FOOD DISEASES. 285 



it is a fact well ascertained, that a hive which has 

 been fed in the spring will swarm sooner than one 

 which has not been fed. This alone is no trifling 

 consideration, and the expense is so trifling, and 

 the trouble so little, that to neglect it is highly cen- 

 surable. The cottagers, however, adopt in general 

 a most erroneous method of feeding their bees, 

 which consists in putting a small quantity of coarse 

 brown sugar into a narrow wooden trough, which 

 is put into the hive at the entrance, and this is what 

 they ignorantly call feeding their bees. A hive may 

 be fed either exteriorly or interiorly ; the latter 

 method is to be preferred, as no risk is thereby run 

 of an attack from other hives, which is too often 

 the case when the former is adopted. Honey is 

 naturally the best food for bees, but as a substitute, 

 boil a pound of coarse sugar in three pints of ale 

 let it stand till cold, then pour a portion of it into a 

 plate, and placing some straws over, deposit it on a 

 fine day in the immediate vicinity of the apiary, and 

 the bees will soon convey the whole of it into their 

 respective hives. This may be called general feed- 

 ing, as the whole apiary partakes of the food ; but 

 in private feeding, the plate should be put into the 

 hive at night, carefully closing the entrance, either 

 with the tin sliders, or with any substance which 

 may be conveniently at hand. On the following' 

 morning the whole of the liquid will have been con- 

 veyed into the cells, and the plate must be taken 

 away. If a little salt be mixed with the ale and 

 sugar, it will contribute greatly to the health of the 

 bees. It is a gross error to believe that feeding 



