414 INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETATION 



a change and accustom themselves to the new place. If uniting can 

 be done during a honey flow, there is less danger of loss of bees by 

 fighting, or if done in cool weather, when the bees are not actively 

 rearing brood, the colony odors are diminished and the danger is 

 reduced. 



It is an easy matter to unite two or more weak swarms to make 

 one strong one, for during swarming the bees have lost their memory 

 of the old location, are full of honey, and are easily placed wherever 

 the bee keeper wishes. They may simply be thrown together in front 

 of a hive. Swarms may also be given to a newly established colony 

 with little difficulty. 



Feeding. During spring manipulations, in preparing bees for 

 winter, and at other times it may be necessary to feed bees for stim- 

 ulation or to provide stores. Honey from an unknown source should 

 never be used, for fear of introducing disease, and sirup made of 

 granulated sugar is cheapest and best for this purpose. The cheaper 

 grades of sugar or molasses should never be used for winter stores. 

 The proportion of sugar to water depends on the season and the pur- 

 pose of the feeding. For stimulation a proportion of one-fourth to 

 one-third sugar by volume is enough, and for fall feeding, especially 

 if rather late, a solution containing as much sugar as it will hold 

 when cold is best. There seems to be little advantage in boiling the 

 sirup. Tartaric acid in small quantity may be added for the purpose 

 of changing part of the cane sugar to invert sugar, thus retarding 

 granulation. The medication of sirup as a preventive or cure of 

 brood disease is often practiced, but it has not been shown that such 

 a procedure is of any value. If honey is fed, it should be diluted 

 somewhat, the amount of dilution depending on the season. If rob- 

 bing is likely to occur, feeding should be done in the evening. 



Numerous feeders are on the market, adapted for different pur- 

 poses and methods of manipulation. A simple feeder can be made 

 of a tin pan filled with excelsior or shavings. This is filled with 

 sirup and placed on top of the frames in a super or hive body. It is 

 advisable to lean pieces of wood on the pan as runways for the bees, 

 and to attract them first to the sirup, either by mixing in a little 

 honey or by spilling a little sirup over the frames and sticks. 



It may be stated positively that it does not pay financially, or 

 in any other way, to feed sugar sirup to be stored in sections and 

 sold as comb honey. Of course, such things have been tried, but the 

 consumption of sugar during the storing makes the cost greater than 

 the value of pure floral honey. 



Spring Management. The condition of a colony of bees in the 

 early spring depends largely on care in the preceding autumn and in 

 the method of wintering. If the colony has wintered well and has a 

 good prolific queen, preferably young, the chances are that it will be- 

 come strong in time to store a good surplus when the honey flow 

 comes. 



The bees which come through the winter, reared the previous 

 autumn, are old and incapable of much work. As the season opens 

 they go out to collect the early nectar and pollen, and also care for 



