59 



The honey stored by the bees for winter food should be ripe 

 enough for capping by the middle of Octo- 

 126. Time to Feed ber in late districts, and earlier in early 

 for Winter. districts ; the period for rapid feeding 



must therefore be regulated accordingly, 

 bearing in mind that in unfavourable, damp, or cold weather, 

 honey may take quite a fortnight to ripen in the cells. It is 

 therefore obvious that in the case of weak stocks, supers should 

 be removed, even in districts in which there is a late honey 

 flow, in the beginning of September, and earlier in other dis- 

 tricts, to permit of the honey stored for winter food being 

 capped. Uncapped honey would not keep sound, and the bees 

 cannot obtain capping material late in the year. 



If the proper supply of 20 pounds of honey has not been stored 



and capped in sufficient time (126), the 



127. Feeding with deficiency in weight should be made up 



Oandy. by supplying a corresponding weight of 



soft candy ; if the stock is on less than 



eight frames, this candy may be given in a frame near the 



centre of the cluster ; but if only a small quantity is required, 



a cake of the requisite size may be laid across the top bars of 



the frames ; on this lay the quilt, first slightly damping it, 



then cover as usual. Soft candy may be made at home (174), 



or it may be purchased in sections , glazed on one side, so that 



when such a section is laid on the frames, glass side up, the 



bee-keeper can at any time see how much has been consumed. 



Some bee-keepers advocate wintering bees on ten or eleven 



128. Objections ^^^"'^^ ' ,?'' f^ti 1' objectionable, be- 

 to Wintering on fuse although the total food supply may 

 Full Number of "^ sufficient, yet, owmg to its bemg dis- 

 Frames. tributed all over the hive, bees may perish 



from starvation when there is plenty of 

 food in the back frames, because of their 

 disinclination to move from the hive centre when in the semi- 

 torpid condition in which they remain during cold weather. 



The frames on which the bees are to winter (125) should be 



pushed to the front with the dummy. Two 



129. Winter pieces of wood about 6 inches long and 



Coverings. from i to f inch thick, should Be laid 



across the centre of the top bars of the 



frames about f inch apart, to form a passage by which the bees 



can pass from frame to frame without going under or round 



the frames , where the temperature would be lower than at the 



top of the frames. A suitable passage can be made by using a 



small piece of the branch of an alder about f inch in thickness, 



from which the pith has l)een removed, leaving a tunnel for 



the bees. If soft candy is provided over the frames (127), 



an artificial passage is unnecessary. The canvas quilt should 



be left on as usual, and over it should be spread a few woollen 



