THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



91 



be found effectual for the purpose, and should 

 always be kept in an apiary. There are also 

 several other remedies, more or less effectual, 

 according to the special constitution of the pa- 

 tient. A strong infusion of tobacco water ap- 

 plied to the wound after the sting has been ex- 

 tracted, is a specific for many persons ; otiiers 

 find relief from the application of a sliced 

 onion. 



We have heard the remark from several who 

 iiave kept bees for years, that the poison from a 

 sting has little or no effect on them ; after re- 

 ceiving many inflictions their flesh appears to 

 become so little affected that the swelling and 

 pain at one time experienced no longer trouble 

 them. — NeigJibour'' s Bees and Beeculture. 



Pollen; or, Food for Infant Bees. 



Bees, when fully grown, feed almost wholly 

 on honey; but the larvce require for their de- 

 velopment a more substantial kind of nourisli- 

 ment. Such solid fare is found by the bees in 

 the pollen of flowers, a farina which contains 

 some of those nitrogenous elements in which 

 honey is deficient. The body of a worker-bee 

 is covered with hairs, to which the pollen ad- 

 heres when, by contact Avith the bee, it is rubbed 

 from the anthers and staments of flowers. The 

 bee with its fore-legs then brushes it off, and 

 moulds it into the pellet shape suitable for car- 

 rying it in the "baskets" or grooves on its 

 thighs. Dewy mornings or humid bowers suit 

 the bees for the gathering of the pollen. If the 

 atmosphere be too dry for kneading it into 

 pellets, they roll themselves in the blossoms, 

 and trust to the good offices of the bees at home, 

 who, on their return, brush off the farina into 

 the cells intended for it. A portion of this 

 " bee-bread" is taken at once by the " nursing 

 bees," which are supposed to subject it to some 

 change before offering it to the larvae ; but the 

 greater part of the pollen is stored away and 

 sealed over in the cells for future use. In April 

 and May the bees are frequently busy " all the 

 day" in gathering pollen, and often one com- 

 munity of bees will collect about twenty pounds 

 weight of " bee-bread" in one season. 



One of the objects of the apiarian is to assist 

 the bees in providing for the nurselings of the 

 hive. A German pastor, Herr Dzierzon, first 

 suggested the plan of providing the bees with 

 "unbolted rye meal" as a substitute for the 

 farina of flowers. He had observed that, in 

 early spring before the flowers were open, his 

 bees returned laden with rye flour. Since his 

 discovery, most bee-keepers, in early spring, 

 place either rye or wheat meal near the apiaries; 

 to this artificial store the bees repair by thou- 

 sands, and seem to rollick in the enjoyment of 

 so much plenty, many of them returning to the 

 hive as dusty as millers. The object in thus 

 supplying them is that the brood may be rapidly 

 brought forward and early swarming induced. 

 In this way a few pounds of ryu meal, at one 

 penny per pound, may tend to the production 

 of very many pounds of honey at twelve times 

 the j>rice. 



In gathering pollen from flowers, bees are 

 doing more than merely providing for their I 



own community. ¥/hilst humming through 

 our gardens they are assisting to propogatc our 

 floAvcrs, and their merry buzz in our orchards 

 indicates that the blossoms of spring will in au- 

 tumn fulfil their promise by abundance of fruit. 

 In Mr. Darwin's remarlvable work, " Tlie Fer- 

 tilization of Orchids," the mystery of the fruc- 

 tification of flowers is scientifically explained ; 

 but before the subject was so fully understood, 

 it v/as quite believed that bees in passing from 

 flower to flower performed some important ser- 

 vice. Owners of fruit trees have noticed, in a 

 season generally unfavorable for the orchard, 

 that if during only one flne forenoon the bees 

 had spread freely amongst the blossoms of a 

 l^articular tree, that it would prove more fruit- 

 ful tnan its fellows. On this account the orchard 

 is a good place for an apiary, for it seems 

 — more abundant tlie honey, more plentiful will 

 be tne fruit. Bees bear the fructifying matter 

 from one sex of flowers to the other, but they 

 confine their attention to one kind of flower 

 during each excursion, and the careful observer 

 may see how the color of the pollen on the 

 bodies of the bees will vary from yelloAV, to red 

 and brown, according to the kind of flowers 

 from which it has been gathered. The gather- 

 ing of pollen, its use by the nursing bees, and 

 the storing of it in the ct^ls, afford to the bee- 

 keeper opportunity for observations of exceed- 

 ing interest. — Neighbour. 



Propolis ; or, Bees' Cement, 



The old notion that wax is gathered by bees 

 from flowers as they gather honey, has long 

 since been set aside by the discoveries of Horn- 

 bostel and Huber. Wax is an oily substance 

 secreted from the honey in the bodies of the 

 bees, on which it forms in thin flakes. But 

 there is " a resinous substance, very tenacious 

 and semi-transparent," which is indispensable 

 for the bees as a cement wherewith to fix their 

 combs and fortify their hives against intruders, 

 and this is "propolis." The bees, in working 



the propolis, often soften it by blending it Avith 

 a portion of wax ; but they have to extract it 

 in its natural state directly from the bark and 

 buds of certain trees. The bark of the willoAV, 

 the leaf buds of the poplar and alder, and the 

 unopened blossoms of the hollyhock, are very 

 usual sources of the propolis. In the case of a 

 ncAV SAvarm, as bees must have this glue before 

 they can begin to build their combs, they will 

 resort to most unlikely places to obtain it. 

 Sometimes they will enter a paint shop and at- 

 tack the varnish, and it is said they have been 

 seen to obtain propolis from the jfitch and ri"-. 

 ging of a ship. These circumstances afford in- 

 telligible hints to the apiarian, Avho, if his bees 

 have not easy access to firs, poplars, or aa'H- 

 loAvs, Avill provide some glutinous or resinous 

 matter which may serve for a substitute. The 

 extracting of the propolis costs the bees very 

 considerable labor,' which they should be re- 

 lieved of as much as possible, in order to facili- 

 tate their great work of honey gathering. Bees 

 choose the warmer part oftheday during which 

 to gather propolis, as then it does uotso'rapidly 



