THE AMERICAN BEE JOUKNAL. 



173 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Oats for Bee-Peed! 



Yes, oai9 I'or bee -feed ! Why not? Docs 

 any one doubt that oafs contain the proper nu- 

 tritive element for bringing fortli and sustain- 

 ing animal life? Of course not. But are bees 

 to eat them V Well, kind reader, as the process 

 is a lei'tle ditfcrent from the manner in which 

 Avc feed them to our liorses, if yon will be pa- 

 tient, we will try and tell you how we first got 

 in the Avay of feeding our bees on oats. 



In our earlier researches we were quite cap- 

 tivated with the idea of feeding our bees on 

 rye meal ; and of course our first transferred 

 swarm had to have rye meal along with the 

 other favors we iieapedupon them. Mr. Lang- 

 stroth, in his book, recommended it, and as we 

 did not wish them to be destitute of any of the 

 necesi^aries of life, we bought fioe rye tlour from 

 a feed store, the nearest thing we could get to 

 rye meal, and poured a lot down on the front 

 portico of the hive, exi)ecting to see them rush 

 out and devour it like a lot of tamished pigs. But 

 they did not ! And as they seemed determined 

 not to touch it, we put it in the entrance, so that 

 every bee, whether he would or not, must have 

 some of the very essential rye flour. After 

 liaving thus ease>i our conscience I)y thinking 

 that we had certainly done everything proper, 

 we left them until evening. When we first 

 came home, ns usual we had to look at our 

 bees, and were surprised to find a considerable 

 number '* lying around loose" in front of the 

 entrance, looking wofully while iind dispirited. 

 On .opening the hive (which we usually did 

 ever}' morning, night and noon), we .were met 

 b}'' about as sorrowful a looking set of floury 

 miller-like sentinels as can be imagined. 



Talk about throwing dust in one's eyes ! 

 Our bees looked as if they had all the dust they 

 would need for a life-time ; so we brushed the 

 rest of the stuff away, and took a further look 

 at our bee books. 



We finally learned that we must wait until 

 spring to have our bees reap the grand results 

 of the meal feed ; so our meal was carefully put 

 away. Spring came at last, as it lias a liabit 

 of doing usually, we believe ; and we resum- 

 ed our experiments. 



We put the tlour on the hives, in tlie liives, 

 awa'i from the hives, mixed with honey, yolks 

 of eggs, and every way we could think of; but 

 they would have none of it at aH. We put it in 

 a linen bag over the frames to keep them busy 

 on rainy days, as the first volume of the Bee 

 JouiiNAL recommended ; but not a meal would 

 they touch, and we were obliged reluctantly 

 to let them have their own way. 



The second season so much was said of the 

 advantage? of rye meal by all, Quinby, Bee 

 Journal, and rest, that we felt as if our bees 

 must be learned to use it too. And hearing 

 some one remark that a scientific old fanner used 

 to grind oats for his bees, we decided that we 

 would try oats ; and accordingly astonished the 

 miller by ordering a bushel of oats and the 

 same quantity of rye to be ground up fine, but 

 left unbolted, to feed bees ! Our grist was sent 



home, and with some misgivings we put a 

 broad board on the top of a barrel a rod or two 

 from our apiary, sprinkled on the meal, and 

 told our friends that from a recent discovery in 

 chemistry it had been shown that the above 

 mixture possessed essentially the same proper- 

 ties and elements of the pollen gathered by the 

 bees liom flowers, and that tiiey— the bees — 

 would iippropriate it accordingly. 



Now, Mr. Editor, don't you think it was con- 

 .soling to our feelings, when upon coming home 

 at noon, we found hosts of I)ees liovering over, 

 dabbling their feet into, and rolling up balls of 

 this artilicial pollen, as hai)py apparently as if 

 they were in a clover field in June V Didn't we 

 cry " Eureka !" 



From that time until natural pollen could be 

 got, we fed them about three ])ecks, and our 

 apiary then only comprised al)OUt a dozen luves. 

 The swarms that were busiest, and amassed 

 the most, were by far our most productive 

 stocks, and one that particularly excelled all 

 the rest, was the stock and swarm that produ- 

 ced the 117 pounds of box honey mentioned 

 last fall — the swarm collecting thirty pounds 

 in two days. 



We are making preparations now to have 

 plenty of the oats and rye ready, just as soon as 

 the bees begin to fly. Hurrah, for the tons of 

 honey we are going to have this year. "You 

 know, Mr. Editor, that Giantess is going to 

 help after we get her home. By the way, will 

 j'-ou please to thank Mr. Gallup lor his kind arti- 

 cle on page 150. The tree is so large, we shall 

 have to run the risk of cutting it in April, as he 

 suggests. After cutting down a tree of .such 

 height and transferring, will all the bees find 

 the hive, especially if the queen happens to be 

 killed ? 



We were going to sign ourselves Novice, as 

 usual ; but as every one knows that, we will 

 omit it, and say. 



Novice, 

 with all his old enthusiasm, and i)iipaiience 

 for the arrival of sprinfj. 



P. S. — A friend who is jealous of our great 

 discovery, says that's a "big yarn" about the 

 bees eating three pecks of meal, lie says the 

 neighbor's chickens flew up and ate it, and the 

 wind blew it away. You don't believe him, 

 do you, Mr. Editor ? 



By no means, for the Baron of Berlepseh 

 assures us that in the spring of 1857, the 103 

 colonies then constituting his apiary, carried 

 in 354 pounds of Avheat flour. His colonies 

 were poor in stores, and he supposed that 

 between 300 and 400 pounds of candy would 

 be required to sustain them till they could 

 gather honey. But after furnishing them 

 with flour, they drew so sparingly on their 

 stores that only eleven pounds of candy were 

 needed. — Ed. 



In their labor and order, at home and abroad, 

 bees are so admirable, that they maj' be a pat- 

 tern unto men, both of the one and the otlier. 

 For unless they be hindered by weather, weak- 

 ness, or want of matter to work on. their labor 

 never ceaseth. — Butlek. 



