ON FEEDING BEES. 71 



plentiful supply of honey. When we have good corn 

 years, as a rule we have good honey harvests, and vice 

 versa. There are miiny summers when the bees in stock- 

 hives require little or no feeding, and, unfortunately, there 

 are other years when they ought to be fed constantly. 

 Again, some years — usually wet summers — are noted for 

 their fine and abundant swarms and little honey. Being 

 unable to go out for honey, the empty cells are filled 

 with eggs by the queen, and large swarms are the result. 



Feeding is but little practised by cottage bee-keepers. 

 The prevailing notion appears to be that it is folly to feed 

 your bees in summer. If they cannot find food in summer 

 when can they ? 



It is also thought sinful to give any sugar or honey to 

 early swarms; to feed them just when establishing a new 

 colony is sure, people say, to make them idle. Nothing 

 can be further from the truth ; instead of causing them to 

 be idle, it infuses new life and energy into them, and 

 causes them to labour with greater earnestness. There 

 are times when bees ought to be fed. 



Do not under any circumstances neglect to feed your 

 young swarms ; and never forget there are such things in 

 bee-culture as " hunger swarms," A swarm issues from 

 the parent hive, and for manv davs afterwards we have 

 nothing but dull, damp, and raniy weather keeping the 

 bees indoors, so that they are unable to forage for them- 

 selves. In this case, except food is given to them, they 

 must die. It is but seldom they leave the hive even under 

 such distressing circurristances; or, if they quit their home, 

 it is to go to another hive in the neighbourhood. A 

 friend had a late swarm ; it had been hived about a month, 

 when one day he turned it up to see how they were going 

 on inside. .Judge his surprise to observe a large portion 

 of them dead on the floor-board. He at once began to 

 feed them with honey; in a few days the hum of peace 



