34 ALEXANDER’S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 
stores or not. The syrup is given them slowly to stimulate brood-rear- 
ing. This feeding is continued clear on to the honey-flow, when, of 
course, it is discontinued. The result is that the hives are overflowing 
with bees and brood.” 
Then still further on the author says, “While it costs considerable 
to feed bees in this way I believe Mr. Boardman’s experience has been 
such that he feels warranted in continuing it; and then if the year 
proves to be a good one he will get a tremendous crop of honey. One 
year when I visited him he had secured a fair-sized yield from each 
colony, and a poor year at that, while his neighbors round about him 
did not get any surplus, and all they did get was brood-nestfuls of honey 
and nothing more.” 
Father Quinby and his son-in-law, L. C. Root, many years ago were 
the first to call my attention to the value of stimulative feeding in the 
spring. They were very enthusiastic on the subject, and advised me to 
practice it every spring if I expected to make an early increase or secure 
a nice surplus of clover honey. I think you will find in Quinby’s book, 
“Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained,” something on this subject. I have 
lost the copy I once had, and therefore can not quote his words. And 
now while I am in company with these shining lights of apiculture that 
I have just quoted above, I wish to be put on record as saying that I have 
practiced spring feeding for over 30 years, and during that period I have 
fed at least 5000 colonies for the purpose of promoting brood-rearing 
during the spring, and I am sure that, all things considered, it has been 
one of the most useful and profitable things I have ever done in the 
aplary. 
May, 1908. 
” 
MAKING INCREASE VS. BUYING COLONIES. 
BUYING BEES IN HIVES OF ALL KINDS AND SHAPES A BAD PLAN; DANGER OF 
BRINGING IN FOUL BROOD, HOW TO MAKE EARLY 
INCREASE. 
This question is of considerable importance to those who have but 
few colonies and are anxious to secure a larger number as soon as 
possible. If we could buy good Italian bees at a fair price in the same 
kind of a hive we use, filled with good worker combs, then it might be 
as well to buy part of our increase as to make them from the colonies 
we already have; but this we can seldom do unless we buy of a supply- 
dealer. Then we can get a good standard hive with good combs and as 
choice a queen as we care to pay for. 
If you want to buy bees I think, when all things are considered, 
this is the better party to buy from. 
If we get our bees of some one who has never kept more than a 
few colonies and is anxious to go out of the business, then we usually 
