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in the hives instead of the maximum. Half-starved colonies will never 

 winter well, but will exhibit weakness in the spring, and will then 

 demand special feeding to stimulate brood-rearing. On the other hand, 

 by leaving a few extra pounds of honey in a hive the strength of a 

 colony is assured at the- critical period, providing, of course, it went 

 into winter quarters with a good population of bees. Weak stocks for 

 honey-producing are practically useless. From 30 lb. to 40 lb. of stores 

 is necessary to be left in the hive for the winter consumption by the 

 bees, and certainly not less than the former amount. 



When and how to feed. 



Experienced beekeepers can judge in a moment by the weight of the 

 hive, without opening it, whether the supply of food is running short 

 or not, and every beekeeper should learn to do this. By putting one 

 foot on the back of the bottom-board to keep it steady, and with one 

 hand raising the back of the hive, one can get the weight at once, and 

 after a little practice can judge to within i lb. the amount of honey 

 inside. In this way a large number of hives can be examined in ten 

 or fifteen minutes, and those needing food should be marked. 



The safest and best food to give, unless frames of honey from 

 known clean hives are available, is sugar-syrup. Never purchase honey 

 or accept it as a gift to feed your bees with — ^it is too risky, and 

 to sterilize it would require two or three hours' boiling, which would 

 be more trouble than the honey would be worth. 



The Advantages and Disadvantages of Stim-ulative Feeding. 

 The practice of feeding sugar-syrup in the spring to stimulate 

 brood-rearing is not done nearly so much as formerly, but preference 

 is given to the system of leaving in the autumn enough bulk stores to 

 last the colony right through to the honey-flow. The reason of spring 

 stimulative feeding was to make the colony rear early a large force of 

 young bees to gather the harvest, but just when the harvest was to be 

 expected was a difficult matter of determination. Sometimes, when this 

 was done too early, more harm than good resulted from overstimulation : 

 more eggs were laid than the bees could look after and keep warm, while 

 robbing was encouraged. One of the main drawbacks is that swarming 

 may be brought on prematurely. The system of leaving enough stores 

 in the autumn to last right through, or of feeding in the spring, depends 

 somewhat on the beekeeper and his locality. Many can doubtless practise 

 spring feeding to advantage, especially when dividing is intended for 

 increases, but, as a rule, the best plan is to leave enough sealed stores 

 to last the bees until they can gather more supplies for themselves. 

 This method is especially recommended to beginners. 



What to feed. 

 It is, then, sometimes necessary to provide bees with artificial food 

 — for instance, to induce brood-rearing in the early spring, supplying 

 stores for them to winter on, and at other times when the beekeeper 

 thinks it necessary. This food is supplied by the mixture of sugar 

 and water. For stimulating brood-rearing about one-third sugar to 

 two-thirds water should be used, but for wintering purposes as much 

 sugar as warm water will dissolve — two parts of sugar to one of water 

 —is preferable. Honey from an unknown source should never be used, 

 as it may contain spores of foul-brood. At all times white cane-sugar 

 is preferable. Cheap grades of sugar or molasses should never be con- 

 sidered for winter stores, as they would be liable to start dysentery. 

 Tartaric acid, or vinegar in a small quantity, may be mixed with the 



