FEEDING. 179 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



FEEDING. 



A STOCK of bees will, generally, consume a pound 

 of honey per month, betwixt the 1st of October 

 and the 1st of March : from this time to the end 

 of May, they will consume two pounds per month ; 

 if the spring be unfavourable for gathering early, 

 and less than ten pounds of honey per stock have 

 been left for their winter's support , and that winter 

 have proved mild, the bees should be fed early In 

 the season, and sometimes through a considerable 

 part of the month of May. 



I believe the best spring food for bees is the 

 following COMPOUND : A pound of coarse brown 

 sugar and half a pint of ale or sweet wort, boiled 

 to the consistence of a syrup, to which may be 

 added a small portion of salt. According to 

 Huber the coarsest sugar enables the bees to form 

 the whitest wax. The above mixture is regarded, 

 by some, as a useful food for bees even when there 

 is no deficiency of honey ; It is supposed to en- 

 courage early breeding, and to preserve the health 

 of the bees ; I administer it invariably from the 

 end of February or the beginning of March till the 

 bees seem to disregard it, which always happens 



