the bee journals and bee 

 books, and several different waj's of 

 my own, and can find nothing that 

 will fill all requirements at all times 

 like the following: Take some 2x4 

 scantlings, either hemlock, basswood, 

 or pine, cut tliem up in pieces four 

 inches longer than your hive is wide, 

 outside measurement. My bottom- 

 board is 1;'+ inches thick counting the 

 cleats across the front and back, so I 

 dress the scantling down to 1^4 inches 

 thick. After being cut up the pieces 

 are held over a buzz saw with a little 

 wabble to it, so that it cuts a groove 

 about )i inch wide. These grooves 

 are cut to within about ]i of an inch 

 of going through, and to within Yz inch 

 of each end. I put four such grooves 

 in each piece, leaving a thin piece be- 

 tween the grooves, then take a sharp 

 chisel and cut a little out of each piece 

 so that the syrup can run into all the 

 grooves alike. I then fill them with 

 hot parafline or beeswax, leaving it 

 a few seconds so as to give them a 

 g'ood coating inside to prevent the 

 syrup from soaking into the wood. 

 Next give them two good coats of 

 paint, and we have feeders that have 

 cost about six cents each, and will last 

 20 years or more. 



When I look over the colonies in the 

 apiary, I put one of these feeders at 

 the back end of the bottom board of 

 each hive, placing it so that the top 

 of the feeder will be on a level with 

 the top of the bottom board; then draw 

 back the hive over the feeder, so it 

 will be flush with the back of the 

 feeder, and also with one end of the 

 feeder, the other end of the feeder pro- 

 jecting four inches to one side of hive. 



