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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[July, 



No. 4 is based on many good grounds, since 

 pollen plays a most important part in the house- 

 keeping of bees. Yet, if judiciously-timed 

 feeding is undertaken, nature itself will at this 

 time supply the needed pollen, and favorable 

 •weather also comes for gatliering it. And even 

 where the spring is so backward as to prevent 

 the bees from gathering the needed pollen, the 

 little they will find in the mashed honey will not 

 suffice them ; hive-meal must be substituted for 

 pollen. Admitting all the advantages heretofore 

 stated in favor of crushed honey-combs, there 

 will still be this disadvantage: the great loss 

 of precious wax, especially if, on the following 

 morning, the bee-keeper does not betimes 

 remove the feeding-appantus, with the refuse 

 wax, and cleanse the floor of the hive. Should 

 he forget this he will be opening the way for 

 robbers. Besides, it takes a great deal of time, 

 every morning after feeding, carefully to remove 

 all portions of wax from the bottom-boards, 

 especially if many bees remain sitting on the 

 fragments of the combs. 



Feeding crushed honey combs, especially in 

 Lunenberg, is in my opinion bad, with the 

 exception of the southeastern portion, where I 

 live. Also in the adjacent Altmarkt and 

 Braunschweig, where the old Lunenburger 

 method is used, is the feeding of strained honey 

 dangerous. Under such circumstances it is my 

 opinion that when your bees require early 

 spring- feeding, before they can obtain pollen 

 from the trees, then it is most advantageous to 

 feed them unstrained honey, on account of its 

 pollen. I then give the unbroken combs the 

 preference over the broken ones. Should these 

 combs be pressed into the feeding-trough the 

 bees will have to descend to them, and, should 

 the weather be somewhat cool, they will find it 

 difficult to return. Such premature feeding 

 with skilled bee-keepers can only happen after 

 an extraordinary bad year. In such years the 

 owners of basket-hives must carefully save 

 pieces of comb, filled with honey, to be used in 

 early feeding. It is also of the greatest necessity 

 in such poor years that the mother stock should, 

 early in the fall, be supplied with the wanting 

 honey. 



In ordinary years such mother stocks should 

 be chosen as will reach until May with their 

 supplies. If, perchance, the supijlies of some 

 should give out by April, strained honey will 

 not injure them, as they will then be able to 

 gather pollen. I agree in the opinion of those 

 wh(< think rhat strained is just as good for bee 

 food as the crushed honey-comb. The straining 

 mv.st b : by tlie cold procfss, or as little heat as 

 possible applied. In this locality, in my opinion, 

 there is no necessity of feeding the unstrained 

 honey, on account of the pollen contained in it. 

 Our sjn-ing flowers are poor in honey, but rich 

 in pollen. In favorable weather for fly in 

 spring, I have observed in my hives with 

 movable combs, that the bees gathered too 



much pollen, thereby narrowing the brood-space. 

 On both sides of the brood-comb I have found 

 two combs filled with pollen, so that the queen 

 was unable to lay any eggs in these combs. 

 When such quantities of pollen are stored in a 

 hive, I deem it fortunate should breed-weather 

 occur, thus causing the bees to use their stored- 

 up pollen and remove the check on their increase 

 of brood. The result of my observations has 

 been, that should we have good fly-weather 

 during April and May, the brood does not 

 increase so rapidly as when we have changeable 

 (not stormy and rough) weather. From the 

 above-mentioned facts this is very evident. 



I think I have now shown that, with our 

 quality of posturage, strained honey is just as 

 good for food as unstrained. We, who use 

 strained honey, have this advantage; that we 

 lose no wax, and save the time required in 

 gathering the wax and cleaning the bottom- 

 board. The opinions of bee-keepers are also 

 divided as to whether the honey should be 

 diluted in water or not. The great majority of 

 bee-keepers feed at the commencement with 

 undiluted honey, and afterwards following an 

 old bee rule, when the oak trees thrust out their 

 leaves, feeding diluted honey. Many always 

 feed undiluted honey, and believe it to be the 

 best. I formerly tried it, but abandoned it; 

 and for these reasons : 



1st. Because it does not flow so readily or 

 regularly as diluted honey, which is not so 

 heavy-an object to be considered in a large apiary 



2d. I require proi^ortionally more honey than 

 when using it diluted, and the development of 

 brood among my bees is somewhat hindered. 



3d. Weak stock are unable in cold weather to 

 take up their food as rapidly as they shonld, so 

 that in the morning their food-troughs shall be 

 quite clean. With candied honey, especially 

 when much crystalized, the bees are unable to 

 deal, unless the honey crystals have been moist- 

 ened with water. 



If one reflects over the household economy of 

 the bee, he will readily come to the eonclusion 

 that in feeding for stimulating purposes, honey 

 diluted with water is better than honey undi- 

 luted. Because, through such feeding, will 

 there be a larger development of brood. For 

 the preparation of the food the bees must be 

 supplied with much water. Had we constantly 

 in spring, such weather that the bees could fly 

 without danger and obtain what water they 

 needed, there would be no objection to feeding 

 undiluted honey. But every observer well 

 knows, that even as late as May, the weather is 

 some days so uufivorable that the bees cannot 

 bring in any water. In pleasant weather thous- 

 ands are engaged gathering water, and, in 

 unfavoral)le weather, they are thrown into the 

 water and drowned. Is it not, therefore, better 

 to dilute the honey given them, so that the bees 

 may more readily carry up their food and pre- 

 pare nourishment for their brood ? 



