264 THB bkb-kbbpKr's guide ; 



CHAPTER VIIL 



FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



As already stated, it is only when the worker-bees are 

 storing' that the queen deposits to the full extent of her capa- 

 bility, and that brood-rearing is at its height. In fact, when 

 storing ceases, general indolence characterizes the hive. This 

 is peculiarly true of the German and Italian races of bees. 

 Hence, if we would achieve the best success, we must keep the 

 workers active, even before gathering commences, as also in 

 the interims of honey-secretion by the flowers ; and to do this 

 we must feed sparingly before the advent of bloom in the 

 spring, and whenever the workers are forced to idleness during 

 any part of the season, by the absence of honey-producing 

 flowers. For a number of years I have tried experiments in 

 this direction by feeding a portion of my colonies early in the 

 season, and in the Intervals of honey-gathering, and always 

 with marked results in favor of the practice. Of course it is 

 not well to feed unless we expect a honey harvest the same 

 season. Thus, I would not feed after clover or basswood 

 bloom unless I expected a fall harvest. The fact that honey 

 seasons are uncertain, makes the policy of feeding merely 

 to stimulate questionable. 



Mr. D. A. Jones has truly said that if feeeding in the 

 autumn be deferred too long, till the queen ceases laying, it 

 often takes much time to get her to resume, and not infre- 

 quently we fail entirely. 



Every apiarist, whether novice or veteran, will often 

 receive ample reward by practicing stimulative feeding early 

 in the season ; then his hive at the dawn of the white clover 

 era will be redundant with bees, well filled with brood, and in 

 just the trim to receive a bountiful harvest of this most 

 delicious nectar. 



Feeding is often necessary to secure sufficient stores for 



