28 



THE AMERICAN A PICUL TUB IS T. 



feed the bees, it is also of great 

 utility in the production of wax. 

 As soon as warm weather sets in, 

 a dry sugar feeder can be placed 

 at each end of a colony of bees. 

 Then take a body box which would 

 hold say ten frames (or less). Put 

 eight frames of foundation in this 

 box and a dry sugar feeder at each 

 end, and place this box over the 

 colony of bees* Being provided 

 with so much dry sugar above and 

 below, the bees will draw out the 

 comb in three or four days. These 

 frames can be taken out, and all 

 the combs cut out clean except a 

 short strip. The comb thus cut 

 out can be cut up into nice little 

 pieces which would exactly fit in- 

 to sections. Other frames of foun- 

 dation can be put into the body 

 box to be treated the same as be- 

 fore. The frames with only the 

 short strips of comb can be placed 

 in the front of hives nearest the 

 entrance, and this will in a large 

 measure prevent the bees from 

 swarming. When sections are 

 thus filled with this beautiful new 

 comb, they will be filled and sealed 

 with wonderful rapidity. If frames 

 of combs are wanted for swarms or 

 other purposes, they can be utilized 

 that way without any of the comb 

 being removed. Of course, all 

 feeders must be removed as soon as 

 honey is coming in because we want 

 stored honey and not stored syrup. 

 The feeder mentioned above is 

 about an inch deep, but some are 

 made much deeper. If you want 

 one deeper than one inch it would 

 l)e better to go to about three 

 inches ; as, if you had any size over 

 one inch and less than two inches, 

 it is probable the bees would fill 

 the feeders with comb after empty- 

 ing them of sugar. Dry sugar 

 feeders are also made of a circular 

 form, and placed on top of the 

 frames. These do very well, but 

 the other sort is best for most pur- 

 poses. 



Dry sugar feeding can also be 

 practised in autumn with great 

 success as follows: If you have 

 any reason to suppose the bees will 

 be short of food before the spring, 

 la}' a piece of paper flat over all 

 the frames, and reaching quite to 

 the hive side. Puncture the paper 

 in one or two places just over the 

 brood-nest, or cluster. Then take 

 some Porto Rico sugar and spread 

 it nice and evenly all over and 

 press it all down firmly quite up to 

 the hive sides. This will prevent 

 any draught and the warmest part 

 of the hive will be under the cen- 

 tre of the sugar. Of course, the 

 sugar must be nicely covered up 

 with several layers of carpet. The 

 bees will eat out all the sugar, 

 leaving only a thin crust which can 

 easily be removed. If you do not 

 care about having the sugar loose 

 all over the hive, you can take a 

 large basin, one tliat would hold 

 eight or ten pounds of sugar, press 

 it all firmly into the basin and then 

 invert it over the cluster of bees. 

 They will ascend gradually and 

 eat it completely and as tlie dome 

 shape is favorable for the reten- 

 tion of heat, the inside of the ba- 

 sin will be the warmest part of the 

 hive. This dome-shape must not 

 be lost sight of, for most of the best 

 s^a'up feeders used in England are 

 constructed so that there is a dome 

 under the bottle, and then even 

 syrup can be fed in the coldest 

 weather though I do not advise do- 

 ing it. I have, however, frequentl}' 

 left a dome-shaped syrup feeder 

 on the hive all the winter much to 

 the comfort of the bees. It must, 

 however, be remembered that this is 

 being written in England, where the 

 winters are not so severe as in 

 many parts of America. Our hives 

 alwca/s remain on their summer 

 stands during the winter. I do not 

 by any means wish it to be thought 

 I have exhausted the subject of 

 dry sugar feeding, but I have per- 



