THE AMERICAN BEE' JOURNAL. 



231 



could have been over 4 pounds left, bran and 

 all. The question is often asked, "can a coun- 

 try be overstocked with bees ?" We concluded 

 that was no longer the question. The question 

 now is, "how much rye and alsike clover will 

 the country produce ?" There is another grave 

 question for many to consider — "If the bees 

 continue to manufacture such enormous quanti- 

 ties of rye lor their own use, will not that stim- 

 ulant known as old rye gradually increase in 

 value, in spite of all the exertions of the Ring 

 to induce Congress to reduce the tax?" "What- 

 ever others may think of rye, I am williug my 

 bees should have my share, as I think very lit- 

 tle of it for bread, and still less as a beverage. 

 Now the thing we learned is this, the bees 

 will work on meal more readily on the grass 

 than on the table, as every bee left the platform 

 as long as there was any meal to be gathered 

 on the grass, and then reluctantly went to the 

 platform. 



John T. Rose. 

 Petersburg, Mich. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Artificial Pollen. 



In certain localities bees cannot find natural 

 pollen as ea^ly in spring as they requiie it. 

 Hence breeding is retarded, unless artificial 

 pollen is given them. My method of giving it is 

 as follows : It may not be the best, but I know 

 it to work well. Take a shallow dish, or any 

 number required — boxes two or three inches 

 deep and twelve inches square are just the 

 thing. Put in, to the depth of an inch over the 

 whole bottom, Indian meal, oat meal, rye or 

 buckwheat Hour; then put iu the centre of the 

 meal a small piece of honey in the comb; set 

 the dishes near or among the stock of bees, and 

 if they have not got a supply of pollen and are 

 unable to gather any natural pollen, they will 

 accept the artificial without even "thank you." 

 But if they have a supply, or can gather natural 

 pollen, you cannot induce them to take the arti- 

 ficial; at least I cannot. I have seen a single 

 stock in my apiary carry in a pint of meal in a 

 few hours, and not another stock in the apiary, 

 though there were some thirty or forty, would 

 touch it. The cause of this was that all the 

 combs in this stock containing bee-bread had 

 been exchanged with another stock for comb 

 that contained none. It did one good to see 

 the yellow jackets work at that meal. The 

 dishes should be covered or taken in when it 

 storms. 



J. H. Thomas. 

 Brooklin, Ontario. 



The propolis collected by the bees is of a resi- 

 nous nature, has a balsamic odor, and is of rcd- 

 jsh brown or dark color. It is supposed to be 

 collected from fir or pine trees, or from the en- 

 velopes of the buds of many trees and plants, 

 or their resinous exudations. It is exceedingly 

 clammy when first gathered, but dries so rapid- 

 ly that the bees which carry it home have, at 

 times, much difficulty in dislodging it from 

 their legs. 



[For the American Bee Journal . 



Pollen. 



Mr. Editor : — My bees are entirely destitute 

 of pollen this winter. On a careful examina- 

 tion of different hives, not a cell can be found 

 with any pollen in it. Nor was a single cell to 

 be seen occupied with brood, up to the 20th of 

 March, even in large colonies occupying eight 

 frames in a hive. A little rye flour, left on the 

 top of the frames a day or two since, appears 

 to attract no attention. Perhaps it needs 

 mixing with pollen in order to sustain 

 young bees. Consequently no young brood 

 need be expected till they can be removed 

 from the cellar, which last year was on the 20th 

 of April. 



Perhaps those who have been familiar with 

 movable comb hives for years, can give us 

 some light as to whether the scarcity of pollen 

 is confined to this year, or to this locality. Last 

 year, in May, some of the central combs ap- 

 peared so overloaded with pollen, as to make 

 the brood quite scattering, In June, as the 

 brood increased, the trouble vanished. By the 

 1st of August the hives were crammed with 

 basswood honey, and gathered with little or no 

 pollen. A loug cold spell ensued till on Sep- 

 tember 21, frost closed up the bee accounts for 

 the season. 



My colonies, one hundred and ten days in the 

 cellar, used 105 ounces of honey, each, and had 

 eighteen pounds, each, left on the 6th of March. 



H. D. Miner. 



Washington Harbor, (Wis.) March 22, '69. 



[For the American Bee Journal] 



How to Save Your Bee3. 



Mr. Editor : — Mrs. E. S. Tupper says, 1 : 

 Never divide any stock until it is strong, both 

 in numbers and brood. Until this is the case, 

 the bees are better in one hive than two. 2. It* 

 a colony become strong early, leave it undis- 

 turbed, and get all the honey you can from it. 

 3. Never cripple the strength of a colony con- 

 taining a fertile queen ; as soon as you do this, 

 her laying diminishes. 



Here the idea is, have your colonies strong, 

 and keep them so. This appears to be a funda- 

 mental rule in bee culture. But, if weak, what 

 is the result? Why, their destruction. Wei), 

 canuot a few bees gather as much- honey, in 

 proportion, as the many ? Of course they may. 

 But this is not all. Heat also is required, to 

 hatch, mature, and develope all the brood, pre- 

 pare the combs, and evaporate the water from 

 the honey. So few bees cannot generate the 

 animal heat required. 



Well, how can a colony be crippled ? It can 

 be done three ways at least. Kretchmer, iuhis 

 Beekeeper's Guide Book, says — " The breeding 

 is to a large extent dependent, 1st, on the strength 

 of the colony ; 2d, on the amount of food, 

 (honey, bee-bread, and water); and 3d, on the 

 season of the year." You can cripple your 

 stock, then, by making it too weak for breeding 



