FEEDING AND FEEDERS 
355 
of about 30 lbs. each for outdoor winter¬ 
ing. After all the hives are marked we 
proceed to the actual Avork of feeding. 
For this late fall feeding there are no 
better feeders than the Miller, or the ten- 
pound friction-top pail previously de¬ 
scribed. The Miller feeder will hold at 
least 25 lbs. of feed at a time, and the 
friction-top feeder holds ten* pounds, so 
that if one wishes to give a colony a large 
feed at one time, two or more feeders must 
be given the colony. Both of these feed¬ 
ers can be quickly put on or taken off: with¬ 
out much disturbance to the brood-nest. 
On the other hand, if the colonies are not 
quite as strong as they should be, so that 
some contraction is necessary, the Doolittle 
division-board feeder, holding about 6 
lbs. of thick feed at a time, may serve a 
better purpose. During the season, any 
combs that are too old, or which, for some 
reason or other, are not perfect, whether 
due to drone-cells or irregularities, can be 
gradually pushed to the outside of the 
brood-frames; then in the fall, when it is 
time to put in the feeder, provided the 
division-board feeders are used, these de¬ 
fective combs can be very easily taken out 
to be melted up later, and with no loss of 
brood. Furthermore, if the colonies need 
feeding, these outside combs will not con¬ 
tain much honey. On a cool day an out- 
yard can be looked over very quickly, and 
the old combs that are on the outside of the 
brood-nest removed with very little trou¬ 
ble. If a follower is used, the removal of 
one comb and the follower makes room 
for the feeder; but, if the combs com¬ 
pletely fill the hives, two combs piust be 
removed. 
The best time of day for putting feed 
into the feeder is toward the close of the 
afternoon. It is not advisable to do the 
work in the morning or early in the day, 
for the reason that the bees become ex¬ 
cited, and robbing might be started, espe¬ 
cially if it were warm enough for the bees 
to fly. Right here is a point in favor of 
the chilly-weather feeding, for there is no 
such danger of robbing, of course, when 
the bees cannot fly on account of the cool 
temperature. 
It is the usual practice to prepare the 
feed at home and carry it to the yards hot, 
in the regular five-gallon honey-cans, as 
these are about the largest-sized cans that 
can be handled conveniently by one per- 
son. If two were doing the feeding a 
larger can might be used. 
While the syrup is still hot it is poured 
into the cans and loaded upon the auto 
truck and carried to the outyards. It is 
then fed while hot. 
FEEDING IN FREEZING WEATHER. 
Altho colonies have been wintered well 
when fed after cold or freezing weather, 
much the safer plan is to have it all done 
n-ot later than October, for the northern 
States, that they may have the syrup rip¬ 
ened and entirely sealed. If the weather is 
not too cold, one can feed with the friction- 
top or Miller feeder as previously inti¬ 
mated. If one has been so careless as to 
have bees that are in need of stores at the 
beginning of winter, frames of sealed 
honey should be given if they can be ob¬ 
tained; and if not, candy is given. See 
Candy. 
If hot syrup is covered with cushions or 
something equivalent, it may be fed at any 
time, altho it does not seem to be as satis¬ 
factory under all circumstances as combs 
of sealed stores. 
When feeding in cool or cold weather, 
one is very apt to chill the cluster, or leave 
openings that will permit the warmth of 
the cluster to pass off. When colonies 
first commence raising brood in the spring 
they need to be packed closely and snugly. 
Making a hole in the quilt or cushions 
above the cluster, and placing the feeder 
over this so as to close it completely, does 
very well, but is not, after all, as safe as 
giving the feed from below. For feeding 
in early spring, where the colony is weak, 
candy or combs of sealed stores should be 
given. 
FEEDING IN THE SPRING , OR 
FEEDING ENOUGH IN THE FALL 
TO LAST TILL THE NEXT 
HONEY FLOW. 
Some years ago it was the'general prac¬ 
tice to feed in the spring to stimulate 
brOod-rearing, such feeding taking place 
as soon as settled warm weather came on. 
The purpose of this was to get a large 
force of young bees for the coming har¬ 
vest; but in later years the tendency on 
