THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



741 



Explanatory.— The tlgures before the 

 names Indicate the number ot years that the 

 person has kept bees. Those after, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in the 

 previous spring and fall, or fall and spring:, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near tne center of the State named; 

 6 north of the center; 9 south; O* east; 

 ♦O west; and this 6 northeast; X) northwest: 

 o» southeast; and ? southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



ror tbe American Bee Jourcal. 



FeefliDE Bees— ly Way of Doing it, 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I am requested by two or three to 

 give an article in the Bee Journal 

 on the above subject, and although I 

 have objected on account of the arti- 

 cle appearing out of season it is of no 

 avail, for they say, "Now that we are 

 interested we desire it, and can re- 

 member it." While an article is more 

 appropriate a little in advance of the 

 time required for its use, yet I am 

 ready to admit that it is often the 

 case that an article on some phase in 

 bee-keeping, appearing just after a 

 person has had a trial of that very 

 same thing, sinlss deeper into the 

 memory and does more good than it 

 would iiad it come at the appropriate 

 time. As many of us here at the 

 East have just passed through a siege 

 of feeding for winter, of course the 

 matter is still fresh in our minds, and 

 anxiety regarding this matter still 

 exists, so I will comply with the re- 

 quest, hoping that even those not 

 specially interested may find some- 

 thing of value in it. 



In the first place I wish to say that 

 it is always well to look out in ad- 

 vance for times of scarcity, and dur- 

 ing the honey-flow lay aside a good 

 supply of nice, sealed, well-ripened 

 honey in frames for use in the fall in 

 supplying any deficient colonies which 

 we may have. I know of no nicer 

 way of feeding than this, hence I 

 always try to keep a supply of such 

 combs on hand. If they are not 

 needed, the honey can be just as well 

 extracted from them (by placing them 

 in a room kept at 100° for four iiours 

 before extracting) in December as in 

 August, so that no loss need occur 

 if such combs are not used for feeding. 

 On the contrary a gain is made, for 

 the bee-keeper's time is not nearly so 

 valuable at this season of the year. 



If, however, no such combs of honey 

 had been saved, we must resort to 

 sugar feeding, unless we have plenty 

 of extracted honey, which is not sup- 

 posable, for certainly it is a great 

 waste of time to extract honey for the 

 fun of feeding it back again. 



There are two ways of feeding bees 

 sugar, one of which is to make the 

 sugar into candy, the cakes weighing 

 from 1 to 10 pounds, according to the 



desire of the apiarist. 1 generally 

 make them of about 5 pounds each, 

 and find it a very convenient size. To 

 best get it in the form I wish it, I 

 make a frame of the size and height I 

 wish, which is usually about 8 inches 

 square, and 3 inches high. 



I now make little mounds of saw- 

 dust on a bench, raising them about 1 

 inch high at the highest point. Over 

 this mound is placed a piece of news- 

 paper, and on the paper the frame 

 which is to receive the candy. This 

 frame should be held secure by a 

 weight or some other means, so it 

 cannot raise up and let the candy run 

 under it. 



Having the candy boiled to the right 

 consistency (which is known by tak- 

 ing out a little and stirring it while 

 the rest is partially drawn from the 

 fire so it will not cook too fast while 

 you are testing it, so as to get the 

 start of you), stir it until it is as thick 

 as it will run, when it is rapidly 

 poured into the frames and left until 

 cold. Now lift the frame of candy 

 and pull off the paper from the bot- 

 tom, when it is ready to put on the 

 hive, so placing it that the centre of 

 the cluster of bees will come into the 

 middle of the convex place in your 

 candy, for this place was made for the 

 bees to cluster in so that as many as 

 possible can reach the candy. In this 

 way the moisture from the bees dur- 

 ing cold nights collects on the candy, 

 which moistens it to such an extent 

 that the bees can lick it up, thus giv- 

 ing them a supply of food. 



I find, however, that during an ex- 

 treme cold spell, if there is nothing 

 but candy in the hive, the bees may 

 fail to cluster on it and starve, there- 

 fore, I use this only in connection with 

 a few pounds of honey in the hive, 

 when it always works nicely. I es- 

 pecially like such cakes of candy in 

 February and March, when there is a 

 prospect of the bees getting short of 

 of stores. 



