February 21, 1884.J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
157 
handsome, perhaps he may oblige the readers of this Journal with a 
few useful notes.—C. H. Stephens, jun., Lyne Gardens, Sussex. 
FEEDING BEES. 
More than one inquiry having reached us whether weak hives should be 
fed in the spring, we cannot do better than publish what has been written 
on the subject of feeding bees by the late Mr. John Hunter:—“ The 
means by which food may be administered to bees is elsewhere considered, 
and I will now explain when and in what quantity it should be given. At 
the time a swarm issues the weather is generally fine ; but it sometimes 
happens a change takes place, and the swarm having no stores, and not 
being able to gather any, of necessity suffers. Such a contingency 
happening, the prudent and merciful bee-keeper will give food at once, not 
too fast—say half a pint of syrup per diem ; if a superfluity be given the 
Swarm will occasionally construct drone combs to store it in, which is not 
desirable. Bees when they swarm seem filled with an uncontrollabe 
impulse to build combs; this is a necessity of their future existence, and 
it is of the utmost importance that the impulse should be fostered and 
encouraged. The queen cannot of course lay an egg without a cell to put 
it in, and as she is capable at this time of laying 2000 or 3000 each day, 
the waste to their owners will be easily seen should all these embryo bees 
be lost. Old stocks in the spring have their stores at the lowest ebb; 
the winter’s consumption has not been made good, and unless the prudent 
insects find food is coming into the hive no great amount of breeding wfill 
take place. Of course the earlier bees breed the sooner they will swarm 
or store in supers ; and in a great measure breeding may be induced at 
the will of the bee-master. As goon as the weather will allow in the 
spring every stock should be examined, and if found deficient in food it 
must be administered. In cold damp weather too much syrup is not 
good ; there is no objection to sufficient being given for daily consumption, 
but the bees must not have enough given to fill their combs, or the damp 
arising from it will very likely cause dysentery, and if over-supplied they 
will be apt to store it in the centre combs, being the nearest, and these 
are all just which should be left for the queen’s use. Barleysugar is a 
■very good food for such times, and may be given to the bees either in a 
bottle or put into the hive, not too much at a time, or it may liquify and 
form a trouble as well as waste. Barleysugar, superior to that bought 
at confectioners, may be made as follows, viz. 
“ Break up 3 lbs. of loaf sugar, place it in a saucepan or preserving 
pan, and pour half a pint of cold water upon it and half a wineglassful of 
vinegar, these are all the ingredients required. Prepare a fire in a grate, 
the top bar of which will let down in a similar way to that in an ordinary 
kitchen grate, taking care, however, that at the commencement of the 
operation the bar is up in its place, and the grate full to the top with 
■glowing cinders or wood embers, so that a great heat may be obtained 
without any flame. The saucepan containing the sugar place upon the 
fire and stir it without ceasing. In a few minutes it will begin to assume 
the character of dirty broth, which will have anything but a nice appear¬ 
ance, but presently a thick scum will rise and the mass will try to boil 
over. As soon as this is observed the saucepan should be removed from 
the fire until the ingredients have cooled a little, when it should be set on 
the grate again in such a way that only a small part of it is over the fire ; 
the boiling will then go on on the exposed side, and as the ebullition takes 
place the scum will be forced to the side not over the fire, whence it may 
■easily be removed with a spoon. Thus the saucepan is held in the left 
hand, the spoon in the right, and the saucepan being on the left-hand 
■side of the grate, with its right side exposed to the action of the fire, the 
scum will retreat to the left or cooler side, and will be in the handiest 
position for removal, as will be evident in a few minutes to anyone trying 
it. After a quarter of an hour of this treatment the mixture will have 
become in a great degree clarified, when it should be removed from the 
fire, while the top bar of the grate is let down so as to permit of its nearer 
approach to a greater heat. Should there be any irregularity of the fire 
it should now be corrected, but flame should be prevented, as the mixture 
having parted with its water will be liable to take fire if brought into 
■contact with flame. It will be well here to remark that so long as the 
scum remained on the syrup there was a tendency in the whole to boil 
■over, since the water evolved in the form of steam, while the boiling was 
going on accumulating in a body, would lift the scum above the saucepan 
to enable it to escape ; but when the scum was gone the water would be 
evolved in bubbles of steam, which would crackle but not boil over, unless 
a. very intense heat were applied. The duration of the boiling of the 
clarified syrup before it becomes liquid barleysugar will depend upon the 
amount of heat and the consequent evolution of the water to which it is 
subjected; but trials may from time to time be made by dropping a little 
on some cold surfaces to see if it becomes brittle, and when that state 
is arrived at it is done. Pour it into a tin dish, set it in a dry cool place 
until it becomes hard, and then by striking the tin on its under side the 
whole of the barleysugar will be splintered into fragments, when it may 
he placed in bottles and corked up for use as required. 
