MANIPULATING. 57 



of the food, they would so fill their combs that the queen would 

 be " crowded out " — the meaning of which is that the cells would 

 be filled with syrup until there were none, or very few, empty 

 ones left for her to lay eggs in ; the colony must then gradually 

 dwindle away. But, on the contrary, if the amount of syrup fed 

 to the bees is restricted to suit the ideas of the advanced bee- 

 keeper, a great advantage will be gained ; therefore, unless the 

 colony is in a starving condition, the bees must only be allowed 

 to obtain the syrup through not more than two holes of the 

 feeder, and if they take down more than a half-pint of syrup 

 per day, this must be reduced to one hole. The manner in 

 which this so favourably affects the colony is thus explained: 

 Unless an amount of stores is being collected by the bees 

 sufficient for their consumption as well as for the larvse, the queen 

 will not lay eggs much beyond the number that can be sup- 

 ported upon that quantity. If no stores are coming in, but 

 there is a sufficiency in the hive to support the colony, the 

 queen will lay a moderate number of eggs — in fact, will breed 

 in a half-hearted sort of manner — but the instant stores begin 

 to come in her laying is greatly increased ; hence by practising 

 this mild deception upon the queen, causing her to suppose 

 that natural stores are being collected, she increases the number 

 of eggs laid, and the colony by this increases proportionately in 

 strength. In some cases a stock is so well supplied with 

 natural stores that it is unwise to feed even the small amount 

 from one hole in a feeder, as we must allow the queen as 

 much space as possible for her to lay in. When such is the 

 case, the cells contiguous to the brood-nest containing honey 

 must be uncapped. This can easily be done without removing 

 any of the frames — which is inadvisable in early spring — by 

 simply inserting an ordinary table-knife between the frames and 

 raising the cappings of a few cells every two or three days. 

 This will very much increase breeding in the hive, and by 

 many is thought superior to feeding ; but our colonies are not 

 always in so flourishing a condition as to admit of this being 

 done. Often colonies at springtime— about February or March 

 — are found to be short of stores, especially when the winter 

 has been mild, causing the bees to move about, and in conse- 

 quence to feed more freely. If at this early time syrup is given 

 them, it will most likely produce dysentery ; this must be avoided 

 by giving them candy or dry sugar. In the recipe for making 

 candy (par. 75), we have advised running it while in a soft state 

 upon sheets of paper ; these slabs of candy must be broken up 

 into pieces of about 3in. square, and laid with their unpapered 

 side downwards upon the tops of the frames, the quilts being 

 covered over and tucked down snug and warm. The object of 

 having the paper is that, as the candy is eaten away, the paper 

 forms an archway through which the bees can pass from one 



