FEEDING TO STIMULATE BROOD REARING 131 



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 

 at 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 by close contact. 

 If they are compelled to cluster between full combs of honey the 

 heat will not be sufiicient 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 laying 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 laying as fast as possible 

 in order to insure that the colony Avill 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. 



