FIFTY YEAES AMONG THE BEES 103 



It seems to be a beneficent natural law, that bees do not 

 like to crowd one another in their search for pollen or nectar, 

 or else the meal-boxes would be untouched and all the bees 

 would work upon the insufficient supply of pollen. In conse- 

 quence of this law it is necessary to furnish a sufficient number 

 of boxes, for although the bees will work quite thick if only 

 5 boxes are left for 150 colonies, they will work scarcely thick- 

 er if only one box is left. 



OUTDOOR FEEDING. 



I have fed barrels of sugar syrup in the open air, and it is 

 possible that circumstances may arise to induce me to do it 

 again, but I doubt. 



There are serious objections to this outdoor feeding. You 

 are not sure what portion of it your own b'ees will get, if other 

 bees are in flying distance. Considerable experience has proved 

 to me that by this method of feeding, the strong colonies get 

 the lion's share, and the weak colonies very little. Moreover, I 

 have seen indications that part of the colonies get none, both of 

 the weak and strong. You are also dependent on the weather, 

 as wet and chilly days may come, when bees cannot fly. 



As already mentioned, when bees are brought out of the 

 cellar, colonies are marked that are suspiciously light, and their 

 immediate wants supplied as soon as possible. But with eight- 

 frame hives there will be a good many colonies that will run 

 short of stores before there is any chance for them to supply 

 themselves from outside. 



STIMULATIVE FEEDING. 



Some would say that I ought to practice stimulative feed- 

 ing for the sake of hastening the work of building up the col- 

 ony. But it takes a good deal of wisdom to know at all times 

 just how to manage stimnlntive feeding so as not to do harm in- 

 stead of good ; and I am not certain that I have the wisdom. 



'Whatever else may be true about spring, I am pretty 

 fuUy settled in the belief that it is of first importance that 

 the bees should have an abundant supply of stores, whether 

 guch supply be furnished from day to day by the beekeeper, 



