FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 279 



One year I took no surplus, and fed 2800 pounds of granu- 

 lated sugar for winter stores. Some years the clover crop will 

 be a failure, but plenty of stores will be gathered later in the 

 season to carry the bees over winter. It is not always easy to 

 tell in advance just what will be, but it is best to err on the 

 safe side ; and it is no harm to have more stores on hand than 

 are actually needed. It is also better to have the feeding done 

 early. If the feed is given so early that it can be given thin 

 enough, the bees make chemical changes in it that make it 

 better for winter. 



FEEDING SYKUP. ^ ' 



Formerly I did not take this into account, and syrup was 

 prepared that approached the consistency of honey. Water 

 was put in a vessel on the stove, and when at or near the 

 boiling-point granulated sugar was slowly stirred in at the 

 rate of five pounds of sugar to a quart of water. When the 

 sugar was about dissolved, an even teaspoonf ul of tartaric acid 

 for every twenty pounds of sugar^ previously dissolved in 

 water, was stirred into the syrup, for without the acid the 

 syrup is likely to turn into sugar in tbe «ombs when fed. |o 

 thick. If I were to feed late in Sept^ber, or in October, I 

 think I should prefer the same syrup 'now. 



"-. ' '^ * ~ J 



FEEDING EA-RLY FOR' ■\/f INTER.' 



But by feeding in August or early in Septeml-cr the work 

 can be made much easier, and at the same time the food will be 

 better for the bees. For they will so manipulate the thin feed 

 given them that no acid will be needed, making their winter 

 stores much more like the stores they obtain from the ilowers. 

 There is nothing complicated about the feeding, and there is 

 not the same trouble with robbers as when syrup is made. 

 First, the feeders are all put on, and left standing uncovered. 

 Then the amount of sugar needed in each feeder is put in dry, 

 whether that be two pounds or fifteen pounds. Then I go 

 aroimd to each feeder, and, making a depression in the center 

 of the sugar, put in half a pint or more of water. I do this 

 rather than to put in the full quota of water at first, because 



