136 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



M. A. Giil uttered another g-reat truth 

 when he said that the majority of bee- 

 keepers begin feeding too early and quit 

 too soon. 



After the close of a honey harvest, or 

 at the end of the season, a great many 

 colonies have enough honey to carry them 

 through to the opening' of the coming sea- 

 son of the next year, and a great many 

 do not have enough. Most colonies will 

 have enough to carry them through the 

 winter, but many will be lacking in stores 

 for rearing bees in the spring-, unless they 

 are fed. Shall this feeding be done in 

 the fall, or in the spring? With only one 

 apiary, and that at home, it seems as 

 though it did not make any great differ- 

 en ,e. If there is any preference, I think 

 it would be in favor of spring--feeding. on 

 account of the stimulating effect. Where 

 there are several apiaries, and widely 

 scattered, it is almost impossible to visit 

 them frequently and feed in such a man- 

 ner as to bring about a stimulating- effect 

 similar to that from a honey f^ow. Cold 

 weather may also prevent feeding in the 

 spring until it is so late that some colon- 

 ies starve, or slack up in breeding from a 

 lack of stores. For these reasons 1 should 

 favor the feeding of the bees in the fall 

 until each colony had at least 25 pounds 

 of stores, and this for cellar-wintering. 

 This amount will certainly carry any col- 

 ony through to the beginning of the next 

 honey season. There will be some equal- 

 ization of stores needed in the spring, as 

 some colonies consume much more honey 

 in winter than others consume. 



In this locality. I am satisfied that much 

 may be gained by feeding all colonies be- 

 tween fruit-bloom and the opening of the 

 flow from clover. I have reference here 

 to a home-apiary, or one that can be 

 visited readily once in two or three days. 

 In this part of Michigan there is a dearth 

 of honey at this time that lasts from two 

 to four weeks. Even if there is honey in 

 the hive, the bees slack up breeding; that_ 

 too, at just the time when they ought to 

 he rearing the workers that will store the 

 .-.urplns from the coming clover harvest. 



It is not necessary to feed a large am.ount 

 of syrup at this time. Five pounds to the 

 colony ought to be plenty, unless the col- 

 onies are decidedly lacking in stores. 



For feeders for this purpose, I know of 

 nothing better than the Alexander feeder 

 shown in the frontispiece. It is simply a 

 piece of scantling, with deep grooves dug 

 in its upper surface by means of a cutter 

 head or a wabbling saw. It is tacked to 

 the back end of the bottom board, its 

 upper surface kept l&vel with the upper 

 surface of the bottom board. The hive is 

 drawn back until its back edge is even 

 with the back edge of the feeder. The 

 feeder is then all covered by the hive, ex- 

 cept about four inches that projects be- 

 yond the side of the hive. This projection 

 allows the filling of the feeder from the 

 outside without disturbing the hive. A 

 block is then laid over the projecting end. 

 This keeps out robber bees, or the storm. 

 To keep the feeder snug up against the 

 hive, use a crate staple at each back cor- 

 ner of the hive, driving one prong into the 

 feeder, and the other into the hive. The 

 illustration shows the feeder made of 2x4 

 scantling, but 1 am having 450 made this 

 spring out of 2x6 scantling. The only 

 object in making them wider is that they 

 will hold more. They will then be more 

 « desirable fnr use in feeding large quan- 

 tities in the fall. Before using the feeders 

 I dip them in hot. boiled, linseed oil. This 

 prevents their shrinking and swelling and 

 checking. 



To prepare the feed I use a ten-gallon 

 can with a honey gate at the bottom. I 

 fill it about two-thirds full of water and 

 then stir in sugar until no more will dis- 

 solve. The can will then be about full. 

 To carry the feed to the bees I use a 

 sprinkling can with the rose removed. 

 Go to a colony, remove the block, pour in 

 the feed until the feeder is nearly full, re- 

 place the block, and go to the next hive. 

 Simply for stimulative purposes, a pint of 

 such syrup once in two or three days is 

 sufficient.! 



Flint, Mich., April 1 1, 1907. 



