The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1868-01-24
Feesiing Bees.
From the Rural New Yorker.

Feefing Becs.
From the Rural New Yorker. ..... ....r
Many writer's land among them) once
thought, as many yet think, this easy work;
and SO il Is in movable combs. provided
you have combs with sealed honey.
Practically, feeding bees is one Of tho
most uncertain Of all things, to tell the
truth. lf you GIL cells with unseaied hon.
ey, or honey and molasses, they will some
times gorge themselves to gluitony; and no
bee will gluuoui,e itself more freely than
the Italian. A gluttonized hive Is apt to
die; that is, the bees fll themselves over
full. and become heavy, shiny and long In
tho abdomen, when they are incapable Of
doing anything, and often perish In con'e'
quence Of eating go much. II you put
honey in nice little feed boxes on tho top
Of tho hivo, jus, the ncatest and most invi..
Ing place that can 10, then 10 your feeble
swarms they either cannot or will not como
up and get it. OAen the hive Pcr'shes with
your slick, full feed.box Of honey for them
to ca, just before them. II you pour hon.
ey In among them they sip little Of II, get
II on their legs, and soon are mass OF cold
lifeless wrctches stuck up with II. If you
pu, your feed under the combs. then they
either get into the feed and die, or can't
reach it in the cold weather, and It does
them no good. So Of every other plan
have seen stated or tried they arc very i'm.
perfect at the best. The fact is the bees
will not. late in the season, or in the winter,
.ake honey and store It In the cells even
though starving for the want of it. They
will eat only what they need us usual
rule. Why this is 40 l do not know.
So now confne myself TO two ways OF
feeding: LIST, ! make candy Of white s''-
gar-good refined sugar--by boiling It dis.
solved in water and when 10 hard as to
be chi,tcd on cold iron and not break too
easily. or be 80 soft as to stick to the feet oi
the bees, I make II into thin sheets and put
It in among the combs near the bees. They
usually cot 1t freely enough to live. The
hes, way to make these thin sheets Of can.
ly is to wipe out clean we'll used and
smooth "spider," that convenient article Of
our households, which perhaps ought to be
called speeder, because 1t speeds or hastens
tho cooking, and is an analogous word to
caster, because It casts or moves along otlT
furniture. Then pour into the speeder the
boiled white sugar, so rs to be about one.
fourth or tllreeeighths Of an inch thick
II tho spccder is cold, It will IN u moment
flake off in jus, tho Thin sheets you desire
Dipping the bottom Of the speedcr into cold
water (outside of ith you can repeat the
pouring till you get ms many sheets as yo'
need. by this feeding last winter, saved
hive only ,wo.thirds full Of comb, bu
with an old. d.fnshoned black queen. Th'
product this year Of this hive (ls67) ha'
been one large swarm that came of'witi
this queen, leaving the cell Of another fine
queen in the old hive, that equals heI
mother. And tho old hive has given
me forty pounds Of clover honey, and nine.
teen pounds of buckwheat honey. And the
swarm has given me t,oenty: fpe pounds OF
clover honey, and n'ne and three fourth'
pounds of buckw;leat honey. All this is
box honey, and both hives have over thirty
pounds each of honey to winter on, In the
brood chambers. 80 too, Messrs. Editors,
you sec the old yarn that feeble swarns
don't pay to keep or feed, is not always
true, even though it isa good rule. Cd, My
last mode Of feeding is, cut comb in two
just one side of the middle partition Of It.
Thus get comb with one side only cells.
These ! fll with honey, or honey and mo.
lasses mixed, and put 1t on the bottom
board. inside Of the hive. The bees usual
ly get a, it, and eat every day ont Of : for
recolcct that said bees generally. in cool
or cold ,renihsr, do moi store feed in their cells
much as one would be glad to have them
do SO.
If put this divided comb on top Of the
hive, ] cut round hole IN the middle Of It,
and put II on so that the hole in The hive
fits the hole in the comb. Bees feed better
out OF coml, that is hatwise than out OF
combs perpendicular, as in the hive.