Fasten together thin slats, one fourth of an inch apart, so as to fit the inside of the feed trough and lie on the surface of the liquid, so as to rise and fall with it. Put this in a box and attach it to the hive, as for taking box-honey, and the bees will work it all up. Put out-door, it tempts other bees, and may lead to quarrels, and robbery.
It is not generally known, that a good swarm of bees may be destroyed, by feeding them plenty of honey, early in the spring. They carry it in and fill up their empty cells and leave no room for raising young bees; hence the whole is ruined for want of inhabitants, to take the places of those that get destroyed, or die of age.
To winter bees well, utterly exclude the light during all the cold weather, until it becomes so warm, that they will not get so chilled when out that they can not return. Intense cold is not injurious to bees, provided they are kept in the hive and are dry. A large swarm, will not eat two pounds of honey during the whole cold winter, if kept from the light. When tempted out, every warm day they come into the sunshine and empty themselves, and return to consume large quantities of honey. Kept in the dark, they are nearly torpid, eat but a mere trifle, and winter well. Whatever your hive or house, then, keep your bees entirely from the light, in cold weather. This is the only reason why bees keep so well in a dark dry cellar, or buried in the ground, with something around them, to preserve them from moisture, and a conductor through the surface, to admit fresh air. It is not because it keeps out the cold, but because it excludes the light, and renders the bees inactive. Gilmore's patent bee-house, is a great improvement on this account.
Of the diseases of bees, such as dysentery, &c., we shall not treat. All that can profitably be done, to remedy these evils, is secured by salt, water, and properly-prepared food, as given above.
But the great question in bee-culture is, How to prevent the depredation of the wax-moth? To this subject, much study has been given, and respecting it many theories have been advanced. The following suggestions are, to us, the most satisfactory. The miller, that deposites the egg, which soon changes to the worm, so destructive in the beehive, commences to fly about, at dark. In almost every country-house, they are seen about the lights in the evening. They are still during all the day. They are remarkably attracted by lights in the evening. Hence our first rule:—
1. Place a teasaucer of melted lard or oil, with a piece of cotton flannel for a wick, in or near the apiary at dusk; light it and allow it to burn till near morning, expiring before daylight. This done every night during the month of June, will be very effectual.
2. Keep grass and weeds away from the immediate vicinity of your apiary. Let the ground be kept clean and smooth. This destroys many of the hiding-places of the miller, and forces him away to spend the day. This precaution has many other advantages.
3. Keep large strong colonies. They will be able to guard their territories, and contend with this and all other enemies.
4. Never have any opening in a beehive near the bottom, during the season of millers (see Beehive). Let the openings be so small, that only one or two bees can pass at once. To accommodate the bees, increase the number of openings. Millers will seldom enter among a strong swarm, with such openings. All around the bottom, it should be so tight, that no crevice can be found, in which a miller can deposite an egg. Better plaster around, closely, with some substance, the place of contact between the hive and the board on which it stands, and keep it entirely tight during the time in which the millers are active.
5. If, through negligence, worms have got into a hive, examine it at once; and if they are near the bottom only, within sight and reach, cut out the comb around them, and remove them from the hive. If this is not practicable, transfer the swarm to a new hive, or unite it with another, without delay.