7 
FEEDING. 
When, on account of lack of nectar or poor management by the beekeeper, 
the bees have insufficient food for rapid breeding in the spring or for their 
sustenance through a period when no nectar can be gathered, feeding must be 
done. The best time to feed for winter is about a week after the first killing 
frost in the fall. If enough food is given at this time—except in extreme 
cases—no other feeding will be necessary. Any lack of stores may often be 
supplied from full-depth combs which were removed when the supers were 
put on (p. 5). 
Should combs of honey not be at hand, the best food is a syrup made of 
2 to 2% parts granulated sugar to one part hot water. The syrup should be 
brought to a boil, care being taken not to allow the sugar to scorch, and 
should be boiled 15 minutes. One ounce of tartaric acid to each 50 pounds of 
sugar should be added to the syrup before boiling. All the syrup needed by a 
colony should be given at one time rather than to feed in smaller quantities, 
since prolonged feeding starts brood-rearing, which is very undesirable at this 
season. There are a number of types of feeders on the market, but a shallow 
tin pan may be used of a size to fit an empty super and with sufficient capacity 
to hold all the food a colony will need. The warm syrup is placed in this 
pan in an empty super above the hive-body first placing some floating mate- 
rial, such as grass, shavings or a thin cloth spread over the syrup, to prevent 
bees drowning. It is best to feed just before dark to avoid undue disturbance 
in the apiary. If feeding is delayed until late it may be best to put the super 
and pan below the hive-body, in which case the syrup is taken more readily. 
A friction-top tin can makes a good feeder when holes are punched in the 
lid one-half an inch apart and one-sixteenth of an inch or less in diameter. 
The warm syrup is placed in this can, which is turned upside down on top of 
the frames inside an empty super or brood-body. As many cans may be used 
at one time as are necessary to supply the needs of the colony. 
WINTERING. 
The climate of North Carolina, except in the mountains, is comparatively 
mild, and from the viewpoint of providing protection from the cold, winter- 
packing does not appear necessary to the average beekeeper. It is evident, 
however, that during the season when no nectar can be had there is more 
activity than is desirable, and the bees expend much energy to no purpose. 
If, therefore, the bees can be kept quiet during this period, better results are 
obtained. The object of packing is to maintain a more uniform temperature 
within the hive so that the midday temperature may not arouse the bees to 
great activity and thus to the useless expenditure of energy, and also, that 
the low temperature at night may not oblige them to generate heat uselessly 
by excessive activity within the cluster. 
A common error is to leave some part of the hive unpacked. Sometimes the 
bottom is left without packing, sometimes it is the sides, packing being applied 
at the top only. There is no reason for leaving any part unpacked, except the 
common erroneous belief that heat escapes only from the top. A plan which 
is being used by some successful beekeepers is to place four colonies close 
together, two facing east and two west, in a box which can be taken apart 
and which is large enough to allow four inches of packing under the hives, 
six inches on the sides and eight to twelve inches on top. The box is, of 
course, provided with a water-tight lid. Planer shavings, leaves, dry saw- 
dust or any like material may be used for packing. If leaves or other loose 
material is used it should be tightly packed. A passage way 1s made for the 
bees by a tunnel connecting the hive entrance with about six % inch holes 
bored in the case opposite the hive entrance. 
