FEEDING PRINCIPLES 43 



cases it is not so. There have been, and there will 

 no doubt be again, summers in which it was 

 necessary to feed the bees all through on account 

 of the utter wretchedness of the weather, which 

 quite precluded f any honey gathering. It must 

 be noted that during the breeding season the 

 amount of food consumed by a strong stock is 

 enormous, and a few days of rain may bring it 

 to the verge of starvation; in fact, inattention 

 has killed thousands of stocks before now in bad 

 years. The bee-keeper must make -sure that there 

 is always a supply of food in the hive if through 

 adverse climatic conditions the bees are unable 

 to gather a daily supply. It is quite easy for 

 bees to be starved to death with thousands of 

 acres of clover in bloom around them. Therefore 

 when there is no food in the hive, feed, and feed 

 until the bees can bring some in. 



Now regarding the method of carrying out 

 feeding we will take autumn feeding first again. 

 When the supers are taken. off in July, if there 

 is no other late source from which a honey flow 

 may be expected, it is a good plan to feed gently 

 about a quart of syrup weekly to each stock, until 

 the beginning of September. This will induce the 

 queen to continue breeding later, and ensure the 

 colony going into winter quarters with a strong 

 force of young bees, which are a most valuable 

 asset in wintering safely. The food should be 

 given them through one hole only of a graduated 

 bottle feeder. The feeder consists of a bottle 



