CHAPTER VIII 



Getting Cells Started. 



For building cells 

 one must have strong 

 colonies, Figure 28, and 

 to insure this condition, 

 one must have his bees 

 in good shape in early 

 spring. While it is of- 

 ten advocated that 

 stimulative feeding be 

 resorted to early, in 

 order to build the col- 

 onies up to a sufficient 

 strength, the author in- 

 clines to the belief that 

 colonies in two stories 

 will build up just as 

 rapidly if there is an 

 abundance of sealed 

 honey in the hive, as is 

 possible with stimula- 

 tive feeding. Sometimes it seems that uncapping a portion 

 of the honey has a stimulating effect, but feeding in small 

 quantities, for the purpose of stimulating the bees to greater 

 activity, rarely seems necessary until the time comes to give 

 them the cells. At this time feeding is often needed in order 

 to get large batches accepted and finished. When honey 

 is coming in from natural sources, feeding is, of course, unneces- 

 sary. 



The real problem is to get the bees into the right temper 

 to accept the cells readily, and finish a large portion of them 

 properly. This point has been touched upon rather indirectly, 



71 



Fig. 28. Only strong colonies should be 

 used for building or finishing cells. 



