152 



Translated from L'Apiculteur Alsacien-Lorrain, 

 by Frank Benton. 



Feeding Bees for Profit. 



CH. ZWILLING. 



Most novices in apiculture are impelled by 

 a desire to increase the number of their colo- 

 nies as rapidly as possible. To attain this 

 result some have recourse to artificial 

 swarming ; they divide twice and even 

 three times, colonies which often are 

 already very weak in bees, but instead of 

 advancing, "they go backward. Others resort 

 to speculative feeding to stimulate the queen 

 in her laying and to bring about the develop- 

 ment of brood in order to obtain a large 

 number of natural swarms. This latter 

 method will produce the desired result if it 

 is applied with a proper understanding of 

 the subject ; and above all, if it is employed 

 at the proper time. Let us examine, then, 

 for the benefit of our new disciples, at what 

 times of the year and in what manner feed- 

 ing our bees for profit should be practiced. 



With us, in Alsace and Lorraine, swarms 

 usually issue from the end of April up to 

 the 10th of June. The young bees compos- 

 ing a swarm are from ten days to a month 

 old ; let us add to this the twenty-one days 

 necessary for the hatching of the bees 

 from the laying of the egg to complete 

 development, and we will find that stimula- 

 tive feeding should commence about the 

 15th of March, if it is to exercise any influ- 

 ence in bringing about early swarming— the 

 only kind of swarming profitable with us. 



What takes place within the hive when 

 bees are fed, for the purpose of stimulation, 

 every two or three days ? They regard as 

 the product of nature what the hand of 

 man spreads before, them ; they hasten to 

 leave their habitations and go outside in 

 search of the sweet nectar. All goes well if 

 vernal sunshine and gentle zephyrs favor 

 these field excursions; but if, unfortunately, 

 the weather is bad, if rigorous winds follow 

 closely this seductive sunshine and overtake 

 the rovers in the open field, when this hap- 

 pens, the poor workers are chilled, the weak 

 colonies rapidly depopulated, and the brood 

 perishes for the lack of care, and finally the 

 colonies succumb. Here stimulative feed- 

 ing has completely failed, and the novice in 

 bee-culture might well exclaim with the 

 milk-maid of the fable : "Adieu ecus, 

 essaims, miel etr lichees!' " 



All goes well, we have said, if the 

 weather is propitious. But in this case it is 

 Dame Nature who, with us, takes charge of 

 the stimulative feeding. See how the cor- 

 nel-tree, the violets, the hazel-bushes, the 

 apricots, and all our fruit trees spread their 

 blossoms one after another offering a pro- 

 fusion of nectar and pollen for our in- 

 dustrious workers. 



However, we do not mean to say that 

 during the spring yield brought about by 

 pleasant weather, the addition of a few cups 

 of sugar-syrup or of honey diluted with 

 water, and given at intervals of eight to 

 fifteen days, would not hasten the pros- 

 perity of the hive. But with us the best 

 method of feeding for profit consists in 

 provisioning sufficiently our hives in early 

 autumn, in giving afterwards in the spring 



to each a comb of sealed honey, and in 

 disturbing the bees as little as possible. 



The -only speculative feeding that M. 

 Bastian, our great master in apiculture, 

 recommends for Alsace and Lorraine, is the 

 method employed in the case of swarms. 

 Indeed give 5 to 10 lbs. of sugar dissolved in 

 water, to a new swarm and you will ascer- 

 tain with what rapidity they will construct 

 splendid combs to be filled later, if the season 

 permits it, with a fine store of honey. 



We urge our young pupils in apiculture 

 not to fall into an error, by reading in the 

 journals that one Hilbert, an eminent apia- 

 rist in the North, obtains surprising results 

 through feeding his bees with sweetened 

 milk or with a paste composed of eggs and 

 honey ; that one Weygandt, of Taunees, 

 has quite as good success as his brother bee- 

 keeper, by feeding his bees with a pap made 

 of flour and honey ; that in Luneburg 

 apiaries of 60 colonies, stimulated by feed- 

 ing, easily reach the number of 30u at the 

 swarming season — June and July. Do not 

 forget that these apiarists are brought up to 

 the business, that they know how to prepare 

 and use properly artificial food, and that 

 their bees are not able to revel, like ours, in 

 fields of colza and among the blossoms of 

 fruit trees. 



However, should any wish to try feeding 

 for profit, they may be advised to do it during 

 favorable and unchanging weather, and to 

 select for this purpose only populous and 

 well-provisioned colonies. 



(OpThe Paris Exposition awarded a 

 Medal to the Bohemian bee periodical " Der 

 Bienenvater." This Medal was claimed by 

 the Editor, and also by the President of the 

 Society that publishes that paper. In con- 

 sequence of this dispute, the editor, Mr. 

 Mayerhoeffer, withdrew, and has founded 

 another paper and association. 



dt^M. Hamet, editor of L'Apiculteur 

 has been appointed professor of apiculture 

 by the French government and delivers two 

 free lectures in the Luxembourg every week 

 —on Tuesdays and Saturdays. 



B^~A new Swiss bee paper has made its 

 appearance. It is called " Bulletin D' Api- 

 culture pour la Suisse RomancLe^ It is 

 edited by M. Ed. Bertrand, and published at 

 Nyon, Vaud, Switzerland. It is well edited 

 and nicely printed. Success to it. 



J^" A new bee paper, bearing on its first 

 page the name " Oesterreichische Bienen- 

 Zeitung," and a quotation from Von Ber- 

 lepsch as well as one from Quinby, comes 

 from Prague, Bohemia. Its founder is 

 Rudolph Mayerhceffer whose name is favor- 

 ably known in this country. His motto : 

 Forward with united energy (" Vorwaerts 

 mit vereinten Kraeften!") is a good one,, 

 as are also the first numbers of his journal. 

 We wish the undertaking success. 



