24 THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 



state, moist, as it comes from the factory. In the latter condition, 

 bees consume it slowly, and, as there is not the waste that occurs 

 when candy is fed, I think it is better winter-food.' 



'' The Rev. Mr. Sholz, of Silesia, recommends the following as 

 a substitute for sugar-candy in feeding bees : 



" ' Take one pint of honey and four pounds of pounded lump- 

 sugar; heat the honey, without adding water, and mix it with 

 the sugar, working it together to a stiff doughy mass. When thus 

 thoroughly incorporated, cut it into slices, or form it into cakes or 

 lumps, and wrap them in a piece of coarse linen and place them 

 in the frames. Thin slices, enclosed in linen, may be pushed 

 down between the combs. The plasticity of the mass enables 

 the Apiarian to apply the food in any manner he may desire. 

 The bees have less difficulty in appropriating this kind of food 

 than where candy is used, and there is no waste.' 



" Mr. Kleine grates* candy, for a winter bee-food, into cells 

 previously dampened with sweetened water." 



It is impossible to say how much honey will be needed 

 to carry a colony safely through the Winter. Much will 

 depend (see Chapter on Wintering Bees) on the way in 

 which they are wintered, whether in the open air or in 

 special depositaries, where they are protected against the 

 undue excitement caused by sudden and severe atmos- 

 pheric changes ; much, also, on the length of the Winters, 

 which vary so much in different latitudes, and the for- 

 wardness of the ensuing Spring. In some of our Northern 

 States, bees will often gather nothing for more than six 

 months, while, in the extreme South, they are seldom 

 deprived of all natural supplies for as many weeks. In 

 ah 1 our Northern and Middle States, if the stocks are to 



* Granulated loaf-sugar would probably make a good bee-feed, and, by wetting 

 the combs after it has been sifted into them, it might easily be made to stay in the 

 cells. Neither sugar nor candy can be used by bees unless they have water to dis- 

 solve them. 



I have seen bees flock by thousands around the mills where the Chinese sugar- 

 cane (Sorghum) was Vine: ground. The value, as a bee-food, of the raw juice and 

 the syrup should be carefully tested. 



