of liquid honey may, at once be poured among the combs 

 in which the bees are clustered : this may be done by pour- 

 ing it into the holes leading to the spare honey boxes, but a 

 much better way is to invert the hives, and pour in about a 

 tea-cup full at once. The Apiarian can then see just where 

 to pour it ; he need not fear that the bees will be hurt by it ; 

 any more than a child will be either hurt or displeased by 

 the sweets which adhere to its hands and face, as it feasts 

 upon a generous allowance of the best sugar candy ! When 

 the bees have taken up all that has been poured upon ihem, 

 the hive may be replaced, and the operation repeated in a 

 few days : the oftenej: it is done, the better it will suit them. 

 If the weather is sufficiently warm to allow the bees to fly 

 without being chilled, the food may be put in some old 

 combs, or in a feeder, and set in a sunny place, a rod or 

 more from their hives. If placed too near, the bees may be 

 tempted' to rob each other. With my hives, I can pour the 

 honey into some empty comb, and then put the frame contain- 

 ing it, directly into the hive ; or I can set the feeder or honey 

 in the comb, in the hive near the frames which contain the bees. 

 I have already stated, (see p. 225,) that unless a colony 

 can be supplied with a sufficient number of bees, it cannot 

 be aided by giving it food. If the bees are not numerous 

 enough to take charge of the. eggs- which the queen can lay, 

 or at least, of a large number of them, they can seldom, 

 unless they have a tropical season before them, increase 

 rapidly enough to be of any value. If they are numerous 

 enough to raise a great many young bees, but too few to 

 build new comb, they must be fed very moderately, or they 

 will be sure to fill up their brood comb with honey, instead 

 of devoting themselves to the rapid increase of their numbers. 

 If the Apiarian has plenty of empty worker comb which 

 he can give them, he ought to supply them quite sparingly 



