THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



linn words and fine-strung sentences to those 

 ■ftio tidniire Ibcm. 



Tnldnp time l>ythe forelock, sons tohe ready 

 for ] o^silile emergencies, let lis suppose Hint tlie 

 rigor ofAvinter is over, that spring is approach- 

 ing', and tliat in some of our hives supplies are 

 running s-hort. The question now arises what 

 is the best mode of curing the evil? Preven- 

 tion, indeed, would have been the better plan ; 

 but it is all too late now forthat, though by way of 

 caution for the future, it may not be amiss here 

 to impress it on the beginner not to under- 

 take to winter stocks inadequately supplied, if 

 he can possibly avoid doing so. If he has a 

 number of stocks from which to choose, let him 

 select for wintering only those that are popu- 

 lous and have plenty of sealed honey in the 

 combs. From all the weaker colonies, the bees 

 should be driven out as soon as pasturage 

 begins to fail, and the hives with the combs and 

 honey they contain should be reserved for the 

 use of early swarms in the spring, if pressing 

 necessity do not recjuire them to be otherwise 

 used before that time. There is ever a strong 

 temptation besetting the novice in bee culture 

 to retain every coloiiy he has on the stand, how- 

 ever feeble and unfurnished. Number has usu- 

 ally more charms for him than quality, as it aids 

 beUer in making a display, and he feels a piide 

 in shewing how rapidly his apiary is gj owing. 

 This is a sad mistake. In poor seasons indeed 

 it is not alwaj^s easy to select the stocks best 

 fitted for wintering, but it, is better to discard all 

 those about which doubt may be entertained, 

 and err if at all on the side of safely. Moreover, 

 when it seems likely that any stock M'e desire 

 to winter may need feeding, it is best to give it 

 the necessary supply in the fall ; and if liquid 

 honey must be fed, it should be given so early 

 and in such quantities that it may be promptly 

 carried up and sealed in the cells. The amount 

 consumed is not the same in every winter. In 

 long winters with changeable weather, enabling 

 the bees to fly out frequently, their stores will 

 be rapidly diminished and there is danger that 

 they may be wholly exhausted. Experience 

 has shown also that among colonies equally 

 well supplied, some will begin to be in want a 

 month sooner than others, owing principally to 

 a difference in the amount of population or more 

 freciuent disturbance. Nor is the equality of the 

 honey equally good every year. 



From all this it is manifest that it may happen 

 to even the most circumspect bee-keeper, es- 

 pecially after poor honey seasons, that some of 

 his stocks will need feeding towards the end of 

 winter. "Where cottage hives are used, it is not 

 so difficult as many suppose to ascertain the 

 state of the supplies at the approach of spring. 

 Select a fine, bright, clear morning after a cold 

 night, and if there has been a severe frost, all 

 the better. In turning up the hive, its weight 

 alre:?dy will give the bee-keeper a pretty good 

 idea of its contents. But as the bees are then 

 still clustered in a compact mass, it is easy to 

 see and judge of the ciuantity of sealed honey 

 remaining, if the hive be so held or placed that 

 the sun's rays may shine down between the 

 combs, and an accurate knowledge of the 

 strength of the stock may thus at the same time 



be obtained. A beginner, who fears to trust 

 his inexperienced eye, may probe the combs 

 where the sealed homy ought to be, with the 

 point of a long carving knife or a slender poin- 

 ted rod, and the same means may be used, for* 

 the like purpose at a later period, when the bees 

 have already increased and spread so as to cover 

 the combs. If at the first revision all the weaker 

 stocks be marked, it will subsequently be neces- 

 sary only to keep an eye on those. 



The question now arises, in case supplies run 

 short toward spring, shall feeding be resorted 

 to, or tran!<ferring'i On the whole, according 

 my observations and experience, I prefer the 

 latter, where the bee keeper is prepared to resort 

 to it. 



Feeding, in the months of February or March, 

 is troublesome, expensive, often uncertain or 

 precarious, and not unfrequently decidedly dis- 

 advantageous. It is troublesome, inasmuch as 

 in those months the feeding box may not simply 

 be set in the hive as at other times, but must be 

 placed and secured in immediate contact with 

 the combs directly below the clustered bees. 

 If not thus placed and secured, the bees may 

 neglect to descend and appropriate the offered 

 boon ; or if they do come down, they may be- 

 come so chilled that many will be unable to re- 

 turn and rejoin the cluster, and thus infallibly 

 perish. Some beekeepers, indeed, fill up the 

 empty space between the feeding box and the 

 combs, with hay, moss, cotton-waste, or other 

 substances, or place a heated brick in the hive 

 — though the latter occasionally proves to be 

 decidedly injurious. The better plan, in any 

 case where the apiary is near the dwelling house, 

 is to remove the hive, after introducing tfie food, 

 into a dark chamber, moderately warmed, ancl 

 let it remain there over night. Feeding is ex- 

 pensive, because the bees will thus consume at 

 least twice as much honey, as when depending 

 on their own stores. It is precarious, because 

 in very cold weather, the bees may fail to resort 

 to the food, and perish notwithstanding it was 

 provided for their use. But both trouble and 

 expense might be disregarded, if it were always 

 certain that fed colonies would subsequently 

 thrive the better for such provident attention. 

 But this is not commonly the case, and hence 

 feeding is not unfrequently found to be disad- 

 vantageous. The introduction of the food, 

 and the disturbance inseparable therefrom, 

 causes the bees to un cluster, to consume lioney 

 inordinately, to fly at unseasonable times, and 

 to commence brooding prematu'-ely. If con- 

 fined by stress of weather, they become dis- 

 eased, and dysentery sweeps ofl" thousands more 

 than the early maturing brood can replace. If 

 the weather permit them to fly, the odor of the 

 honey on which they have fed, will attract bees 

 from stronger stocks, and thus expose them to 

 be robbed and ruined. The case is very differ- 

 ent where a colony in need of supplies, can be 

 at once transferred to a stored hive reserved for 

 their accommodation — as will be shown in a 

 future number. H. Schulze. 



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 their Post Office address. 



