1873.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Translated Kleine's Bee Journal.] 



Spring-Feeding. 



Spring-feeding is divided into two kinds; 

 that of necessity, and that of speculation. 

 Under the first head the bees are given just so 

 much food as will keep them alive; under the 

 second, the bees will receive more, in order to 

 stimulate the rearing of young bees and thus 

 obtain many and early swarms. Those bee- 

 kee]>ers who lack a good spring pasturage and 

 are desirous of u'^ing tlieir bees to the greatest 

 advantage, have to unite these two kinds of 

 feeding, which is then called spring-feeding. 



Thoi-e ignorant of 'lie stiite of our pasturage, 

 both in the Eichstadt J'ee Jouriul and in many 

 books of instruction, luve strongly denounced 

 as injurious the much feeding and foiced in- 

 creased of popul tiou practiced by certain bee- 

 keepers, and called it irrational. Even the 

 great Dzierzon himself, who dej^ends on lite 

 pasturage, declares (Eichstadt Bee Journal, 1866, 

 p. 59), "I hold this perpetual bee-feeding, as 

 done by the bee-keepers on the lieather, to be a 

 dangerous abuse. This feeding is an evil which 

 should be resorted to only in desperate cases. 

 Baron von Berlepsch has committed himself in 

 like manner." I cannot, in all things, agree 

 with the teachings of the above named authors; 

 nevertheless, I am of opinion that many of the 

 heath bee-keepers often feed at unseasonable 

 times, and too strongly for stimulating purposes, 

 so that they often accomplish the contrary of 

 what they seek. At least, with good intentions, 

 they squander much honey. It may, therefore, 

 be of interest and use to becouie acquainted 

 with spring-feed as practiced by the heath 

 bee-k'eepers. 



To all unprejudiced bee-keepers, who possess 

 abundant spring-pasturage, it must be evident 

 ^r^' that, generally, for tho e locations having a poor 

 'Z^' spring-pasturage, and especially for such places 

 where the chief honey yield begins early in 

 July, spring-feeding, as a rule, is unavoidable. 

 Because, 



1st. In but few very prosperous years will it 

 be possible to have the desired number of 

 standard stocks, which will likely reach with 

 their honey supplies until the opening of the 

 honey season ; while too many will leach the 

 end of their supplies before that time. 



2d. Such stocks as have too thick h&ney- 



^^ combs will make poor standard stocks, because 



^^^ in the spring the bees will have much trouble 



to reduce these deep cells to the length proper 



for brooding purposes. Such a swarm increases 



in numbers slowly. 



3d. Moreover, the preservation of the living 

 bees is not alone to he regarded, but much more, 

 during the poor honey months of May and 

 June, should the rearing of brood and multi- 

 plying of the population of the hive be stimu- 

 lated through " speculative " feeding, so that by 

 the opening of buckwheat blossoms the number 



of the nursing bees shall have increased %% per 

 cent, and that there be an abundance of laborers 

 for the harvest. 



When it becomes evident that in certain 

 localities bee-keeping will not pay without 

 sjiring-feeding, and that it is a necessary evil 

 and appurtenance of paying bee-keeping, it ])G- 

 comes important to discover what is the food 

 best adapted for our purposes. In many places 

 candy or grape-sugar is given to the bees instead 

 of honey. These substitutes are warmly prized 

 by many, and as warmly denounced by others. 

 I have made no experiments to test their value. 

 We heath bee-keepers hold honey to be the best 

 bee food. As in some scant years the supply 

 will not reach, it is necessary to take advantage 

 of favorable years and lay up a supply of food 

 honey. The most of the heath bee-keepers, 

 who have their apiary well in hand, retain tor 

 some years a good supply. An old rule among 

 bee-keepers is, tliat food-honey must remain in 

 store three years. To show the weight placed 

 on this rule in old times, I would state that 

 about fifty years ago, at the marriage of a 

 wealthy person, it was stijjulated in the marriage 

 settlement that in selling honey from the apiary, 

 a quantity sufficient for feeding purposes for 

 three years should always be reserved. To this 

 customary foresight is it that bee-keeping ha,s 

 for many hundred years rooted itself so deeply 

 and firmly in Lunenberg, and that a succession 

 of bad years did not ruin bee-keeping. 



While the heath bee-keepers are unanimous 

 in favoring the use of honey as a food-material, 

 yet in the heath districts of Hanover there is a 

 division as to whether, for si)ring-food, honey 

 should be strained or not. Those apiarians who 

 use unstrained honey (such as has been stamped 

 into barrels, combs and all), declare that this 

 kind is better for bees, because, 



1st. This honey is in its natural state. 



2d. That the bees, owing to the portions of 

 wax floating in the honey, are not liable to 

 drowning. 



3d. That owing to the portions of the wax in 

 the Jioney the bees are not in a situation so 

 quickly to store away the food, and hence the 

 hive will be kept during the night in a greater 

 degree of activity, and consequently in a greater 

 degree of warmth. 



4th. Because intermingled with the honey 

 and in the wax will be found quantities of 

 pollen, which is needed for the young brood as 

 food. 



In opposition, those who use strained honey 

 do not affirm that strained honey is better to 

 feed than the mashed, but they are of opinion that 

 it accomplishes the same purpose, and reply to 



No. 2. That the drowning of tlie bees, while 

 feeding, can be prevented ; to 



No. 3. There is no weight to be given, since 

 the bees do not always feed all night long. The 

 increased vrarmth, because they are not fed 

 daily, brings no appreciable advantage. 



