ON FEEDING BEES. g'j 



let it boil for about twenty minutes, till the syrup becomes 

 so thick that the handle of a spoon being dipped into it 

 and then plunged into cold water, the syrup upon the 

 handle is found quite crisp ; when this is the case it is 

 sufficiently boiled. Having an earthen dish or marble 

 slab in readiness, well buttered, pour the syrup upon it, 

 and when sufficiently cool to handle, clip it with scissors 

 into strips the size desired. 



Candy, barley-sugar, and other nice things may be 

 employed, but I prefer plain loaf or lump sugar. This 

 will in the end be found the cheapest food, besides the 

 many advantages it possesses over most other foods : for 

 example, if properly prepared it will not candy and become 

 hard, or crystallized, therefore (except with water) un- 

 usable by the bees in the hives, nor do I believe it will turn 

 sour. Some bee-masters think that when mint, lemon, 

 &c., are added to the syrup, it is liked better by the bees ; 

 this, however, has lately been satisfactorily proved by care- 

 ful experiment to be fallacious. The bees prefer the plain 

 syrup without any flavouring ingredients. And when 

 flavoured it is apt to entice robber bees, and cause serious 

 fighting, whereas when given plain it is inodorous, and 

 other stocks are unable to tell when feeding is going on. 



I purchase only lump sugar, and boil three pounds of 

 sugar with two pounds of water, for two or three minutes j 

 when cold it is ready for use. Not a few bee-keepers add to 

 the above syrup a small quantity of honey, just to flavour 

 it, and cause the bees to take it up with greater readiness j 

 this is simply a matter of choice. I never use honey. 

 Honey, if good, can be sold for is. bd. per pound. Syrup 

 made as above costs only three pence a pound, supposing 

 sugar is five pence each pound. This is a great saving ; 

 bees do well upon it, make whiter wax with it, and for 

 every purpose pure syrup is equal to honey for feeding 

 your stocks. 



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