Page:How to Keep Bees.djvu/183

Rh who invented the best entrance-feeder paactises this, with the result of getting more honey than other bee-keepers of his neighbourhood, who do not feed at this time. It is especially valuable in years when the honey is scarce, for then the bees store all the honey they gather in the supers. However, there is one thing to consider carefully in this feeding, and that is the relative price of syrup and honey. If the market is glutted and honey is plentiful and cheap, this sort of feeding would better be practised cautiously; but when honey is scarce and dear, it is certainly a safe experiment.

FEEDING BACK

When the sections are not well filled in the late season, it is the practice of some apiarists to feed extracted honey in order to fill them. For this only the best honey is used; it is mixed with water, ten pounds of honey to one of water, and heated so that it is a fluid and then poured in the larger kind of feeders, and is put in at night, as the smell of the heated honey particularly incites bees to robbing. However, the flavour of honey which has been fed back is inferior to that which is only once made, and but a few apiarists practise feeding back successfully.

WATERING BEES

If there is no fresh water in the immediate vicinity of the hives, special provision should be made to secure it, as it is a highly desirable adjunct to a well-regulated apiary. While there are times during the season when the bees get most of the moisture they