I'HE AMERICAIT BEE JOURNAL. 



565 



^oxKtsi^oniitntt. 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist la 

 located near tne center ot the state named ; 

 6 northotthe center; 9 south; O* east: 

 •O west; and this << northeast : ^ northwest : 

 o> southeast; and 9 southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



FeeiliiiE Bees for Winter Stores. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



In response to numerous letters 

 asking me to write an article on the 

 above subject, I will here embody 

 some thoughts regarding it, many of 

 which I have before presented to the 

 public. I still maintain that feeding 

 extracted honey to convert into comb- 

 honey, is unprofitable, and so, I may 

 say, is feeding the same to tinish near- 

 ly-completed sections, except when 

 and where everything is most favor- 

 able, and the apiarist is thoroughly 

 skilled at the business. 



I have before stated to you, both in 

 the American Bee Journal and in 

 my bookj that I did not find stimula- 

 tive spring feeding either wise or 

 profitable, and as the present demand 

 from me is in the line of feeding for 

 winter stores (a few have asked if 

 brood-rearing was not necessary at 

 this time of the year, to insure suc- 

 cessful wintering), I shall confine this 

 communication to that class of feed- 

 ing, with a negative answer to the 

 above question in parenthesis. 



THE FEED FOR BEES. 



In practice, I have found that syrup 

 made from granulated sugar is supe- 

 rior to any honey, as a food for bees 

 when not breeding, and when in con- 

 finement. I feel sure that 1 have the 

 true theory accompanying the facts. 

 Many prepare feed from this sugar, 

 by adding large quantities of water, 

 sometimes stirring the sugar and 

 (warmed) water together; and some- 

 times boiling them together. When 

 syrup is fed thus thin, little or no 

 acid is added, for the bees hold so 

 thin a solution in their honey-sacs so 

 long in the process of ripening, that 

 they often add a sufficient quantity 

 of acid, from their glands ; but when 

 fed in this way, the bees are com- 

 pelled to evaporate or ripen it, and if 

 later in the season, or the weather is 

 damp and cool, failure may ensue. 



Several bee-keepers have written 

 me to know why their bees will not 

 cap over syrup that they have been 

 feeding them. They do not tell me 

 enough of the minor conditions, so 

 that I can be anywise sure of the 

 cause of failure iu their special cases, 

 but I know of no reasons why our 

 bees here would not at once cap' over 

 syrup, thus fed and stored, except 

 that it was fed too thin to seal, and 

 unpropitious weather prevented ripen- 

 ing it in the hive. 



Now my preference, when feeding 

 for winter stores, at any time of the 



year, or in any atmosphere, is to make 

 the syrup of the consistency of ripe 

 honey at once, and add the acid to 

 prevent crystallization, when boiling 

 the syrup. The proportions are as 

 follows : Ten pounds of standard 

 grade granulated sugar, to 3 lbs. of 

 water and a level teaspoonful of good, 

 pure tartaric acid. I say " good, 

 pure," only to be sure of full strength. 



I use a pan on a common cook-stove, 

 conveniently holding the syrup from 

 }4 barrel of sugar at one time. I first 

 put in 45 lbs. of water, and as soon as 

 boiling, I sprinkle in (continually 

 stirring) 150 lbs. of sugar. As soon as 

 all is dissolved and boiling, I add 15 

 level teaspoonfuls of tartaric acid, 

 previously dissolved in one pint of 

 water ; stir all together, thoroughly 

 scraping the crystals from the side of 

 the pan, which will not form again 

 after adding the acid. One man will 



near the bottom of the can and ex- 

 tending above the top. It is impor- 

 tant that this spout should be large 

 (the ones I use are IJ^ inches in diame- 

 ter), and crooked just right, and has a 

 tight-fitting cap for the outer end. 



THE BEE-FEEDER. 



After my new hive and my break- 

 joint zinc honey-board, I hold this 

 bee-feeder as my best invention. Its 

 working is nearly perfection. All 

 have a right to make and use it. 



The engraving represents the " Hed- 

 don Excelsior Bee-Feeder." Its ca- 

 pacity is 15 to 18 lbs., according to the 

 consistency of the food, and I believe 

 whoever once uses it will have no 

 other. It has a large central reservoir 

 with food-spaces and entrance-ways 

 for the bees on each side. You will 

 notice that the cover contains a slid- 

 ing centre, through which the food is 



easily boil 1,000 lbs. in a day, and 

 place it in tanks with gates in the 

 bottom. Just at night, about the 

 time the bees cease flying, on a pleas- 

 ant day, it will be cool enough to place 

 the feed in the feeders. 



Mr. Doolittle has suggested the ad- 

 dition of a small proportion of honey 

 (I think 10 to 20 per cent.) as a means 

 of more certainly preventing crys- 

 tallization, and, if I remember cor- 

 rectly, he would leave out the acid. I 

 would prefer having all sugar, but 

 there is certainly no danger in that 

 proportion of honey, and as some 

 brands of good granulated sugar have 

 recently given trouble by crystalliz- 

 ing, even with the acid in the above 

 proportions, I would suggest the 

 adoption of Mr. Doolittle's honey ad- 

 dition ; but at the same time, I would 

 retain the tartaric acid, as stated 

 above, for years of experience have 

 positively demonstrated to me that it 

 has no deleterious effects upon the 

 bees, and just before Mr. Quinby's 

 death, he was experimenting to dem- 

 onstrate his opinion that acid was a 

 preventive of bee-diarrhoea. 



I would add the honey only where I 

 was not sure that the syrup would not 

 crystallize without it, and when used, 

 it should be added the last thing, and 

 the pan at once removed from the 

 heat. I lift mine up, putting irons 

 under it, and then immediately draw 

 out the syrup by means of a large 

 molasses gate in one of the corners of 

 the pan. 



The syrup and the hour being all 

 ready for feeding. I use four 3-gallon 

 tin-pails or cans with a milk-can top, 

 bail and handle to carry by, with a 

 lower grip-handle to tip it by, and a 

 long curved spout coming out from 



poured without coming in contact 

 with the bees, or cracking any of the 

 propolis with which they have made 

 the feeder insectand-odor tight. 



When the liquid food is poured into 

 the reservoir, it passes to the feeding- 

 spaces by virtue of a crack under the 

 partition, and an oblong hole through 

 it. This feeder cannot leak, except 

 sometimes a trifle, resulting from im- 

 perfect workmanship, and even then 

 it must always leak inside the hive. 

 The advantages gained by two side- 

 entrances are very important, but 

 space forbids detailing the reasons. 



Some of my readers may have seen 

 feeders possessing some of the valu- 

 able features of this one, and lest they 

 might think it was strange I should 

 call it a " Heddon feeder," I will ex- 

 plain which of its functions originated 

 with me. 



I think that it was Mr. Gray who 

 first wabbled slots in a solid block to 

 form feed-troughs in which bees 

 would never become daubed or 

 drowned. This he did some 10 or 12 

 years ago. I believe. At the time. I 

 was experimenting with drone-comb, 

 with the septums removed, but found 

 Mr. Gray's method successful and 

 more practical, and adopted it (as he 

 gave it to the public), but I arrived at 

 the same result by using thin lamina 

 of wood, tacked together with spacing- 

 blocks between, as shown in the cut. 

 This arrangement is not only cheaper, 

 but better, as it allows free passage 

 under the divisions, which being at- 

 tached to the reservoir division-board, 

 form a movable trough, which can be 

 moved at will whenever such removal 

 is desirable. 



I will now name the functions of 

 this feeder, or any other, which I know 



