The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1864-1911, 1868-02-19
Fer the Csdix Sentinel
BE ES.
icoNTTNUED
RrEnTNG MIRA
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FEEDING BEES.
Should bees be fedl If sp, vicn2 How
much2 With whst2 Whst objects are sos
coppIished tg IN
/ think that i, ia really good economy to
spend some money FOR feed, somstimes.-
What! | have heard it said in praise of
their thrift, tina, Bees work for nothing
and feed them-elves. ," | am often told by
eekcepers, IF my bees do not make hon.
ey enongh for themselves, they mag die.
Again II have knoSn persons to spend n
grea. deal in feeding bees, and yet they
! dicd. Others say. Feeding often induces
robbery and does more harm than gond.
When 1t was customary tor bee Keepers, I'M
the Flll, TO kill their richest colonies for
their large stores Of honey and their weak
ones to save the little they had gathered.
and TO prevent them from starving. thure
We're fewer bees to die, and there was less
feeding to do; bat now we wish to save NIL
the bees we eau, and taere is no remedy for
poor stocks but to feed them. Aff
! What shall we feedp Honey is che rioss
natural food for bees but il cannot always
be hai !. and is rather expensive Cubs. os
West India honey is manufactured By bees
and imported mainly from the West lndiss,
and is good substitute for the domestic
honey. Nearly twenty thousand pounds nf
this honey was purchased within twenty&
Ave miles of this town, in the pear 1853, for
feeding bees. The successes in feeding il
was various, owisg to the time of the yesr
and the skill in feeding. This honey is
generally |iquid but if candid, little wa
ter should be added. 1t should then bo
brought to the boil. and when cooled ths
impurities skinned from the surface. A
good article Of brown sugar, or still better,
| white sugar, dissolved Ia water 10 near ',ls
conSistence OF honey, and heated, makes d
good feed. Maple molasses does very we'll
Some claim to have fei sorghum to good
advantage. This ia the cheapest food that
can be procured in this region; but have
never succeeded well in feeding it. II ia
only under the most favorable circumstsn-
ces that | can induce the bees to eat it and
in some cases it produced dyseniery serious,
ly injrring the bees. PERI aps in such
cases in was an inferior article. Food tsiat
is in the least sour, il objectionable. How
ever, would not hesitate to feed gSod
article of sorghum to strong colonies, when
the weather is quite warm. Bees are r. nch
more inclined to dysentery in cool weather.
and when eating freely than when esting
| sparingly. " p se
| Sugar candy is best for winter feeding.
as it can be placed between the combs d.
rectly amongst the bees, so that they will
not have to leaveth ir warm cluster TO ~
out into the cold for it. Il possesses the
advantage OF not Keeping them excited, ss
they are when fed liquid sweets; besides is
requires much less OF it. Fl possesses an
advantage over dry sugar as the bees SEEM
able to dissolve it, perhaps with a little
moisture from their proboscus; whilst dry
sugar is very much wasted because they
cannot liquify it,
In warm days, in the early spring, boforc
bees commence gathering pollen, an iinpef.
us may be given to breeding, by feeding
them rye -four, put in shallow boxes and
set in the sunshine, in calm place near
the hives, where all may have access TO IT,
There is no danger OF exciting robbery, an
there is in feeding honey outside Of the
hive. 500"
There are two objects to be accomplished
in feeding, one is to stimulate the bees to
rear brood, the other is to keep them front
starving.
Strong stocks are an essential to success
full hee-keepiDg. Such guard themselves
against worms, robbers. and the cold -
They require less attention and make moro
honey and combs in proportion 10 their
numbers, and consume less honey. Who.
ever snccecds in securing strong stocks has
satisfactory results whoever keeps weak
ones has little but perplexity. Il is ca.
pecially important that hives shoud be very
populous during the months OF May, Junu
and July, when honey is to be gathered. -
| The bee-keeper should, therefore, make
everything bend to the production of large
numbers Of bees during the early part of
he season. Strong colonies of bees gen
orally commence breeding about the first Of
January, the queen laying few eggs in
center Of the cluster Of bees When she
has laid few in one side of the comb, she
goes TO the other side and lays a few Just
opposite. She will then enlarge the circle
of eggs on both sides of the comb, and
then proceed to the adjacent combs' on each
side of where she has been layfTg, and de-
pnsite eggs in the same manner as in the
| first comb. She will then return and en-
| large the FIRST circle, and deposit eggs in tho
empty cells in the center, for by this time,
! iii twentyone davs have elapsedl, young
bees will begin to have been hatched frou,
them. In this manner the bees manage to
concentrate their heat on the brood. The
more numerous the bees the greater num-
Der they can produce. AZ soon as they
begin to gather honey and ber bread, they
commence to breed more rapidly, until, at
the commencement Of g,od honey gather
ine they will be Matching thousand or
more bees each dav; and if the keeper now
has colony of thirty thousand bees, ten
| thousand may remain in the hive during
| the day to do in door work and keep the
brood warm, whilst the twenty thousand
| may 20 abroad for stores, and will soon
have a god stock of surplus honey, aud
will give off swarms of bees. The case is
! qnte tfe reverse with weat. starving stoks.
| Il win be the first Of March hef,re they
| will commence rearing brood, fcr they
wonld have neither bees t, keep il warm
! nor honey to feed it. When they conl~
mence collecting honey from fruit trees and
other early bloom they viii commences
rcaring goodly number Of b es which will
require a considerable ameunt Of honey
! 1t may then be two or three weeks befaro
white clover appears and having connmefo.
cl to rear their brood, they will continue t0
! feed and develop it until they have con-
slnied their small stock of honey Their
| If they should he confined to their hives by
| lourpr FIVE days cold weather, they will all
| uerisIi, Thousands Of colonies Of bees. in
/ Ohio, pcrished last season between fruit
| bloom and white clover, III this manner. =
Should such coloHies barely cscspe death.
/ they will neglect 10 develop the eggs laid BY
the queen, until the honey begins to appear
agar, and before they can be built III
| strong in,hees, the best hehey season will
be oser, and they will have no surplusl
honey; norswill they have bees Il, snare tor
a swarm; and in crse the hohee snssstys
proves a bad eae they may have lnt HstlSt
4 4 -.