March. 1922 GLEANINGS IN 



obtained from pollen, inasnnicli as the analy- 

 sis of pollen shows the presence of sugar. 

 Some Deductions. 



While the chemical analysis of larval food 

 presents many new things to the beekeeper 

 I feel that it presents the most to the queen- 

 breeder. We know that the feeding period 

 of the queen larvae is about 5% days, or 

 about 132 hours. All that any bee, queen, 

 drone or worker, will deliver in terms of 

 eflicieuey, is determined during the larval 

 feeding period. For every hour less than 

 132 hours that a queen-larva is not fed on an 

 excessive amount of larval food, at least 

 1% should be deducted in terms of de- 

 creased efficiency. 



Vitamines in Honey. 



At the suggestion of one of the professors 

 I carried on some feeding experiments to 

 determine, if possible, if larval food is rich 

 in either fat-soluble "A" or water soluble 

 "B" vitamines, since this might throw a 

 great deal of light on the subject of the 

 great feeding value of larval food. 



Young rats were fed on purified food- 

 stuffs that were lacking in one of the vita- 

 mines. The rats were kept on such a ration 

 until they were in a sensitized condition, 

 that is, until they were in such a condition 

 that they would respond very quickly to the 

 addition of this accessory. 



Two young rats were fed on a complete 

 ration, except that it lacked the fat-soluble 

 "A," tho it was rich in water soluble "B," 

 owing to the presence of 10 grams of wheat 

 embryo. The ration fed was as follows: 



RATION PERIOD 1. PERIOD 2. 



Grams 10% of larval food re- 

 Casein 18.0 placed an equivalent 



Agar 2.0 amount of dextrin. 



Salt 3.7 



Dextrin 76.3 



Part of the dextrin car- 

 ried the alcoholic ex- 

 tract of 10 grams of 

 ■wheat embryo. 



The larval food was given at the begin- 

 ning of the second period. During the first 

 week, the young rats made a slight gain in 

 weight. However, during the second week 

 they lost in weight. At the end of three 

 weeks rat No. 2 ate rat No. 1 and during the 

 fourth week showed a slight increase in 

 weight, but did not grow as a normal rat 

 should. From this it is evident that the fat 

 soluble vitamiue "A" is either lacking, or 

 is present in only small amounts in larval 

 food. However, it is highly probable that 

 it is present in sufficient amounts to promote 

 the natural growth of bee larvae, since all 

 experiments that have been conducted seem 

 to prove that the two vitamines mentioned 

 are necessary for the normal development 

 of all animal life. 



Another lot of young rats were at the 

 same time fed on another complete diet, 

 except that the ration lacked the water 

 soluble "B" vitamine. The ration fed was 

 as follows: 



BEE CULTURE 



153 



RATION PERIOD 1. PERIOD 2. 



Grams 10% of larval food re- 

 Casein 18.0 placed an equivalent 



Agar 2.0 amount of dextrin. 



Salt 3.7 



Dextrin 71.3 



Butter fat 5.0 



The coni])ositioii of tlie salt mixture used 

 in the above ration and also in tlie previous 

 ration was as follows: 



Grams 



Sodium chloride 0,173 



Magnesium sulphate 0.266 



Sodium hydrogen phosphate 0.347 



Potassium hydrogen phosphate 0.954 



Calcium hydrogen phosphate 0.540 



Iron citrate 0.118 



Calcium lactate 1.300 



This mixture would supply a normal 

 amount of mineral matter in each instance, 

 allowing no argument that lack of growth 

 was due to lack of mineral matter. 



When the young rats were in a sensitized 

 condition, 10% of larval food was added to 

 the ration, replacing an equivalent amount 

 of dextrin. 



The animals immediately began to grow 

 again and take on weight. In every way 

 they grew as a normal rat should. It is 

 clearly evident that larval food contains 

 considerable quantities of water soluble 

 "B, " enough to promote the normal growth 

 of rats. 



Larval food might be considered an end 

 product of pollen and honey. Inasmuch as 

 no fat soluble "A" is present in larval 

 food to an extent sufficient to promote the 

 normal growth of rats, it is fair and logical 

 to believe that this accessory is not found 

 in large quantities in honey. However, it 

 is fair to assume that it is present in minute 

 quantities — enough to promote the normal 

 growth of the larvae. 



In recent experiments, Professor P. B. 

 Hawk of Jefferson Medical College, Phila- 

 delphia, proves that water soluble "B" is 

 present in honey in only minute quantities, 

 so that he was unable to secure the normal 

 growth of rats when extracted honey was 

 added to the ration. Therefore, it is fair 

 to assume that the abundance ,of water 

 soluble "B" in larval food, is derived at 

 least largely from pollen. This corresponds 

 with the statement I made in "The Bee- 

 keepers' Item" in 1918. Professor Hawk 

 shows that fat-soluble "A" is present in 

 comb honey. 



Does this mean that extracted honey is 

 not a good food? Certainly not. Extracted 

 honey always was and always will be a good 

 food. As a readily available source of en- 

 ergy, few foods can compare with it. Mere- 

 ly because it does not contain an appreci- 

 able amount of vitamines, it cannot be dis- 

 counted as a food. What it lacks in this, it 

 makes up for in its availableness as a food. 

 Beekeepers, as a whole, will get the farthest 

 by sticking to facts. There is no need of 

 making vitamines a talking point in adver- 

 tising honey, but talk palatability. 



Oconomowoc, Wig, 



