7-28 



GLEAl^INGS IN BEE CULTURE 



anthers, because they are composed of a 

 moist compact mass of grains which have 

 been slowly collected and manipulated by 

 the bees' legs. 



WHITE-CLOVER POLLEN IN THE HIVES. 



The Avhite-clover honey-flow is now at its 

 full height here, and the bees are so busy 

 that I can stand by the side of the Irve 

 entrance and watch the incoming and out- 

 going bees without being attacked. The 

 season has been a very wet one, and never 

 before within memory have the white-clover 

 blossoms been so abundant in the fields and 

 along the roadsides. Here and there masses 

 of white and red clover are mingled with 

 purple vetch, and vie with the flower-gar- 

 dens in attractiveness. On many of the 

 home-coming bees I can see no pollen, Avhile 

 others bear little brown balls, evidently 

 composed of white-clover pollen. 



Three hives were opened, and the frames 

 examined for pollen. In none of them was 

 there a large quantity of pollen ; indeed, 

 with every desire to be perfectly fair I 

 should say that they contained a small 

 am.ount of pollen. From two of the frames 

 of one of these hives I took samples of 

 brown pollen which apparently might be 

 from white clover. To my surprise the com- 

 pound microscope showed neither of the 



samples lo consist of white-clover pollen, 

 for the grains were round or globular, with 

 a rougliened surface. After the pollen has 

 been packed in the frames, no matter what 

 its source, it seems very generally to have 

 a dark-brown appearance. 



Compared with its value as a honey-plant, 

 white clover is of little importance for pol- 

 len. The pollen cannot be gathered direct- 

 ly, and occurs in small quantities in indi- 

 vidual flowers. Much that is rubbed off on 

 the under side of a bee's head is again de- 

 posited on the stigmas of flowers visited 

 later. In most localities, I believe that bees 

 will be found to collect a compara1i\ ly 

 small amount. But sometimes great results 

 may come from small causes, as when great 

 cliffs are sculptured by grains of sand blown 

 against them thru the ages. Where wliite 

 clover is very abundant, and its bloom 

 whitens great areas, as has been pictured 

 several times in Gleanings, and the flow 

 lasts for a long time, perhaps the total 

 amount of pollen brought in may be large; 

 but it is exceedingly small compared with 

 the quantity of nectar gathered. Even in 

 these cases the pollen should be examined 

 under the microscope before a conclusion is 

 drawn. 



Waldoboro, Me. 



THE PAST SEASON IN NEW ZEALAND 



BY E. G. WARD 



The reader should rememlier that the seasons in 

 summer coming durinff our winter. — Ed. 



The season of 1915—1910 in New Zealand 

 was one of the most remarkable on record. 

 Reports from the North Island indicate that 

 the output has been rather below the aver- 

 age. The spring was cold, wet, and bois- 

 terous; and to keep the bees alive, feeding 

 had to be resorted to as late as the middle 

 of November in some districts. 



The southernmost districts of the South 

 Island, on the contrary, enjoyed one of the 

 finest seasons on record for all agricultural 

 pursuits. The beekeepers in most cas°s had 

 splendid returns, and a late flow from cats- 

 car and thistles obviated any necessity of 

 feeding for winter stores. 



In Canterbury and North Otago (th.? 

 central districts of the Dominion) the sea- 

 son was the worst ever experienced. The 

 season of 1914 — 1915 was bad enough; but 

 the one just ended was still worse. Many 

 colonies died dui'ing the summer on accouni, 

 of the drouth. One man had only 60 left 

 out of 300. Many artesian wells which had 

 never been known to fail previously went 

 dry, and cattle gave only about half their 



New Zealand are just the opposite from ours — their 



usual (juantity of milk. There was a severe 

 frost on the morning of Nov. 22, which cut 

 doAvn clover just as it began to yield, lud 

 another on Dec. 30. Dee. lo^was the liot- 

 test day in eig'ht years, and the foUowiiig 

 day nearly as bad.- Very little extracting, 

 was done; and if feeding was neglected 

 thei'e will be a big percentage of empty 

 hives next spring. 



The rainfall for the last three years h.is 

 been diminishing, and was only about half 

 the normal for the year 1915. 



Three successive dry Avinters brougiit 

 matters to a climax, as the following figures 

 for Christchurch (Canterbury Provini^e) 

 during recent years will show : 



Year Inches Year Inches 



1902 28.780 1909 32.282 



1903 18.998 1910 2.'i.l81 



1904 33.351 1911 29.253 



1905 28.440 1912 27.2'M 



1906 29.496 1913 27.384 



1907 19.50R 1914 20.380 



1908 25.417 1915 15.694 



