116 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



April 



water in the proportion of about a 

 pound to the gallon, producing a 

 sweet containing over 80 per cent of 

 water. This supplies the water. It 

 is fed outside, when the weather is 

 favorable. Feeding in the hive is 

 our preference, with a less diluted 

 sweet. 



The best way to feed, however, is 

 to supply the bees with ample stores 

 in the combs. As that peerless 

 teacher, George S. Demuth, urges in 

 his lectures, let the feeding be auto- 

 matic, by supplying the bees with 

 enough honey so that they may have 

 a surplus with plenty of breeding 

 room until the crop comes. 



Still, stimulative feeding has proven 

 good in many instances. But it re- 

 quires good judgment and must not 

 be indulged in at inopportune times. 

 Mr. Langstroth wrote: "I always 

 feed my bees a little, even if I know 

 that they have enough and to spare. 

 There seems to be an intimate con- 

 nection between getting the honey 

 and the rapid increase of breeding, 

 in a hive. The taste of something 

 sweet, however small, exerts a very 

 stimulating effect upon the bees." 



Circumstances should guide our ac- 

 tions in this matter of feeding. Look- 

 ing back at the writings of the old 

 masters, we find many instances of 

 the desirability of keeping the bees 

 encouraged and with sufficient stores 

 to breed rapidly. Bevan quotes Fe- 

 burier in this regard. He says: 



"The weather in February, 1810, 

 having been very mild, the bees about 

 Versailles were in a state of great 

 forwardness with their brood; but 

 the temperature afterwards became 

 cold, and continued so, till the store 

 of honey in some hives was exhaust- 

 ed, and nearly so in all. Two neigh- 

 bors of his adopted opposite lines of 

 conduct ion this occasion, one fed his 

 bees liberally, the other not at all; 

 whilst Feburier himself, with an ill- 

 judged economy, adopted a middle 

 course. The result was remarkaljle 

 and highly instructive. The neighbor 



Tin pail feeders in empty super. The best method of feeding syrup. 



who fed not at all lost three-fourths 

 of his families. Out of 22 stocks Fe- 

 burier lost two, the remainder 

 swarmed very late, and some of the 

 swarms were very feeble; whilst the 

 liberal feeder saved all his old stocks, 

 and his first swarms issued so early 

 as to be succeeded by strong after- 

 swarms." 



The reader whose bees are short 

 will wonder how he is to do when su- 

 gar is scarce or not to be had. There 

 is still one remedy. Your colonies 

 are not all of the same weight. Some 

 are richer than others and may be 

 able to spare a little to bring the oth- 

 ers to fruit bloom. Be sure and let 

 none of your colonies starve. 



Let us bear in mind that we should 

 secure strong colonies for the honey 

 crop, or, as Mr. Demuth so happily 

 put it: "We must raise our working 

 force for the honey crop, and not on 

 the honey crop." It takes about 35 

 days for the egg just laid to become 

 a field worker. So the breeding of 

 the bulk of our colonies should be- 



gin on a large scale at least 35 days 

 before the usual honey crop begins. 



Let us avoid raising drones, except 

 in the colonies which we desire as re- 

 producers. We can go back a great 

 many years and find some of the best 

 teachers in agreement with us on this 

 point. Samuel Wagner, the early pi- 

 oneer and founder of the American 

 Bee Journal, wrote i- April, 1861 : 



"The beekeeper's effort should 

 constantly be directed to the sup- 

 pression of drone-brood, for not- 

 withstanding his utmost vigilance, 

 there will be always many more 

 drones produced in his apiary than 

 are needed — unless queen-raising be 

 a principal part of his business. 

 Where honey is his object, he should 

 sedulously foster the rearing of 

 workers, so that, at the favorable 

 moment, when pasturage is abundant, 

 he may have at command a numerous 

 body of energetic laborers, instead 

 of having his hives crowded with a 

 horde of worthless consumers." 



Since the invention of comb foun- 

 dation, there is no excuse in rearing 

 a large number of drones, except in 

 the hives in which we choose to have 

 them. We will always have a few, 

 even in hives where we try to prevent 

 their production. But 200 to 300 

 drones in a hive is a trifle. It 

 is the production of thousands which 

 is a waste. Let us prevent their 

 coming by the very practical method 

 of removing as much as we can of the 

 drone comb, in early spring, before 

 ihey are produced, and replacing it 

 wilh worker comb. We should always 

 have some worker combs on hand for 

 emergencies. 



Beekeeping i^ a business of details. 

 Let us attend to the details. Learn 

 what is to be done, and do it in time. 



Weak colonies can be confined to six frames in early spring by the use of a tight-fitting division 



board. 



Saving a Weak Colony in Spring 



liy F. Dundas Todd 



SEVERAL times in the past ten 

 years I have tried to save a 

 weak colony in spring by the 

 Alexander method, but invariably 

 without success, so I became con- 

 vinced it was not for me. Last spring, 



