MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 159 



CHAPTER VIII. 



FEEDING AND FEEDERS. 



As already stated, it is only when the worker-bees are 

 storing that the queen deposits to the full extent of her capa- 

 bility, 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 ab- 

 sence 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 hive at the dawn of the white clover era 

 will be redundant with bees, well filled with brood, and in just 

 the trim to receive a bountiful harvest of this most delicious 

 nectar. 



Feeding, too, is often necessary to secure sufficient stores 

 for winter — for no apiarist, worthy the name, will sufier his 

 faithful, willing subjects to starve, when so little care and 

 expense will prevent it. 



HOW MUCH TO PEED. 



If we only wish to stimulate, the amount fed need not be 

 gi'eat. A half pound a day, or even less, will be all that is 

 necessary to encourage the bees to active preparation for the 

 good time coming. For information in regard to supplying 

 stores for winter see Chapter XVII. 



