FEEDING BEES 139 



The last extracting for the season is usually marked 

 by more or less robbing ; however, take care that no honey 

 is left about for the bees to develop bad habits. When a 

 hive is about "cleaned out" by robbers it is better to let 

 them finish the "job" when they will probably settle 

 down again. If the hive is removed, the robbers will con- 

 centrate on the next hive and the area of trouble is 

 increased. This is especially the case where all hives are 

 alike in shape and colour. Feeding bees and robbing are, 

 in the hands of a careless apiarist, concomitant to each 

 other. 



FEEDING BEES. 



WHEN NECESSARY. 



Bees require to be fed only when natural supplies fail. 

 When this occurs they are ready to rob on the slightest 

 provocation, so the urgent necessity of exercising the 

 greatest care is clearly apparent. To begin with, bees 

 must sometimes be fed to enable the apiarist to maintain 

 them in good order, to harvest a crop later on. Under 

 the head of "Pollen Shortage" (page 125), it was 

 remarked that during midsummer, most localities suffer 

 a period of drought. 



From letters received by the author from apiarists 

 throughout Australasia, January appears to be a sterile 

 month in many places. If the flow of honey in the spring 

 is followed by a shortage for a month or so, about 

 January bees look very poorly indeed. It is quite prob- 

 able that the flow will again come on in the autumn, 

 and, unless the bees receive some help during the 

 summer, they will be too weak to gather any surplus. 

 That is, if they were fortunate enough to survive the dry 

 spell. 



This matter could be easily disposed of if the bee- 

 farmer had a premonition of the cessation of honey. He 

 would simply leave oif extracting in time to allow the 



