SPRING KEEDINO. 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 influences 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 flelds, 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 a few days without honey sometimes en- 



