300 Transactions of the American Institute. 



countiy, if bees were fed a little sugar and water, melted together, 

 for about seven weeks previou<5 to the blossoming of white clover, 

 an immense yield of beautiful honey would be obtained. Old bees 

 are of little importance in the work of the hive. The only hope is 

 in the rising generation. To secure a large yield of honey it is 

 necessary to have the hive full of young bees, and the combs full 

 of food, when the clover season or other main supply begins. To 

 do this, if the flowers do not furnish a steady supply of honey and 

 pollen in the early part of the season, recourse must be had to 

 regular feeding, with a view to stimulate breeding. In feeding 

 bees, no honey should be used without boiling and skimming thor- 

 oughly, if there is the possibility of its being sour or having come 

 from diseased stocks. No honey is suitable for Avintering bees in a 

 cold climate except honey gathered in a similar latitude. A thin 

 sirup made of Muscovado sugar and water, boiled and cleansed 

 thoroughly, makes an excellent feed to encourage breeding in the 

 early part of the season, when the bees fly nearly every day; but it 

 should not be used in the winter, as such feed would be likely to 

 produce dysentery if the bees were confined to their hives any con- 

 siderable length of time. A convenient method of feeding to pro- 

 mote breeding is, to place a piece of empty comb near some one of 

 the lower holes on the side of the hive — if my hive is used — (the 

 chamber of any other would answer the same purpose,) filling a 

 part of the cells with thin honey or the sirup before spoken of, 

 and a part with rye flour. The bees will use some of the flour for 

 bee bread, if no other is at hand; and it will answer the purpose 

 very well. As the honey or sirup should not be stored to any 

 extent in the hive, not more than two ounces should be given dail}'^, 

 and if the colony is small, less should be used. Feeding to pro- 

 mote breeding is based on the fact that so long as the bees are 

 excited by daily employment in gathering or moving honey, the 

 queen lays rapidly, while on the contrary, if they are idle, she 

 lays moderately, or ceases entirely until a supply of honey can be 

 obtained, which may be too late for all practical purposes, and so 

 far as gathering honey from clover is concerned, bees might as well 

 never be hatched as to hatch from eggs lain while it is in bloom. 

 The bees that gather clover honey must be matured from eggs lain 

 a month previous to its blossoming. This fact will show the import- 

 ance of early and constant forage, or daily feeding in case the feed 

 should fail for a short time, between apple blossoms and clover. 

 In feeding, only a small opening to the honey should be allowed, 



