TWO METHODS OF FEEDING. 235 



preservation of weak hives through the winter, and we will 

 venture to predict that he, who has gone through the task 

 one season, will not readily subject himself to the trouble 

 and anxiety of a second ; and even if success should crown 

 the efforts of the persevering proprietor, to save his hives 

 through the winter, it is by no means a certainty that they 

 will repay him by any after produce that they may bring 

 him. 



In the feeding of bees in the spring, the greatest caution 

 must be observed to protect the hives from robbers. The 

 bees are then on the alert, and their sense of smell is so 

 acute, that they will scent a hive in which the food is ad- 

 ministered at a considerable distance ; and supposing that 

 the hive be strong enough to resist the attack of the robbers, 

 still the annoyance which it receives, proves of considerable 

 injury, as it diverts them from their usual labour, and keeps 

 the bees in a continual state of commotion. The most sea- 

 sonable time for the feeding of bees, is immediately after 

 sunset, when the labours of the day are nearly at a close, 

 and all the bees have returned to their respective homes. 

 The necessity of closing or contracting the entrance need 

 not then be resorted to, but the vessel in which it is adminis- 

 tered should be taken away as soon as possible. 



There are two methods of feeding, upper and lower; the 

 former however can scarcely ever be adopted with the com- 

 mon cottage hive, but with our hive it is effected without the 

 slightest trouble or inconvenience. 



Previously, however, to entering into a specification of the 

 two methods, we will describe the method and the articles of 

 which the food ought to be made. Honey is undoubtedly 

 the best food that can be given to the bees ; but in the state 

 in which it is purchased in the shops, it is next to being 

 useless altogether, and indeed it must undergo the process 

 of clarification, before it can be made applicable to the use 

 of the bee. The expense is also great, independently of 

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