1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



757 



Mr. Stilson — There is a practice of putting a small piece 

 of honey-comb in a tumbler of glucose. I understand there is 

 a firm in Omaha putting up such a compound. At the last 

 session, our legislature passed a law giving a bounty to such 

 manufacture ! 



Mr. Patterson — I am sorry to say that I differ from the 

 gentlemen when he says there are no bee-keepers who adul- 

 terate honey. I know a man who used to "wear the stripes," 

 who is now a bee-keeper, and I have been told that he now 

 buys glucose by the barrel. 



Mr. Stewart — This glucose business is a serious question. 

 The question is how to drive the imitation honey out of the 

 market. Dealers say they know it is not honey, but it sells. 

 The people buy it because it is cheap, and they like the glass 

 jars it is put up in. Thi? is not only done in Omaha, but in 

 other large cities, I believe. I know it is done in Burlington. 



The following members paid their annual dues, and all 

 except a few were present: 



Rev. E. T. Abbott, St. Joseph, Mo. 



R. C. Aikin, Loveland, Colo. 



S. H. Beaver, Seward, Nebr. 



Fred Biesemier, Sterling, Nebr. 



L. M. Brown, Glen Ellen, Iowa. 



H. W. Congdon, Weeping Water, Nebr. 



B. P. Cowgill, Villisca, Iowa. 

 Rev. Clay C. Cox, Lincoln, Nebr. 

 T. R. DeLong, Angus, Nebr. 

 Richard Douglas, Palmyra, Nebr. 

 W. C. Frazier, Atlantic, Iowa. 

 Geo. Gale, Adams, Nebr. 



E. B. Gladish, Higginsville, Mo. 



J. N. Heater, Columbus, Nebr. 



H. E. Heath, Lincoln, Nebr. 



S. H. Herrick, Rockford, 111. 



O. L. Hershiser, Buffalo, N. Y. 



M. B. Holmes, Athens, Ont. 



R. F. Holtermann, Brantford, Ont. 



J. C. Knoll, Kearney, Nebr. 



E. Kretchmer, Red Oak, Iowa. 



R. W. Kretchmer, Red Oak, Iowa. 



A. Laing, Acton, Ont. 



P. C. LeFever, Junietta, Nebr. 



J. S. Lovell, Council Bluffs, Nebr. 



C. A. Luce, Republican City, Nebr. 

 Geo. Ludwig, Lincoln, Nebr. 



Dr. A. B. Mason, Toledo, Ohio. 



J. H. Masters, Nebraska City, Nebr. 



J. W. Palsey, Wauhoo, Nebr. 



H. N. Patterson, Humboldt, N'-br. 



J. L. Patterson, Kearney, Nebr. 



J. C. Stewart, Arkangel, Mo. 



Richard Silver, Tamora, Nebr. 



L. D. Stilson, York, Nebr. 



L. O. Westcott, Swanton, Nebr. 



Hon. E. Whitcoiub, Friend, Nebr. 



Charles White, Aurora, Nebr. 



G M. Whitford, Arlington, Nebr. 



George W. York, Chicago, III. 



LIFE MEMBERS PRESENT. 



Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. 



E. R. Root, Medina, Ohio. 



Hon. Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



LADY MEMBERS PRESENT. 



Mrs. E. T. Abbott, St. Joseph, Mo. 

 Mrs. R. C. Aikin, Loveland, Colo. 

 Mrs. A. L. Amos, Coburg, Nebr. 

 Mrs. V. Collins, Chapman, Nebr. 

 Mrs. M. V. Cook, Lincoln, Nebr. 

 Mrs. J. N. Heater, Columbus, Nebr. 

 Mrs. A. L. Hallenbeck, Millard, Nebr. 

 Miss Jennie Raser, Chapman, Nebr. 

 Mrs. Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 

 Mrs. E. Whitcomb, Friend, Nebr. 



HONORARY MEMBERS PRESENT. 



Chancellor Geo. E. MacLean, University of Nebraska, Lin- 

 coln, Nebr. 



Prof. Charles E. Bessey, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 

 Nebr. 



