BEES.

Few things in the practical department of the Apiary, are more important
and yet more shamefully neglected, or grossly mismanaged, than the
feeding of bees. In order to make this subject as clear as possible, I
shall begin with the Spring examination of the hives, and furnish
suitable directions for feeding during the whole season in which it
ought to be attempted. In the movable comb hives, the exact condition of
the bees with regard to stores, may be easily ascertained as soon as the
weather is warm enough to lift out the frames. In the common hives, this
can sometimes be ascertained from the glass sides; but often no reliable
information can be obtained. Even if the weight of the hive is known,
this will be no sure criterion of the quantity of honey it contains. The
comb in old hives, is often very thick, and of course, unusually heavy;
while vast stores of useless bee-bread have frequently been accumulated,
which entirely deceive the Apiarian, who attempts to judge of the
resources of a hive from its weight alone. On my system of bee-culture,
such an injurious surplus of bee-bread, is easily prevented; (See p.
102.)

If the bee-keeper ascertains or even suspects, in the Spring, that his
bees have not sufficient food, he must at once supply them with what
they need. Bees, at this season of the year, consume a very large
quantity of honey: they are stimulated to great activity by the
returning warmth, and are therefore compelled to eat much more than when
they were almost dormant among their combs. In addition to this extra
demand, they are now engaged in rearing thousands of young, and all
these require a liberal supply of food. Owing to the inexcusable neglect
of many bee-keepers, thousands of swarms perish annually after the
Spring has opened, and when they might have been saved, with but little
trouble or expense. Such abominable neglect is incomparably more cruel
than the old method of taking up the bees with sulphur; and those who
are guilty of it, are either too ignorant or too careless, to have any
thing to do with the management of bees. What would be thought of a
farmer's skill in his business, who should neglect to provide for the
wants of his cattle, and allow them to drop down lifeless in their
stalls, or in his barn-yard, when the fields, in a few weeks, will be
clothed again with the green mantle of delightful Spring! If any farmer
should do this, when food might easily be purchased, and shou