FEEDING. 173 



swarms ; and the bees throughout his apiary were so 

 vigorous that they defended themselves successfully 

 against the wax moths, by which three of his hives 

 were attacked." 



Mr. Quinby seems to think feeding should be a 

 last resoi't, and if fed at all, it should only be for the 

 purpose of preventing starvation. I think it quite 

 possible that further experience on this point, and his 

 better judgment, will ere long cause him to review 

 the chapter on feeding bees in his valuable work, and 

 very materially change it. 



There is, in my estimation, quite as much propriety 

 in permitting a horse or a cow to go without feed for 

 a - time previous to the coming of grass in the spring, 

 to ascertain how near it would come to starving to 

 death, without actually doing so, as it would be to 

 permit a colony of bees to arrive so near the point of 

 starvation ; and although it may be true, that mauy 

 bee-keepers, perhaps a majority, are too careless or 

 too indolent to avail themselves of the advantages of 

 feeding, it argues nothing against the system. There 

 are those, and the number will rapidly increase, who 

 can and will feed judiciously, and make it profitable. 



The experience I have had during the last two 

 years, in feeding bees, in California, has been of 

 great importance to me, and may be to others here- 

 after. But perhaps some one is ready to exclaim: 

 Why do you feed bees in California ? I have heard a 

 great deal about the immense quantities of honey- 

 producing flowers, the copious honey dews that fall 

 there, the large yields of surplus honey from stocks 

 15* 



