Nov. 1, 1911 



653 



ed with a thin coat of balsam which the 

 nurse bees can not digest, and that this 

 rises to the top of the stomach, together 

 with dead grains of pollen and the husks of 

 other pollen grains, and the bees spit it out 

 on the sides and in the crevices of the hives, 

 but never on new combs. He states that 

 propolis is the oil or balsam covering all pol- 

 len grains intermingled with other sub- 

 stances, as wax or old pollen, and that the 

 use of this balsam is to protect the pollen 

 from moisture, and assist it in sticking to 

 insects to be carried thence to the stigma of 

 some other blossom. The stigmas of flowers 

 do not need this assistance, however, for at 

 the proper time to receive pollen they throw 

 out moisture for this purpose. He adds that 

 these pollen grains will gobble up water like 

 a sponge. Surely, then, this coating of 

 balsam must be extremely thin or utterly 

 fail. He says that it required five times as 

 much water as pollen to moisten it in the 

 stomach of nursing bees, and that for no 

 other purpose do bees require water. I won- 

 der if he has ever moved bees in hot weather. 



According to his theory, the amount of 

 balsam which is the base of propolis is pro- 

 duced by the nurse bees in exact proportion 

 to the amount of pollen they consume. 

 Further he says, " the emulsion is also pass- 

 ed out to younger and older bees, which pro- 

 cess of passing it about purifies what we 

 term the milk, and strains it, removing the 

 pollen husks." Thus he makes the process 

 of preparing food for the young bees merely 

 the emulsion of pollen and separation of the 

 balsam and pollen husks. No honey is re- 

 quired, according to his way of reasoning. 

 The rapidity with which honey disappears 

 from a hive when rapid brood-rearing is in 

 progress would indicate that something be- 

 sides an emulsion of pollen grains and wa- 

 ter is required to feed the young bees. 



Again, he states that a pollen grain under 

 a microscope is perfectly solid. Prof. Asa 

 Gray, a very good authority, says that a pol- 

 len grain has a cavity filled with a fluid in 

 which minute specks often float. 



Dr. Kuestenmacher thinks that grains of 

 pollen that do not not absorb water rapidly 

 are dead and of no special value to the bees, 

 but that these grains rise and attach them- 

 selves to small drops of balsam at the upper 

 surface of the stomach, and the shaking of 

 the nurse bees hastens the process of sepa- 

 ration, just as the agitation of cream sepa- 

 rates the butter from the milk. But not all 

 of the balsam and pollen husks are separat- 

 ed, for, being indigestible, traces of them 

 are found in the intestines and excrements 

 of bees. 



His theory is that the bees do not besmear 

 the combs with drops of balsam ; yet one often 

 finds new propolis in little pellets on new 

 combs, and near the close of the season the 

 bees try to seal unfinished combs with it, or 

 with wax mixed with it. 



If the color of fresh propolis is yellow to 

 red, and the balsam penetrates the wax and 

 gives it its color, why is olive-colored wax 

 found in some sections of the country? 



Large quantities of wax and propolis melted 

 together as he suggests, do not unite. 



Jf it were true that all pollen grains are 

 coated with balsam, and this balsam is pro- 

 duced just in proportion to the amount of 

 pollen the nursing bees consume, propolis 

 would be as abundant in May and June dur- 

 ing brood-rearing, when the largest amount 

 of jwllen is consumed, as later in the sea- 

 son. Instead there is practically no new 

 propolis until July, after which it abounds, 

 whether the bees are using pollen or not. 



I have never observed that a queen less 

 hive, where no pollen was used, was free 

 from propolis. Or is it a question of diges- 

 tion, the nurse bees being able to digest 

 the pollen grains, balsam, pollen husks, and 

 all, up to the last of June, when their diges- 

 tioij rapidly fails them, and the propolis 

 nuisance appears? 



Is the digestion of some strains of bees, 

 or breeds of bees, better than others, that 

 there is so much less propolis in their hives? 



Middlebury, Vt, 



[This article is in line with statements 

 by Arthur C. Miller on page 627. — Ed.] 



SOURED HONEY, 



Should it be Fed to Bees in the Fall ? 



BY E. D. TOWN SEND. 



Mr. E. D. Townsend: — What is your opinion in re- 

 gard to feeding bees honey that started to ferment 

 in the comb before extracting, although the combs 

 were well sealed? Would such honey be good to 

 feed bees for winter, or would it injure them in any 

 way? Would it help it to boil it? I have several 

 gallons of such honey. Although it does not affect 

 the taste very much, would it not be likely to fer- 

 ment still more? I shall not offer it for sale, but 

 would like very much to feed It if I can safely do 

 so. 



Morenci, Mich., Sept. 18. Akthur Rice. 



[Mr. Townsend replies:] 



There is so much disease prevalent in 

 Michigan that I would not recommend feed- 

 ing honey to bees at any time. Sell your 

 honey and buy granulated sugar, and make 

 a syrup consisting of one part water and 

 two parts granulated sugar, and you have 

 a feed that is the equal of any, and very 

 much superior to poor honey as a winter 

 food for bees. 



I would not offer this fermented honey 

 for sale for table use, but bakers can often 

 use it. 



We have never had the trouble you men- 

 tion, of honey fermenting on the hive, here 

 in Mecosta or Charlevoix Co.; but when we 

 had bees in Clinton Co., a few years ago, 

 some few colonies nearly every year would 

 have some of this thin watery honey. We 

 have had honey, sealed up in good shape, 

 that would be thin, and ferment, so that air- 

 bubbles would be present, and the honey, 

 when being uncapped, would run like wa- 

 ter. Perhaps two or three colonies in a yard 

 would be in this condition, while the others 

 would have thick well-ripened honey. It 

 was easy to keep this low grade of honey 

 separate from the main crop, as one could 

 tell the minute the uncapping-knife entered 

 the comb, for it would slip through as if 



