178 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mar. 15 



side of the leaves, and when present in num- 

 bers excrete a large amount of honey-dew, 

 naturally the honey- dew falls on to the leaves 

 lower down, whicn are soon covered with a 

 sticky substance. 



All obst^rvationsup t> the present time in- 

 dicate that the honey dew of aphids is an ex- 

 cretion passed through the digestive organs 

 of the body, and is a residue of the juices 

 sucked from the various food plants for the 

 purpose of food. 



That smut grows on honey-dew can not be 

 contradicted, and possibly Mr. Macdonald is 

 correct in attributing the dark color of hon- 

 ey dew honey to such a cause. He is not 

 correct, however, in his assertions that hon- 

 ey- dew is largely a pLnt secretion and in 

 part a secretion Irom the nectaries of aphids. 



FEEDING POLLEN SUBSTITUTES IN EAR- 

 LY SPRING. 



Is it Desirable? an Interesting Series of Ex- 

 periments. 



BY SAMUEL SIMMINS. 



This subject was brought forward in 

 Gleanings during 1909, and some of thot>e 

 who have found an occasional deticiency of 

 natural pollen in ihe early season gave their 

 expeiiences in supplying substitutes. Over 

 a course of many years 1 have given this 

 subject much thought and careful experi- 

 ment. A common practice in Great Britain 

 is that of dusting pea flour on to pine shav- 

 ings placed in a box, or in an inverted hive 

 arranged in some sheltered sunny corner as 

 soon as springlike weather is in evidence, 

 when a merry hum and happy industiy glad- 

 den the heart of the enthusiastic if not too 

 observant bee-keeper. 



Very few owners have so far realized that 

 this practice is fraught with danger, especial- 

 ly when, during many days in succession, the 

 bees are able to work at this artihcial food. 

 They dwindle rapidly because of this unnec- 

 essary and ceaseless labor, just at the time 

 their strength should be conserved to the ut- 

 most. The process entails excessive water- 

 carrying at the same time, and unusual ex- 

 citement generally; hence for my own part I 

 am obliged to condemn this apparently inno- 

 cent method of supplying that whicn really 

 is not needed at all by many of the colonies 

 in apiaries where the process is adopted. 



The pea flour alluded to is very finely 

 ground and cooked, and is known here as 

 syming oris, an article prepared for thicken- 

 ing soups, and of all substitutes is that most 

 sought afttr by the bees until natural pollen 

 is available. 



USED IN THE FORM OF PASTE. 



I have mixed it with honey as a stiff paste, 

 and then pressed it into the cells, tilling about 

 one-fourth of one side of a comb, ana placmg 

 that side next the outer patch of brood, if 

 any, or within the margin of the cluster if no 

 brood may be started. A brood-nest would 



be then developed; but under no possible 

 circumstances will the b» es extend the brood 

 area to such dimensions as they do under 

 the genial stimulus of a natural incoming of 

 the pollen of flowers; and Ihi^ is jusi where 

 they do not appear to recuperate sufficiently 

 for the trouble and waste of ei eigy incurrea. 

 I may suggest that, if mixed with sugar syr- 

 up, the paste becomes so hard as to be quite 

 useless. 



DUSTING FLOUR INTO THE CFLLS. 



Another method I have many times adopt- 

 ed has been that of shaking the dry flour in- 

 to the cells from a tin box or can having a 

 number of >^-inch holes punched through 

 the lid. A somewhat cleaner plan I have al- 

 so used has been that of placiiig about half 

 a pint at a time in a warm duiismy feeder 

 having a receptacle that holds only that 

 quantity, and really constructed as a syrup 

 feeder. 



THE WARM DUMMY FEEDER. 



By the way, these small dummy feeders, 

 titling close at each end to the hive sides, and 

 of the depth of the frames, can be used in 

 cool weather, if necessary; and I may say 

 they are the only kind I have found to over- 

 come the objection bees have to taking syrup 

 from feeders when somewhat cold in the 

 early season. You see, this nam w dummy, 

 being placed close to the cluster, the food al- 

 ways remains at nearly the same tempera- 

 ture as the bee-nest, and is readily appropri- 

 at' d. For the same reason, when filled with 

 artificial pollen the workers crowd into the 

 pollen; and this compact working cluster, 

 with the temperature raised in consequence, 

 is an additional stimulus to collection of the 

 nitrogenous food. While the bee working 

 in the open appears compelled to take wing 

 while padding the pollen in place on its legs, 

 the process is not thus carried out in tne 

 dark while the bees remain in the feeder, 

 and the food is carried to the cells forthwith; 

 though in some cases I believe it possible 

 the woikers prepare the bee-pap straight 

 from the feeder. 



One c^n, therefore, see how it is possible, 

 for early stimulation, to place one of these 

 warn dummy feeders on each side of the 

 cluster — one with several weeks' supply of 

 pollen, and the other for a periodical fillip 

 of syrup. In this case the spring-fed syrup 

 is used thinner than autumn feed, so the 

 bees are not compelled to carry waier. The 

 process may be valuable in S' me climates, 

 and probably often to the queen-rearer, but 

 it is 10 use looking at these apparently help- 

 ful matters without fully considering 



THE OTHER SIDE OF THE QUESTION. 



Like many other queen rearers I always 

 have a lot of nuclei to unite in autumn, and 

 the colonies thus established seldom have 

 much stored pollen for early spring use. It 

 is wel known that colonies wintered with 

 pollen-stored combs usually br^-ed just a lit- 

 tle nearly all the time from the new year on- 

 ward, in those locilities where the weather 

 is not unusually cold, though it may be but 

 one little patch at the heart of the cluster, 



