A bee keeper of my acquaintance paid fifty dollars for a patent apparatus for feeding bees together in the open air. The result was, soon after being fed, they commenced fighting among themselves. The weaker stock first fell prey to the stronger, then the stronger in turn were attacked, and the final result was, nearly every stock was ruined, and the plan abandoned in disgust after the first season's trial.
Now it is plain to every intelligent person, that in order to receive the greatest possible profit from bees, they must be fed. There can be no question as to the great benefit to be derived from feeding bees. The only question is, how, when and what to feed. It is as much a necessity to feed bees, as to feed our domestic animals, cows, sheep, etc., or to apply manure to plants, or any crop the farmer cultivates, to stimulate growth and increase the product and consequent profit of the same. We should look upon that farmer as either a fool or a lunatic, who should furnish his domestic animals no food, except what they obtained by grazing in the pastures and fields, the year round. And do you think his cows, treated thus, would yield him a large product of butter, cheese and milk, and consequently a good profit in dollars and cents? Do you think he would find his cows, managed thus, so profitable as to induce him to keep cows to any great extent? Let a farmer manage thus—take his cows to the barn, milk them, then turn them out the year round to graze and provide for themselves, taking them up only to milk them, furnishing them with no food except what they procure by grazing—how long, think you, would such a farmer have cows to milk? Yet this is a parallel case with the bee keeper who furnishes his bees with no food except what they can procure by their own industry. And is it surprising that bees treated thus pay no profit?
Again, the farmer who should year after year plant his corn, potatoes, etc., apply no manure, furnish no cultivation, yet expect to succeed in farming, harvest large crops, and get a good yearly profit in dollars and cents, and grumble because he did not, and at last abandon the business, asserting that there was no profit in farming, furnishes another parallel case to the bee keeper who lets his bees shift for themselves, and then grumble because they pay no profit, and at last abandons the business, asserting that there is no money in bee keeping.
It being self-evident that it is profitable to feed bees, it now remains to show how to do it with the greatest possible profit.
RECEIPT FOR FEED.
To eight pounds of coffee-crushed sugar, add two quarts of soft water, and whites of two eggs, bring to a boiling point over a slow fire, being very careful not to burn it. Skim off carefully all scum or sediment that rises, so that the feed, when cool, will be perfectly clear and about the consistency of new honey.
The first warm days in early spring, as soon as the bees can fly a few hours in the middle of the day, mix corn meal with rye meal, equal parts, and set out in pans or other shoal dishes, near the hives. The bees will carry this to their hives in considerable quantities. It is used as a substitute for pollen or bee bread, and is very essential in forwarding the increase of bees in early spring. The meal should be fed very early in spring, for as soon as the bees can collect pollen from the natural sources—trees, shrubs, flowers, etc., they will not take this meal. If rye meal cannot be obtained, use unbolted wheat flour.
FEEDING FOR EARLY SWARMS.
If you wish early swarms, keep the bees confined in their labors to the brood section of the hive, or in other words, do not give them access to the boxes, and commence as early in the spring as the bees begin to fly in the middle of the day, and feed each stock at evening about one-half pound of the liquid feed. Continue this till your swarms issue, then discontinue feeding. I would, however, recommend putting on boxes in all cases early in spring, as we shall thus secure a more satisfactory amount of surplus honey, and we shall, in nearly every case, when a dozen or more swarms are kept have a sufficient increase in number of swarms. Feeding the bees in early spring on my plan gives them a good start and renders them very prosperous throughout the season.