FEEDING.
A stock of bees will, generally, consume a pound of honey per month,
betwixt the 1st of October and the 1st of March: from this time to the
end of May, they will consume two pounds per month; _if the spring be
unfavourable for gathering early, and less than ten pounds of honey per
stock have been left for their winter's support, and that winter have
proved mild, the bees should be fed early in the season, and sometimes
through a considerable part of the month of May_.
I believe the best spring food for bees is the following +compound+: A
pound of coarse brown sugar and half a pint of ale or sweet wort, boiled
to the consistence of a syrup, to which may be added a small portion of
salt. According to Huber _the coarsest sugar enables the bees to form
the whitest wax_. The above mixture is regarded, by some, as a useful
food for bees even when there is no deficiency of honey; _it is supposed
to encourage early breeding, and to preserve the health of the bees_; I
administer it invariably from the end of February or the beginning of
March till the bees seem to disregard it, which always happens as soon
as the flowers afford them a supply of honey.
There are two opinions upon _the best mode of administering the syrup_:
one party gives the preference to _daily feeding, in small quantities;_
the other, to _introducing a considerable quantity at once_, and
repeating it as occasion may require. The majority of apiarians favour
the latter practice; among the number are +Reaumur+, +Thorley+, +Isaac+,
+Morris+, &c. the latter gentleman obtained an award often guineas from
the Society of Arts, for his method of feeding. The advocates of the
first method are +Keys+, +Espinasse+, and some others. Copious feeding
in effected by filling the cells on one side of a spare drone comb, laid
flat upon the floor of the hive; or by pouring the syrup into a dish, or
an excavated floor board of twice the usual thickness, covering the food
with short straws or pieces of reed, about half an inch long, to prevent
the bees from soiling themselves. The stock being placed in an evening
over the whole,--in the course of the night, or the following morning,
the bees will carry up the syrup, and store it in unoccupied cells.
Where it has been ascertained that the bees have not stored a sufficient
quantity of honey to carry them through the winter and ensuing spring,
and it is determined to furnish them with a supply in the autumn, I think
this method of copious feeding is the best. But when they are fed in
the spring, I think it preferable to give them about a table-spoonful
a day. This has generally been accomplished, by introducing into the
mouth of the hive a long boat, formed by scooping out the pith from an
elder stem, and filling it with the composition. Upon this plan, no
more is introduced than the case requires, and frequent opportunities
are afforded of learning the condition of the bees, from the manner in
which they receive the boon. If a little irascibility be exhibited, it
is a symptom of health; and though indifference to the proffered bounty
may not actually betoken mischief, yet it deserves attention, and should
induce vigilance in the apiarian. Feeding upon the large scale in spring,
tempts the bees to fill those cells which may be wanted for the queen
to deposit her eggs in, and thus proves a drawback upon the strength
and prosperity of the hive. It may also cause the bees to partake too
freely of the syrup, and suffer from their intemperance. Whichever mode
be adopted, the external entrances must be closed, during the time of
feeding; and I know of no better contrivance for this purpose than
Mr. Huish's tin guards. Without this precaution, unfed stranger bees,
attracted by the smell of the syrup, will banquet upon it; and these
marauders, having once tasted the repast, will not only return to it
again and again themselves, but bring in their train a multitude of
others, to the great injury of the well-fed apiary. The way in which I
feed my own bees is exceedingly simple, and attended with no risk to the
apiarian. At the close of the gathering season, I turn my boxes and their
floors a quarter round, and adapt to them a long narrow box with a glass
top and two openings, one at the end, serving as a street door, the other
in the side serving as a hall door leading into the box, as shown in the
following sketch.
[Illustration]
In an evening, when the bees are all at home, I push in the slide of the
floor board, raise the glazed box, and place the syrup under it: then I
close the external entrance, and withdraw the slide to admit the bees to
the food: by morning I generally find that my donation has been removed.
I place the syrup in a small shallow saucer, covered over with Scotch
gauze, through which the bees suck it without smearing their wings. If
the gauze hang over the sides of the saucer, it will act as a syphon,
and the syrup be wasted: to obviate this inconvenience, a small hoop
of whale-bone, cane, or other pliable material should be just dropped
within the edges of the saucer, and upon this hoop the gauze should be
stretched, turned over and secured with a needle and thread.