SPRING FEEDING. 317 
cannot gather a supply, resemble the merchant who burns 
up his ships, if they have made an unfavorable voyage. 
Columella gives minute instructions for feeding needy 
colonies, and notes approvingly the directions of Hyginus— 
whose writings are no longer extant—that this matter 
should be most carefully (‘‘ diligentissime’’) attended to. 
Spring FEEDING. 
606. When bees first begin to fly in the Spring, it is 
well to feed them a little, as a small addition to their hoards 
encourages the production of brood. Great caution, how- 
ever, should be used to prevent robbing. Feeding should 
always be attended to in the evening (666), and as 
soon as forage abounds, the feeding should be discon- 
tinued. If a colony is over-fed, the bees will fill their 
brood-combs, so as to interfere with the production of 
young, and thus the honey given to them is worse than 
thrown away. 
The over-feeding of bees resembles, in its results, the 
noxious infiuences under which too many children of the 
rich are reared. Pampered and fed to the full, how often 
does their wealth prove only a legacy of withering curses, 
as, bankrupt in purse and character, they prematurely sink 
to dishonored graves. 
Colonies, which have abundant stores, may be incited to 
breed, by simply bruising the cappings of a part of their 
honey. This causes them to feed their queen more plenti- 
fully, and more eggs are laid. 
607. Bees may require feeding, even when there are 
many blossoms in the fields, before the beginning of the 
main harvest, if the weather is unfavorable to the honey 
flow. Large quantities of brood hatch daily, requiring 
much food, and afew days without honey sometimes en- 
