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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



bly feed bees outdoors without bringing in 

 precisely these conditions? 



When you discover that your bees are 

 robbing in your honey- house, what do you . 

 do? You close the door, and after a time 

 let the imprisoned bees out and close the 

 door tight again. The sudden interruption 

 of the wholesale pilfering causes the bees to 

 hunt high and low for more of the same 

 goods. They will pounce on to every weak 

 colony, and in some cases rob them all out 

 entirely. It is the sudden stopping of the 

 wholesale gathering of the sweets that 

 starts up the fury of the bees. If the stop- 

 page is gradual the situation is very differ- 

 ent. Let us now take another case. 



Suppose we scatter within a hundred yards 

 of the apiary three or four dozen well-filled 

 combs of honey. In the course of an hour 

 the bees will discover them and pounce oa 

 them like a lot of little wolves. If you were 

 to take all of these combs away from them 

 before they have finished up the job, they 

 would pounce on to every weak colony in the 

 yard, hover around the doors and windows 

 of the house, and, in fact, make themselves 

 a general nuisance; but let those bees clean 

 the combs out gradually, so that no more is 

 left, and they will quiet down because they 

 know that the sweets have been cleaned up 

 and no more are to be had. 



But the first day after the combs have 

 been exposed, the bees will be all excited; 

 and the first hour or two, especially after 

 they have discovered the sweet, if you open 

 up the hives you will probably be pestered 

 by robbers. Why? Because not all the bees 

 have learned the source of the honey. By 

 some means of communication the fact is 

 published to all the bees that a "find" has 

 been made, but its exact location must be 

 discovered by each bee. There will be a 

 general hunt, and the first hive that is open- 

 ed will be the object of their attack. And 

 why not? They know that some bees are 

 getting something good, and they naturally 

 suppose that this is the source. Before we 

 open another hive we will wait till the next 

 day, and we may then expose some more 

 combs. All the bees by that time have 

 learned where the sweets are to be obtained, 

 and they will go there and nowhere else. 



I talked with that veteran bee-keeper, H. 

 R. Boardman, who explained to me that he 

 makes a regular practice, after the honey 

 season, of exposing combs (which he desired 

 to have cleaned up) hung on the siding of 

 his buildings surrounding his bee-yards. He 

 emphasized the importance of putting out 

 enough combs so the bees could all help 

 themselves. 



Lest the reader may not have discovered 

 it, I will explain that the two important re- 

 quisites to outdoor feeding, in my mind, are, 

 first, putting out a lot of feed in some defi- 

 nite place where the bees have learned to go 

 to it, and keep up this feeding on every day 

 when the hives were to be opened. The 

 busybody robbers will all be drawn to the 

 feeders, while you, in the mean time, can 

 work your hives just as you would during 



the honey-flow. These would-be robbers 

 know that food is to be obtained, and they 

 go right where they have been in the habit 

 of getting it — that is, to the feeders, leav- 

 ing the exposed combs unnoticed. Our boys 

 have learned by experience that, when rob- 

 bers get to be a nuisance, they can stop this 

 annoying pilfering almost entirely by start- 

 ing a large outdoor feeder going a few yards 

 from the apiary. Just as soon as the bees 

 have learned there is something to be had 

 they will desert every thing for the feeder. 

 So far I have, perhaps, given the impres- 

 sion that outdoor feeding has the only merit 

 of stopping robbing. This is a small part of 

 the entire benefit. Brood-rearing is stimu- 

 lated; syrup is stored in the combs prepara- 

 tory to winter; and the result is, the colo- 

 nies are in prime condition, and ready for 

 the cold that follows. There is no fussing 

 with small feeders, for the work can all be 

 handled outdoors with two or three large 

 feeders. Just before the feeding finally 

 stops, the apiarist goes through his hives 

 and finds which have enough, and which 

 have enough and to spare. Sealed combs 

 are taken from these latter and given to 

 those which have not enough; and the re- 

 sult is that such a colony in the yard re- 

 ceives a supply sufficient for its needs. 



HOW TO MAKE THE BEE-FEED ANTISEPTIC. 



Another advantage of this outdoor feeding 

 is that it permits one to put into the feed 

 some antiseptic solution that will kill the 

 germs of foul brood if that should develop 

 in any one hive where the feed is carried by 

 the bees. Ordinary carbolic acid is very 

 good, but the bees dislike the smell of it, 

 and often refuse to take the syrup. In 

 Thos. Wm. Cowan's admirable work, "The 

 Bee-keeper's Guidebook," the author recom- 

 mends naphthol beta, which the bees do not 

 dislike, and will take in the syrup readily. 

 This can be purchased at any of the large 

 drug houses, in ounce packages, for about 

 25 cents an ounce. To prepare the syrup, 

 proceed as follows; 



Break an ounce package into an eight- 

 ounce bottle (or a half -pint measure, which 

 is the same thing), and pour alcohol on to 

 the powder, and, while pouring, stir until 

 the powder is all dissolved. Into an ordi- 

 nary can pour 140 lbs. of water; then add 

 sugar gradually until there is an equal weight 

 of sugar — that is, 140 lbs. If the sugar be 

 poured in gradually, and the mixture stirred, 

 there will be no need of applying heat; for 

 in this proportion, half and half, the syrup 

 will be perfectly clear if it be thoroughly 

 stirred. When the syrup is nearly clear by 

 the stirring, pour in the mixture of naphthol 

 beta, and alcohol, and stir until it is entirely 

 incorporated in the mixture. The naphthol 

 beta is a powerful germicide, and is very 

 cheap ; and as it costs so little one can well 

 afford to give his bees a feed that will resist 

 foul brood. As this disease is more or less 

 prevalent in the country, every bee-keeper, 

 if he be compelled to feed, should give his 

 bees an antiseptic food. In England a 



