FEEDING FOR SURPLUS HONEY.
If you wish surplus honey instead of swarms, put on your side boxes as early in the spring as the bees commence brisk work on flowers,—as a general rule, say a few days before fruit blossoms appear. Feed as directed for swarms until about ten days before white clover blossoms, then put on the top boxes, leaving room only for feeder. Then for ten or twelve days feed them all they will take. Feed at evening. They will at first, perhaps, take from five to ten pounds every night. Crowd them hard, for the object is now to get every part of the brood section (not occupied by eggs and brood) filled with honey; and if possible, crowd the bees into the boxes to commence the work of comb building, so that during the yield of honey from flowers, you can get every ounce collected, stored in the boxes.
By early and judicious feeding, we have encouraged breeding so that now our hives are filled, almost overflowing, with bees, ready to gather the harvest from the flowers as soon as they begin to yield honey.
Discontinue feeding while the yield of honey continues in full supply from the flowers. At the close of the yield, if you have boxes half filled or more, feed all they will take up for a few days, or until your boxes are finished.