594 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



that, during the inversion of sugar that had 

 been fed to the bees, albumen has been 

 added. 



Admitting the foregoing, we must con- 

 clude that nursing, inverting cane sugar in 

 nectar, or in sugar feeding, drains the body 

 of albumen, and that this loss must be re- 

 placed or the bees will be weakened and 

 die prematurely. Therefore pollen is nec- 

 essary to replace the nitrogenous substance 

 the body is losing when brood-rearing is 

 going on. It shows that sugar feeding for 

 winter stores should be done so early in the 

 fall that the bees can still find pollen to 

 supply the urgent demand of the body. At 

 the same time they get good winter stores, 

 remain hardy, better able to resist disease, 

 etc. Sugar is but a substitute for honey — 

 never as good as good honey. 



If the body of the bee is weakened during 

 fall and winter from the lack of nitrogenous 

 and mineral matter in their diet they will 

 be less vigorous, and in spring dwindle 

 more rapidly than they otherwise would. 

 This is a serious impediment for develop- 

 ment in spring. It is also doubtful whether 

 bees whose bodies have been weakened by 

 a deficient diet can, as nurses, raise a vigor- 

 ous, long-lived progeny, since the larval 

 food is a secretion of the nurse-bee. A 

 weakened body succumbs more readily to 

 the inclemency of the weather and to disease 

 germs. The breeder and the keeper must 

 unite to produce a healthy, vigorous, long- 

 lived race of bees. 



SOMF.THIXU ABOUT POLLEN. 



TheBienenvaier published some interesting 

 notes about pollen. It is gathered by the 

 bees for its content of albumen and fat. 

 It is a flower-like powder, differing much 

 in color, size, and fonn. The size of a 

 pollen-grain in the forget-me-not has a 

 diameter of 0.0025 to 0.0034 millimeter; 

 from the snakeweed, 0.010 to 0.014; lilac, 

 0.024 to .34; pansy, 0.062 to 0.071; cucum- 

 ber, 0.20 to 0.23; melons, 0.20 to 0.24. 



The flowers furnish a gi-eat amount of 

 pollen. According to Dai-win, a single dan- 

 delion has 243,000 pollen gi-ains; one hazel- 

 blossom has 4,000,000 grains, and one stalk 

 of corn is estimated to furnish 50,000,000 

 pollen gi'ains. 



A. V. Planta has made analysis of pollen. 

 That from the hazel showed nitrogenous 

 matter 30.21 per cent; fettsaeuren, 4.2 per 

 cent ; pollen from the Scotch fir showed 

 nitrogenous matter 16.6 per cent ; fettsaeur- 

 en, 10.36 per cent. 



A single bee takes for one load, according 

 to Kirchner, 100,000 pollen-gi-ains, and 

 needs from two to eighteen minutes to 

 complete a load. 



It is very important that the bees visit 

 usually but one kind of blossoms while 

 gathering pollen. This habit enables them 

 to cross-pollinate most effectually the plants. 

 This is of great importance in the economy 

 of nature, and is especially valuable to the 

 fruit-gi'ower. 



Kempten, Bavaria, Germany. 



BEES PREFERRING MOTH - EATEN COMBS 



BY E. G. LADD 



INIy experience has been that bees looking 

 for a location invariably select hives that 

 have been used. For years I have put out 

 decoy hives, and have succeeded in inducing 

 some to select these decoys for a future 

 home but never yet have I had bees select a 

 new and unused liive, although placed in 

 good positions. 



IVfoth-eaten combs left in old hives are 

 often good decoys, presumably because of 

 the scent emanating from them; but those 

 bees choosing them have always cut out the 

 old bad combs, building new. As for my- 

 self, I cut out all poor combs, leaving old 

 brood-frames and sometimes good, clean, 

 old combs. If old frames are not numeroiis 

 enough by placing them together, filling llie 

 rest of the hive with new has also worked 

 well. This is AVednesday; and on looking 

 into a swarm that came last Saturday, and 

 took i>ossession of a hive that had four good 



clean combs in and six new frames, I found 

 eiglit full frames Avith brood in five, and 

 some frames full of eggs to the edge of the 

 comb. A super now adorns that hive, the 

 bees immediately taking possession. These 

 " como-to-us " bees show up for days before 

 they finally come to stay, and sometimes in 

 considerable quantities; and by looking at 

 these decoy hives I can tell where to expect 

 a new swarm. When they do come they 

 come straight, sometimes apparently drop- 

 ping down from the clouds — no settling, but 

 willi a steady rush for the entrance- They 

 live themselves. 



I have had some experience that points to 

 (he scent of bees lasting for some time — if 

 not the scent, I should like some one to ex- 

 ])lain or othei-wise. I have found if I can 

 got the first of my swarms to alight in a 

 good place, ninety per cent and sometimes 

 all the following swarms will choose the 



