Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-10-01
SUGAR FOR BEES.
Nnrning Against Stimulutiyc Feeding
In the Spring.

CFrom the Springfield Ropu1lioanD
Writing from Morlit Oberdorf, Bavaria.
Germany Prof. j. y. Hcherle in "G'ean-
! ings" says: Practical bcekccpoIs have al
ways sounded note Of caution against
feeding too much sugar or course. tn"
warning is not against feeding sugar for
winter stores in a poor honey year nor is
there any harm I'm feeding a few pounds
Of sugar to each colony. I feed every year
IN September about four pounds of suea"
to each colony in an apiary where the
bees gather little heather honey. and
| my bees always winter Well
The sugar Is usually boiled This was
formally dore because ultramarne was
used to make sugar appea" white. BY
boiling the ultramarinc came on top and
was skinned off. | use cold water 70
make the slrup, equal parts by measure
of wcll-rcfined crystalized sugar and wa
ter. If it j. late in the season, more
concentrated strip is used. as much as
seven parts of sugar to four parts of wa
ter by volume to this strip. Hot water is
needed to facilitate the solution
Honey from honey dew is not suitable
for winter stores, Some of this capped
honey should he taken out, and sufficient
sugar fed or suitable honey given SO that
the bees, while compelled to remain in
the hive can feed on the. good honey or
sugar. Honey from honcydew invariably
gives dyscntcrY, and very often such Il
colony in our long and severe winters is
lost or so weakened that it Is scarcely
worth the trouble recommend in poor
season to take in early fall some capped
honey from each colony. Feed sugar in
stead and give the capped honey IN the
spring as needed In our rough spring
weather it is dangcrous to supply feed in
tluid form too early in spring. 1t entices
the bees to fly out for water and pollen
ana large per cent. never reach home
again
II the lacking food is supplied with
capped honeycomhs, the bees are not so
excited nor SO much stimulated. and at
the beginning of the honey flow are usual
| ~ more populous ana consequently bring
more surplus. Economies not stimulated
seem to conserve their energies and use
them later to better advantage Stimulat-
ing the latter part of spring, when the in
constant weather has lost part Of its
danger, may be advantageous.
Great care must always be exercised
when stmulative feeding in the spring Is
praCticed, The warning against sugar
feeding was for those beekeepers who take
all the honey they can from the bees and
feed them sugar, These merccnary bee
keepers think they are proiitng hy this
robblng system but they are mistaken.
They have considerable work, ana bat
little gain.
They do harm to their bees and lessen
the chance for "A good crop of honey next
season, because the colonies so robbed do
not prosper as we'll in the spring on the
sugar, and cannot make use of the early
honey flow to the same advantage as the
more populous colonies that mad plenty
e honey during brood-rearing time,
DR. L, kramer of Zurich wrote an in
tcresting article Of 1.-The physiological Of
feet on sugar feeding" BY ANALYSIS It
was determined that sugar honey, that u.s.
sugar fed TO the bees and extracted con-