1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



171 



with success in years g'one by, which is as 

 follows: Fifteen pounds of water is weis^h- 

 ed up and put into a tin vessel of suitable 

 size, when this vessel is put over the fire 

 till the water boils, at which time twenty 

 pounds of granulated sug^ar is put in, the 

 same being- done by slowly pouring it into 

 the water while the whole is being stirred, 

 so that the sugar shall not all go in a heap 

 on the bottom of the vessel, and a part of it 

 scorch or b irn there, as is often the case 

 where a great lot of sugar is poured into 

 any kind of vessel set over a hot fire, as in 

 such case the water will not keep the sugar 

 from settling on the tin, and scorching or 

 burning. " 



" I am glad you spoke of this. I burned 

 some syrup in making one time, and I did 

 not then know the reason for it; but I now 

 remember I poured the sugar right in with- 

 out stirring and left it till it boiled. Bat 

 go on." 



" After stirring the sugar in till it has 

 mostly dissolved, the whole is left till it boils 

 again, when it is set from the fire, and 

 three pounds of honey is stirred in, to keep 

 the syrup from granulating or crystallizing, 

 and to give a better relish for the bees." 



" Is this honey a necessity where a per- 

 son has none to put in?" 



"No, it is not absolutely necessary at 

 this time of the j-ear; but I have been of the 

 opinion that I got better results where I so 

 used it, and have often put in three or four 

 combs from partly finished sections where 

 I did not have other honey to put in. The 

 wax that will come from the comb can be 

 taken ofi^ when the whole cools, so this will 

 do no harm by way of interfering with the 

 manipulation of the syrup. This will give 

 you 37 to 38 pounds of the best feed I know 

 of for very early feeding, and you can cut 

 the formula in half, double it, treble it, etc., 

 in accord with your needs and at your 

 pleasure." 



" How do you feed it?" 



"I use a division-board feeder at this 

 time of the year, and, in fact, at all times 

 of the year. Ju^t take out a comb where 

 it will come right up to the cluster of bees, 

 then put in your feeder in place of the 

 comb; pour in your feed, having the same a 

 little more than blood- warm, when the bees 

 will take it all up before it gets cold, un- 

 less the weather is very severe." 



"How often would you feed?" 



" 1 would give a feederful at a feeding; 

 and by doing this, one feeding will last the 

 colony for a week to ten davs, thus giving 

 you a chance to choose a mild day for the 

 feeding process." 



" Do j'ou make all the feed, and feed in 

 fhis way with all spring feeding?" 



"No. As spring advances I use a light 

 brown, or what is called No. 1 C sugar. 

 Vith this I put in fifteen pounds of sugar 

 to the fifteen pounds of water, bring to a 

 boil, and leave out the honey. Feeding 

 after the bees can fly nearly every day is 

 done mainly for stimulating brood rearing; 

 and I find that C sugar has a better effect 



in accomplishing this object than granulat- 

 ed sugar; but the bees must have a chance 

 to fly often when feeding this grade cf su- 

 gar, or they are likely to sufi'er from diar- 

 rhea." 



" How often do you feed with this syrup 

 made from C sugar?" 



" Generally every night, doing the feed- 

 ing in the twilight to prevent any chance of 

 the bees robbing out or trying to rob the 

 colonies being fed." 



" How long is the feeding kept up?" 



" Till the flowers begin to yield honey or 

 nectar. When this comes about, it is not 

 necessary to feed to keep the bees from 

 starving or for brood-rearing, as nectar 

 from a natural source is always better in 

 every way than that which comes from a 

 feeder." 



" Well, how about fall feeding, as T see 

 that it is nearly time for me to be going?" 



"Feed for fall feeding is made in this 

 way: Fifteen pounds of water is used, as 

 I told you at first; and when this boils, 30 

 pounds of granulated sugar is stirred in (as 

 I told you to do), instead of the 20 pounds 

 there used; and when this is about to boil, 

 all scum which may arise is carefully 

 skimmed ofl", so that the syrup may be as 

 free as possible from all impurities. After 

 boiling, it is set from the fire, and five 

 pounds of good thick extracted honey is 

 stirred in." 



"Do you consider the honey necessary 

 when feeding in the fall for winter stores?" 



"I certainly do. When syrup is made 

 thus, so it is of the consistency of honey be- 

 fore feeding, as it always should be when 

 feeding after the harvest is past, for winter 

 stores, it will crystallize (with me) in the 

 feeders, where no precaution is used; and 

 in my many experiments which I made to 

 find out the best feed for winter I even had 

 it harden in the cells after being stored 

 there by the bees, where nothing was used 

 to prevent this crystallizing, as some have 

 recommended. This five pounds of honey 

 is sure proof against all these troubles; and 

 as it is of itself good feed for bees I do not 

 see why any one should object to its use, 

 even if the same had to be bought. But 

 this buying is not generally necessarj', even 

 in a very poor season, if the bee-keeper 

 keeps an eye on his knitting, as all suc- 

 cessful bee-keepers will." 



"How about the feeding of this syrup?" 



" It is fed from a division- board feeder, 

 the same as before; but as much feed is given 

 each evening as the bees will carry down 

 during the next 24 hours, till the needed 

 amount required for winter is given. About 

 25 pounds will generally be used during 

 the three first days after commercing, and 

 that is generally considered sufficient for 

 the safe wintering of any colony. If colo- 

 nies have >4, >^, or J4 of this amount of 

 honey in their combs, the feeding of a suf- 

 ficient amount to supply the lack is all that 

 is required." 



"Well, I thank you for this interview. 

 I must be going now." 



