824 FALL MANAGEMEKT. 



Setting out honey to feed all at once, I condemn 

 wholly. These disadvantages attend it : strong stocks 

 that do not need an ounce, will get two or three 

 pounds, while those weaker ones, needing it more, 

 will not get one. Nearly every stock, in a short time, 

 will be fighting. Probably the first bee .that comes 

 home with a load, will inform a number of its fellows 

 that a treasure is close at hand. A number will sally 

 out immediately, without waiting for particular direc- 

 tions for finding it ; and mistaking other hives for the 

 place, alight there, are seized and probably dispatched. 

 As soon as the honey given them is gone, the tumult 

 is greatly increased, and great numbers are destroyed. 

 If any of your neighbors near you have bees, you must, 

 expect to divide with them. 



If the honey to be fed is in the comb, and your 

 hives are not full, and they are to be wintered in the 

 house, bottom up, it may be done at any time through 

 the winter, merely by laying pieces with honey on 

 those in the hive. The bees readily remove the con: 

 tents into their own combs; when empty, remove 

 them and put in more until they have a fall supply; 

 They will join such pieces of comb to their own ; yet 

 there will be no harm in breaking them loose. The 

 principal objection to feeding in this way, will be 

 found in the tendency to make them uneasy and dis- 

 posed to leave the hive, when we want them as quiet 

 as possible. A thin muslin cloth, or other means, will 

 be necessary to confine them to the hive. 



I have now given directions to avoid killing any 

 family of bees worth saving, if we choose. 



