56 SUCCESSFUL BEE-KEEPING. 
by cards of comb well filled with honey from other hives ; 
or, a box of, honey with its bottom and the honey board re- 
moved, so that the bees shall have ready access to it, may 
be placed on the frames. They may starve with it above 
the honey board. Bees may be fed in the fall to some ad- 
vantage, when the swarm happens to have been started 
late, or removed from the woods ; candy, or anything of | 
that nature, may be placed immediately above the frames 
and accessible to the bees 2m cold weather ; or liquid sweets 
may be given them, but I have always found sealed honey 
the best and cheapest bee food. 
They do not need water, as some suppose, unless we 
want to encourage breeding, which is not advisable in 
winter, as it causes them to use more honey. But in 
spring, for breeding purposes, a considerable quantity 
both of honey and water is needed. Even after blossoms 
appear, if the weather continues for several days too cold 
and stormy for them to fly, they will often perish if not 
fed. A sponge kept saturated with sweetened water, 
placed on the wire curtains covering the holes in the 
honey boards, will save them, and in any case do no harm. 
ROBBERS. 
Should robbers be enticed thereby, or at any time, 
from any cause, contract the entrance, and if they still 
persist, close it up, so that but a single bee can crawl 
through at atime. This will give the defenders of the 
place the best of the fight, and they will soon rid the prem- 
ises of their assailants. 
How to take them.—It sometimes happens that a power- 
ful swarm from the neighboring forest attacks a weak 
Swarm and nearly ruins it before discovered. In such 
