122 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



May 



will pay us well for our time in feed- 

 ing. I am not going to give any theo- 

 ry about it, but I will say the largest 

 yields I ever got were from colonies 

 in 8 and 10 frame hives. 



Another thing I would like to say 

 is, that the most prolific queens are 

 not the best, in many cases. I have 

 had some very poor queens that were 

 very prolific. Some of the very best 

 Italian queens I now have, or ever 

 had , are hardly able to keep 8 Lang- 

 stroth frames full during the time 

 they should be kept full. Very like- 

 ly many that read this will think I 

 do not know what a good queen is, 

 and 1 feel quite sure this will be the 

 case when I say that last summer I 

 killed a 16 breeding queen that was 

 prolific and equal to at least 10 frames. 

 But that is not the worst. A year 

 ago last summer I sold for $1 a two- 

 year-old imported Italian queen that 

 cost me over $9. I did not need a 

 dollar very badly, either. But if one 

 was to buy some that I have, and I 

 think they are good, the price they 

 would have to pay would make them 

 think that they ought to be good. 



Now as to the time to commence 

 feeding in the spring. I do not think, 

 as a general thing it has paid me to 

 feed much before fruit- bloom, and 

 not even then, if the bees could secure 

 enough from it to keep brood-rearing 

 going on as rapidly as it should at 

 this time. But if they do not, it has 

 always paid me well to feed. In this 

 locality there are no flowers after 

 white clover. I generally feed a 

 good deal during this time. If we 

 commence to feed we must keep it up 

 until there is some to be had from the 

 fields, or else stop gradually, or if we 

 get the brood-nest full of brood, and 



then stop all at once, if there is not 

 much food in the hive, and none in 

 the fields, the brood will necessarily 

 be thrown out, or else starve to death, 

 and then, as a general thing, here in 

 the North such a colony is ruined for 

 that season, as far as surplus honey is 

 concerned. But on the other hand, 

 we must not feed too much. If we do, 

 with small hives, we will restrict the 

 room in th'e brood-nest, and thus pre- 

 vent the very object for which we are 

 feeding, namely, a large force of 

 workers to gather the flow which we 

 hope for and expect will come later. 



But shortly before the time for the 

 main flew to commence, feed heavy 

 if we wish to fill the brood-nest with 

 sugar stores. Whether this is best or 

 not, in a locality where there is a fall 

 flow, I do not know. I have practiced 

 this somewhat, and I think under the 

 right management, it can be made to 

 pay. But my advice to the inexperi- 

 enced is to try this on a small scale 

 at first. There are certain difficulties, 

 and much more to learn about this 

 than there is to simply feed enough 

 to secure a large force of workers. In 

 feeding for this purpose, I do not 

 think it is necessary to feed every 

 day. I never feed more than every 

 second day, and a good deal of the 

 time only every third or fourth day. 

 But I think we can push br®od-rear- 

 iug much more rapidly when we 

 wish to, by feeding a small amount 

 every second or third day, than we 

 can by giving a large feed all at once 

 or a frame of honey for feeding. 



I use a good deal of poor and infer- 

 ior honey and honey-dew when I 

 have it. Such as is not fit for winter 

 stores can be extracted, and by judi- 

 cious feeding at the right time it can 