“ Those who wish for early swarms and strong stocks will do well to 
feed slowly in March or in April, even although the stock has plenty of 
stores ; one of Mr. Cheshire’s feeding stages will be found an ad nirable 
aid to effect this properly. The object aimed at should be to afford a 
constant steady supply without a break. If the stage be used, as much as 
the bees can suck through two or three holes will be sufficient; this will 
be perhaps one-third or one-fourth of a pint daily. So long as this supply 
be kept up, so long will the queen lay and the bees tend the young ; but 
if the supply be stopped for a day or two, and nothing comes in of 
Nature’s providing, the bees will destroy all the young larvae and even 
those almost ready to emerge should famine appear imminent. In May 
and June last (1874), when bad weather succeeded a few fine weeks, the 
bees could be seen carrying out their nearly mature young in thousands. 
When feeding is continued during the day as well as night, take care 
the supply is well protected against robber bees, or it will lead to fights 
and slaughter. 
“ Bee-keepers often express astonishment that their bees after 
wintering all right die in the spring. The cause is easily explainable : 
the stock had enough honey to last the winter, but not sufficient to supply 
the large demand of spring when the young put in their claims on the 
commonwealth. 
“ When a stock has become very weak and impoverished, the bees 
often display such lassitude that they do not accept the proffered food. 
In this case they may be excited by pouring into and amongst the cluster 
half a cupful or more of the syrup made warm ; they will then set to 
work cleaning one another, and gain strength and inclination to make 
use of the remainder. Bees in straw skeps may also be fed at other 
times by pouring syrup in a fine stream into the combs ; this will run 
into the cells and be afterwards properly taken care of by the bees. The 
quantity given must be regulatedby the weather and other circumstances, 
bearing in mind the caution I have given as to dysentery. 
“ A small swarm, which if left to itself would infallibly die, may be 
often built up into a moderately strong stock by slow and judicious 
feeding, such as I have described for spring stimulation. The regularity 
of a small supply will induce the bees to build worker comb, and as fast 
as built the queen will stock it with eggs. If too much food be given it 
will be a misfortune, the cells being filled with honey where should be 
brood. Autumn feeding should be on a totally different plan to that I 
have been writing of—then the one object is to get the bees to store 
■ enough in their hives to last the winter. Towards the end of August 
every hive should be examined, and such as do not contain at least 
20 lbs. of honey should be fed until that weight be reached. The 
weather being warm, the syrup will soon evaporate sufficiently, so the 
bees may be supplied as fast as they can take it. A strong stock will 
have no difficulty in storing away a quart of syrup in twenty-four hours. 
If the hive be not fully supplied with combs this liberality should not be 
exercised, or too much drone comb will be made, which is not desirable ; 
better by far first persuade the bees by slow feeding to make the comb, 
and then give them the wherewith to fill it. It is a common practice to 
obtain bees by means of driving, either by gift or purchase, from those 
who would otherwise destroy them in the autumn for the sake of their 
stores. These bees, by slow feeding, may be induced to fill their hives 
with combs and honey, but the experiment is troublesome and costly, 
and those who have other stocks would find it better to join the poor 
castaways to their more fortunate sisters, which will benefit all parties. 
Such a beaten-out stock of bees would consume 30 to 40 lbs. of honey to 
bring them into a fit state to winter. Syrup, as a bee food, may be made 
as follows, and the present low price of loaf sugar, which should alone be 
used (about 33,?. per ewt.), is a great advantage to the bee-keeper, as this 
article is undoubtedly the best for general feeding. If a strong syrup 
be made of it by boiling with water, the sugar will either recrystallise as 
the syrup cools or subsequently as the water evaporates. If it be used 
in this form it is liable to solidify, or, as the sugar-baker calls it, grain, 
after it has been deposited in the cells by the bees ; should this happen, 
they will be unable to feed upon it. This may be effectually prevented 
by adding to the syrup while boiling a small quantity of vinegar. The 
amount of vinegar necessary varies with its strength ; but about a table¬ 
spoonful of that in general use will be sufficient for 4 lbs. of sugar, which 
will make with two pints, or 40 ozs. of water, a syrup of the right consis¬ 
tency, and which should boil for ten minutes after the vinegar is added ; 
20 ozs. of water measures a pint. Rather more water may be used early 
in the season, when the bees are breeding rapidly, because they then need 
a thinner syrup to prepare food for their young than is required for store 
for winter consumption. After preparing this food, put a little of it 
upon a piece of window glass, when it should simply grow stiffer without 
losing its transparency as the water dries out of it. If crystals are 
formed, and it becomes white and opaque, it must be reboiled with a 
little more vinegar. Instead of vinegar, cream of tartar may be used, of 
which a quarter of an ounce must be added to 4 lbs. of sugar. This food 
will at the present time cost about 2?. Sd. per 14 lbs., or a little over 2d. 
per lb. 
« Honey is of course the most natural food to give to bees, but sugar 
syrup answers equally well and is far less valuable ; and unless the 
source from which the honev comes is known to be pure, there is a danger 
of introducing with it ‘ foul-brood.’ Foreign honey is said to be very 
often contaminated by this plague. Those using frame hives,. where the 
frames are interchangeable, will often be able so to arrange their combs as 
to save much trouble in feeding. Some hives have more honey than they 
require, therefore can part with a comb or two to their poorer neighbour, 
and thus the stores may be equalised.” 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Samue Yates, 1G and 1 Old Millgate Manchester .—Catalogue of Vege¬ 
table and Flower Seeds 
