42 PROFITABLE BEE-KEEPING 
strong at an unusually early date if any surplus 
is to be secured. The amount of food given 
depends to a great extent on the quantity of 
stores with which the bees went into winter quar- 
ters, for it is neither necessary nor desirable to 
give fresh food until most of last year’s stores 
are consumed, and if the beés are heavily fed 
in autumn it often happens that no fresh food is 
required. 
The theory, of spring feeding is this. . Bees 
if left alone and with a sufficiency of stores will 
progress at their normal rate, which means that- 
the hive will be at its best about the middle of 
June, when swarming will be in full swing. Now 
for the majority of districts, where the main honey, 
flow is not due until then, true stimulative feed- 
ing is not’ required. All that is necessary is to 
see that there is always plenty of food in the hive, 
especially if bad weather intervenes in May and 
June. The districts that require stimulative feed- 
ing, however, have their main honey flow con- 
siderably earlier than the above date, so early that 
if left alone the bees would be much too weak 
to be effective, so the owners of bees in such dis- 
tricts must stimulate them. 
The third kind of feeding is feeding that must 
be done at times, irrespective of weather or season, 
if the bees are to be kept alive. Of course in 
many. cases it is negligence or bad management 
that calls for this kind of feeding, but in other 