Prof. Lawrence Bruner, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 

 Nebr. 



The convention adjourned at about 10 a.m. to meet in 

 Buffalo, N. Y., at the call of the Executive Committee. 



A. B. Mason, Sec. 



Bees and Pollen — Food of Larval Bees. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A correspondent wishes me to answer through the columns 

 of the American Bee Journal these questions : 



" Do old bees eat pollen ? If so, under what circum- 

 stances ? And is the food of the larval bee an animal secre- 

 tion, or do the larvae eat pollen ?" 



From careful observation for the past 25 years, I am cer- 

 tain that sometimes old bees eat pollen, but always under the 

 same conditions and for the same purpose, that purpose being 

 to bridge over a time of scarcity. But there may be times of 

 scarcity when no pollen will be eaten, the eating of the pollen 

 being conditioned on whether there is brood in the hive or not. 



One year my bees had hardly a cell of honey in their 

 hives during the forepart of June, at which time of year we 

 have a scarcity of honey, but always plenty of pollen. By way 

 of experiment I fed a part of the colonies, and let the rest go 

 without feeding, to see if the bees in those hives having 

 scareely a cell of honey in them, but plenty of brood in all 

 stages, would live if provided with pollen, which was given iu 

 abundance, as I had combs stored away which had plenty of 

 pollen in them. As the weather at that time was so unfavor- 

 able that the bees did not fly for several days, I anxiously 

 watched for them to see what they would do as soon as the 

 few cells of honey which they had were gone. The first thing 

 noted was, that, as soon as all the honey was gone, the larvte 

 were scrimped of food, and the eggs were removed from the 

 cells and eaten by the bees (in my opinion, as I have seen bees 

 eat eggs dropped by the queen), while, during the next day, 

 there was a general eating of the larvas. 



The next day after, the sealed drone-brood was taken 

 from the cells and sucked dry, while the harder parts were 

 scattered about the entrance and bottom-board of the hive. 

 At this time I noticed the bees putting their tongues together, 

 as they do when young bees take a load of nectar from the 

 field bees in time of plenty, which thing was continued till 

 nearly all the pollen was used up in the hive, which lasted for 

 several days, when it came good weather again, so new sup- 

 plies were gathered. Since then I have noticed the same 

 thing several times under like circumstances, but always when 

 there was brood in the hive. 



Remembering these facts, I tried the same experiment in 

 the fall when there was no brood in the hive, at two different 

 times, but in each case I succeeded in starving the colonies 

 without a single cell of pollen being touched, as far as I could 

 discover. From these experiments and observations I have 

 formed the opinion that old bees partake of pollen only in the 

 form of chyme, and that this chyme is prepared only when 

 there is or has been brood lately in the hive. 



As regards what the larval bees eat, I am not quite sure, 

 but my opinion is that those who argue that the food fed them 

 is purely an animal secretion are mistaken, for I have given 

 this matter much careful thought, and have made many obser- 

 vations, and from this I have been led to believe that the food 

 of the larval bee is composed of about two parts of honey or 

 saccharine matter, four parts pollen or flour (when such is 

 used in early spring as a substitute), and one part water, the 

 whole being taken into the stomach of the bee and there 

 through a partial digestion or otherwise formed into chyme, 

 after which it is regurgitated and given to the larval bees by 

 the nurse-bees, in the cream-like form as we see it in the cells. 

 That the larval bee subsists wholly on this creamy food, or 

 chyme, I think no one will deny ; and if, from my personal 

 observations I am correct, the largest element in the food is 

 pollen. 



As the larva absorbs this food, the grosser part of the 

 pollen forms into the yellow line seen in all larv;c when taken 

 out of the comb, but more plainly in the drone larv:c, which 

 line is finally inclosed by the intestines of the newly-hatched 

 bee, and evacuated on its first flight. Many others incline to 

 the same belief, and to show how nearly they are to the above 

 I will quote from a few of them. 



A. I. Root says : " It is supposed that this larval food Is 

 pollen and honey, partially digested by the nursing-bees. Bees 