The second plan, and the preferable 

 one is, to make the sugar into a syrup 

 which is fed to the bees during the 

 warm days of September and October, 

 so that they can store it in the combs 

 and cap it over the same as honey. 

 To make the syrup I find the follow- 

 ing formula the best, after trying 

 nearly all the different ways recom- 

 mended : Put 1-5 pounds of water in 

 a vessel that will hold about 24 quarts, 

 and bring it to a boil. When boiling, 

 slowly pour in .30 pounds of granu- 

 lated sugar, stirring it as it is poured 

 in, so it will mostly dissolve instead 

 of settling to the bottom and burning. 

 Now bring it to a boil again and skim 

 it, if impurities arise, when it is to be 

 set from the flre, and .5 pounds of well 

 ripened honey stirred in. This gives 

 50 pounds of feed which will be of as 

 much value to the bees as .50 pounds 

 of honey. The honey is put in to pre- 

 vent crystallization, and with me 

 proves far superior to vinegar or 

 cream of tartar. 



As soon as the syrup is cool enough 

 so you can hold the hand on the out- 

 side of the tin dish containing the 

 syrup, it is ready for tlie bees. This 

 feeding syrup warm has especial ad- 

 vantage where the nights are cool. 



and by having it thus warm quite 

 satisfactory work at feeding can be 

 performed as late as November. 



^V'here a person has not the feeders 

 or the time to prepare tliem, the best 

 thing to use for such a purpose is a 

 common milk-pan. Set this on the 

 top of the hive and fill it with syrup, 

 or give the desired amount, after 

 which pull off two or three haudfuls 

 of grass and scatter it over the syrup 

 for a float ; or use shavings or corn 

 cobs, as is preferred. The trouble 

 with these latter is that they soak up 

 much of the syrup, while the former 

 does not. 



Set up a small piece of board or a 

 chip against the side of the pan, so 

 the bees can easily climb over to the 

 feed, when a hole is to be opened to 

 the hive below by turning up one 

 corner of the quilt or removing a slat 

 in the honey-board for the bees to 

 come up through. Now scatter a few 

 drops of feed down through the hole 

 and over the chip, and put on the 

 cover, seeing that the joints are all 

 tight, so that no robber bees can get 

 in. However, if a person has time at 

 his command, feeders made as follows 

 will prove much more satisfactory ; I 

 have used such for four years, aud 

 never had anything in the feeder line 

 which pleased me so well, and I have 

 tried nearly all the feeders in use : 



Get out two pieces of wood, having 

 them the size of your frame except 

 less % inch at the top, and 34 inch 

 thick. Nail those on each side of a 

 frame, fitting the joints together with 

 white lead, so as to prevent leaking. 

 If after making, hot beeswax is run 

 all over the inside, there is no possi- 

 bility of leaking, and all soaking of 

 the feed in the wood is prevented also. 

 Bore a hole in the top-bar to the 

 feeder for a funnel, and your feeder 

 is ready to be hung in the hive the 

 same as a frame, where it cau be left 

 when not in use, if desired. 



To feed, cut a little slit in the quilt 

 to correspond with the hole in the 

 top-bar of the feeder, through which 

 the point ot the funnel is to be in- 

 serted and the feed poured in. When 

 the funnel is removed the slit in the 

 quilt closes up so that no bees can get 

 out to annoy the operator. As the 

 feeder is only an inch wide there is 

 no need of a float, as the bees can 

 easily reach either side, so none stick 

 fast or drown. By using two or more 

 feeders to a hive the winter supply 

 can be given at once, or the bees can 

 be fed for stimulation as slowly as is 

 desired. 



Borodino,© N. Y. 



for tbe American Bee JoumaL 



A Bee-Lawsuit in Canaiia. 



WM. F. CLARKE. 



Bee-Keepers on this side of the 

 line have been suddenly waked up 

 from their dream of false security, by 

 a lawsuit, the result of which, so far 

 as it has gone, conclusively shows 

 that we are as benighted and igno- 

 rant here in Her Majesty's dominions 

 as are our neighbors in the United 



