ALEXANDER'S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 29 

 SPRING FEEDING. 



WHEN TO FEED THICK AND WHEN TO FEED THIN STBUP; BYEUP VB. HONEY AS 



A WINTER FOOD. 



Feeding Is becoming a very important part of our business, and from 

 the many letters of Inquiry I am receiving from parties In many places 

 I find some bee-keepers have rather erroneous Ideas of the proper way 

 to do this work In order to secure the best results, and at the same time 

 avoid all danger of the feed entering the supers. There is no question 

 but that we can secure very beneficial results by judicious feeding In 

 early spring as well as late in the fall; but we must be careful to do 

 It so no possible harm can come from the practice. I would advise 

 having every thing as handy as possible before commencing this line of 

 work; for after it is commenced there should be no stop until the 

 weather becomes warm and settled, except on fair days, when the bees 

 can gather nectar from the flowers. 



Before taking our bees from the cellar we have our feeders all 

 ready, and the necessary barrels of sugar for spring use in our bee- 

 house; then with an agricultural boiler which holds 45 gallons two men 

 can make the necessary syrup and feed six or seven hundred colonies 

 In less time than we could formerly feed fifty. It is the advantage 

 secured from taking these short cuts on both time and expense that I 

 have called your attention to so often. 



There are only a few conditions a colony is likely to be in when it 

 Is necessary to resort to feeding. First, In the spring, if the bees have 

 little or no honey they should be fed at once five or six barrels to pre- 

 vent starving. This syrup should be about the consistency of good 

 honey; then to stimulate brood-rearing it is far better to feed a much 

 thinner syrup. I find that. If made of 1 lb. of sugar to 3 lbs. of water, 

 It will give the best results. This furnishes both food and water mixed 

 together, which is very necessary to encourage early breeding. 



When feeding at any time or for any purpose we must use good 

 judgment; otherwise we may thwart the very object we wish to achieve. 

 First we must be very careful to feed just enough, and no more than 

 the necessary amount to secure the desired object. When feeding in the 

 spring, give only enough for daily use of the thin syrup; and If there 

 Is a spell of a day or two that is fair, and the bees are getting some 

 nectar from the flowers, then stop feeding until the weather becomes 

 unfavorable for them to work, but don't stop unless you are sure that 

 the flowers are yielding nectar. If you w.atch your bees and the weather 

 closely you can stop feeding as it becomes more pleasant, so there will 

 not be any syrup left in their combs. 



If we gave our bees a lot of thick syrup In the spring it would be 

 ■of but little use to stimulate breeding, as they require water at that 

 season as much as they do honey. Then If we gave them the thin 

 syrup in the fall, such as they require in the spring, it would be one 



