332 THE BEE keeper's MANUAL. 



ture of the case, meet with very limited success. If large 

 quantities of cheap West India honey are fed to the bees in 

 the Fall, they are induced to fill their hives to such an ex- 

 tent, that in the Spring, the queen does not find the neces- 

 sary accommodations for breeding. If they are largely fed 

 in the Spring, the case is still worse ; (See p. 320.) It must 

 therefore be obvious that the feeding of cheap honey can 

 only be made profitable where it serves as a substitute for 

 an equal quantity of choice honey taken from the bees. In 

 the latter part of Summer, the Apiarian may take away 

 from the main hive, some of the combs which contain the 

 best honey, and replace them with combs into which he has 

 poured the cheaper article ; or if he has no spare combs on 

 hand, he may slice off ihe covers of the cells, drain out the 

 honey, fill the empty combs with West India honey, and 

 return them to the bees : giving them at the same time, the 

 additional food which they need to elaborate wax to seal 

 them over. If he attempts to take aw^y their full combs, 

 and gives them honey in order to enable them, first to re- 

 place their combs, and then to fill them, the operation, (see 

 p. 326,) will result in a loss, instead of a gain. 



I am aware that for a number of years, persons have 

 attempted to derive a profit from supplying the markets of 

 some of our large cities, with an article professing to be the 

 best of honey, but which has been nothing more than the 

 cheap West India honey fed to the bees, and stored up by 

 them in new comb. In the City of Philadelphia, large 

 quantities of such honey have ■ been sold at the highest 

 prices, and perhaps at some profit to the persons who have 

 fed it to their bees. Within the last two years, however, 

 the article has become so well known that it can hardly be 

 sold at any price ; as those who purchase honey, instead of 

 paying 25 cents per pound for West India honey in the 



