12 



THE . 1 M E R WAN B E E- KE El'ER . 



Mur. 



HINTS TO BEGINNERS. 



This, the month of March — one of 

 the must disagreeable months of the 

 year to humanity — is a very trying 

 month <m the bees, for it is a well- 

 known fact among kee-keepers that 

 changeable weather., from very cold to 

 very warm, makes sad havoc among 

 4 our bees. It is very necessary that the 

 bees should enjoy perfect quiet in this, 

 as well as in the months just passed, 

 but at the same time it is just as neces- 

 sary that every hive should be ex- 

 amined, and if stories are scant they 

 should be supplemented at once — and 

 I would again caution the beginner 

 (should he commence to feed) on the 

 importance of regular feeding . If you 

 find your stocks are short of stores, 

 get some pure cream candy, break it 

 in pieces, and lay it on top of frames 

 under the cushion. The latter part of 

 this month is generally warm enough 

 to commence feeding, for the purpose 

 of stimulating the queen to lay, and 

 this is the feeding I have reference to 

 above. I would advise the use of our 

 entrance feeder, into which pour about 

 a gill of hot feed every night. Now 

 this feed, unlike the feed for winter 

 stores, is made from brown sugar — be- 

 cause it furnishes more saccharine 

 matter, which is very desirable for 

 brood rearing About equal parts of 

 water and sugar are used— put on the 

 fire and bring to boiling point, when 

 it is ready for use. After putting my 

 feeders at the entrance, in March, I 



never remove them until the bees 

 commence to get nectar from the blos- 

 soms. But every night about dusk I 

 pour about a gill of this hot feed into 

 the feeders at the entrance, never neg- 

 lecting to feed them any more than I 

 do ray horse. I recommend the hot 

 feed for a very good reason. When 

 the hot syrup is poured into the feeder 

 the steam which arises circulates up 

 through the hive, letting the bees very 

 quickly kuow that this savory dish 

 awaits them below, and in a very few 

 minutes your ear will be greeted with 

 that subdued and quiet hum, which is 

 so enchanting to the ear of a bee- 

 keeper. Never feed in the morning, 

 for two reasons : First — because it is 

 apt to induce robbing ; and, Secondly 

 — because when they have warm food 

 during the day, bees are tempted to 

 fly out, and many will thus be chilled 

 and die. 



Now, without taking too much of 

 the beginner's time, I wish to rehash 

 a few things that I may have said in 

 previous numbers, in reference to 

 feeding for stimulating : It has been 

 a frequent complaint from the begin- 

 ners that they cannot get their bees 

 to work in section boxes — until very 

 late in the season, and in fact some 

 times it is so late that they never get 

 the section honey capped. Now as a 

 remedy I say , feed in the spring and 

 you will have no trouble. I already 

 hear you say, "Why?" Well, take 

 for example a stock of bees, which, 

 we will suppose, had enough stores to 

 last through until the flowers bloom, 

 the beginner naturally supposes that 

 they need no feed. The consequences 

 are that they do not get any. Neither 

 does that queen commence to lay un- 

 til the bees commence to bring honey 



