1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



133 



at this season of the year is of more account 

 than the loss of several hundred after the 

 harvest of white honey is over. This same 

 loss is liable to occur on all such fitful days, 

 but not to such a great extent as on the 

 first one, when the bees are liable to go wild 

 with the excitement the new-found stores 

 produce. I know there is something very 

 fascinating about this outside feeding, es- 

 pecially seeing the bees go to and fro in 

 their eager scramble after the coveted 

 sweets; but after years of experimenting 

 along this line I have come to the conclusion 

 that such feeding, as a rule, is a delusion 

 and a snare. ' ' 



"Well, how would you feed ? " 

 "By using a division-board feeder, plac- 

 ing one in each hive where the colony need- 

 ed feeding. As soon after the bees have 

 their first flight in spring as it is possible to 

 do so, each colony should be examined re- 

 garding their supply of stores, and all that 

 do not have sufficient to carry them through 

 to the time you may reasonably expect the 

 bees can get nectar from the fields, should 

 have a feeder given them; and on every even- 

 ing, when not too cold, they should be fed." 

 "How much do you consider sufficient to 

 carry a colony from their first flight in the 

 spring to the time of the blooming of flowers 

 which yield nectar ? ' ' 



"I place the amount from twelve to fif- 

 teen pounds. Then, if the weather is favor- 

 able during all of the early bloom, especial- 

 ly the fruit-trees, they need no further look- 

 ing after as to their stores; but should the 

 weather be such that the bees can secure 

 little or nothing during fruit-bloom, it may 

 be necessary to feed even those which had 

 fifteen pounds at the opening of spring, for 

 honey is consumed very rapidly when brood- 

 rearing becomes well advanced. ' ' 



"Then, such as had fifteen pounds and 

 over of stores in early spring, you would 

 not feed at all, should the season prove a 

 good one ? ' ' 



"That is the way I feel in the matter. 

 While many beHeve that it pays to feed 

 nightly for stimulative purposes, more than 

 thirty years of experience along the line of 

 feeding compels me to say that, with my- 

 self, there is not enough gain made by such 

 feeding, over and above what brood the bees 

 would naturally rear where they have 'plenty 

 of stores, to pay for the extra work of 

 feeding." 



"How much would you feed each night 

 where any colony was deficient in stores? " 

 "If they were entirely destitute, then I 

 should want to feed enough the first two or 

 three nights to insure against starvation, 

 should a cold spell come on during which it 

 would be impracticable to feed After this, 

 and with all colonies which had from three 

 to ten pounds of stores, I would feed about 

 a teacupful of thin warm sweet, it being 

 about the consistency of what the bees gen- 

 erally secure from the fields, feeding every 

 night when warm enough, till the flowers 

 begin to yield nectar. ' ' 

 " I must be going now." 



"All right; but before you go I wish to 

 say that you can tell yourself about its pay- 

 ing you to feed if you will keep watch of 

 these fed colonies, and those having plenty 

 of stores so that they need no feeding. 

 Your experience may be difl^erent from my 

 own. But don't forget to take one of the 

 combs of sealed honey every week or ten 

 days from your colony having plenty of 

 stores, and put it in the center of the brood- 

 nest, after having broken the cappings to 

 the same by passing a knife flatwise over it, 

 on the plan of spreading the brood given 

 during the past by myself and others. This 

 last is the best plan of stimulating brood- 

 rearing which I know of. The removing of 

 this honey causes the bees to feed the 

 queen, and she in turn deposits more eggs 

 than she otherwise would, while the excite- 

 ment caused by the removal of the honey 

 creates a warmth in the hive which over- 

 comes any drawing-away from the brood 

 which might occur on any cold spell coming 

 just after the brood had been spread by in- 

 serting an empty comb in the center of the 

 brood-nest, as is generally done in using 

 this plan of stimulating, looking toward an 

 increase of bees in time to take advantage 

 of any special honey harvest that may occur 

 in our locality." 



[See editorial, elsewhere. —Ed.] 



TURNING ON THE LIGHT TO STOP THIEVING; 

 ARRANGEMENT OF HIVES IN A HOUSE- 

 APIARY. 



I have been here two years. I began with 

 4 colonies, and now have 17. Thieves have 

 broken in on me twice. I followed your sug- 

 gestion ofputtmgup a notice of $100 reward 

 for their arrest and conviction, but they paid 

 no attention; and the second visit was made, 

 and, of course, now I must resort to some- 

 thing else. I thought I would try a bright 

 lantern in my little apiary. Its bright shin- 

 ing might cause some apprehension on their 

 part of hearing something drop. They 

 haven't visited me since the lantern was put 

 up. 



1 am putting up a bee-house 45x7x6Jft, 

 high. Now, can't you tell me how far apart 

 I ought to put my hives in this house, hives 

 on both sides? Will it be advisable to put 

 two rows on each side, the second row to be 

 two feet above and just between those be- 

 low, thus— I I I I I I on the 



horizontal, i 1^ ^i 1^ ^i 1' 'i 1 about 



five feet I 1 ' 1 ' 1 I 1 apart, 



or nearly so? G. Houchins. 



Huntington, West Va. 



[Your scheme of turning on the light to 



