130 FEEDING 
the colony will be disturbed and excited as a result. For this 
purpose some of the feeders holding a large quantity are best. 
For outdoor wintering in the north it is usually estimated that at 
least twenty-five pounds of honey will be required, and from 
fifteen to twenty in the cellar. It is much safer to have from 
thirty-five to forty pounds of stores for outdoor wintering and 
et least twenty-five for the cellar. In the South where the bees 
are active all winter, even larger quantities will be consumed. 
The bees should not be provided with such a quantity of 
stores that there is no clustering space under the food supply 
in the center of the hive. The winter nest, as these vacant cells 
are called, permits the bees to conserve the heat bv close contact. 
If they are compelled to cluster between full combs of honey the 
heat will not be sufficient to warm the cold mass between the small 
bunches of bees on opposite sides of the combs. However, if 
feeding is done early the bees will arrange matters nicely and 
remove sufficient honey from the center of the hive to form a 
clustering place. 
Feeding to Stimulate Brood Rearing—Some bee-keepers 
advocate the feeding of colonies with a plentiful food supply 
early in spring to start brood rearing. This is likely to be a 
mistake. If there is an abundance of feed in the hive a good 
queen will usually begin laving as fast as weather conditions will 
permit. In case a colony is too slow to begin operations, the hive 
may be opened and the cappings cut from part of one comb. The 
bees will feed the queen more liberally from this uncapped honey 
and she will lay more eggs as a result. 
When the honey flow is checked after nuclei have been 
formed, it is desirable to keep the queens laving as fast as possible 
in order to insure that the colony will be strong enough to winter. 
The same thing applies when queen cells are being built—the 
bees must continue normal activities. For this purpose some 
form of feeder that will supply a small quantity continuously is 
best. With a small amount of syrup coming in the bees will 
continue as though honey was being brought to the hive. 
