32 ALEXANDER'S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 



plus these two lots of bees gathered. That three tons of additional honey- 

 that the bees that were fed gathered, brought us 61/2 cents per lb., or 

 $390. for about $100 expense in feeding, and I might cite other cases of 

 the same kind. And then last season, in order to test this subject still 

 further, we did not feed an ounce to any colony in the apiary, and our 

 whole surplus was but little more than half what it was the year 

 before. 



You can make the syrup very thin after they get used to it, especially 

 for Italian bees, as they will take it if it is but little sweeter than good 

 maple sap. They require considerable water in the spring, and I think 

 it is much better to give it to them in this way, for it saves many from 

 being lost in search of it outside during those cool changeable days of 

 early spring. 



My friends, in the above I have tried to show you as best I could 

 how you can feed your bees in early spring easily, and at but small ex- 

 pense, so you will be able to secure not only a much larger surplus, but 

 also a much surer one than you otherwise would; and when this Is ac- 

 complished It goes a long way in placing our business on a more solid 

 and reliable foundation than it has ever been before. 



April, 1908. 



THE OPINIONS OF SOME OF THE AUTHORS OF TEXT-BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT. 



In view of the recent objections to spring feeding, I feel it a duty I 

 owe to myself and friends to call the attention of the readers of this 

 journal to a few established facts along this line. We will now go to 

 our text-books and see what they say on this subject. I will endeavor 

 to be as brief as possible. 



Commencing with Prof. Cook's Manual of the Apiary, turn to page 

 159, where he, in speaking of stimulative feeding, says, "As already stated, 

 it is only when the worker bees are storing that the queen deposits to 

 the full extent of her capability, and that brood-rearing is at Its height. 

 In fact, when storing ceases, general indolence characterizes the hive; 

 hence if we would achieve the best success we must keep the workers 

 active, even before gathering commences, as also in the interims of 

 honey-secretion by the flowers; and to do this we must feed sparingly 

 before the advent of bloom in the spring, and whenever the neuters are 

 forced to idleness during any part of the season by the absence of honey- 

 producing flowers. For a number of years I have tried experiments in 

 this direction by feeding a portion of my colonies early In the season, 

 and in the intervals of honey-gathering, and always with marked results 

 In favor of the practice. Every apiarist — whether novice or veteran, 

 will receive ample reward by practicing stimulative feeding early in the 

 season, then his hives at dawn of the white-clover era will be redundant 



