1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1015 



"I supposed the white clover yielded only 

 honey." 



"Have you never noticed a dark greenish- 

 brown pollen on the bees at this time of the 

 year'.'" 



"Yes, but I never knew where it came 

 from." 



"That is from white, red, and alsike clo- 

 ver." 



"How do you know?" 



"By watching the bees when on the clo- 

 ver-blossoms. This same pollen is what is 

 stored in the combs mostly to carry over the 

 winter, and the same that our fathers used 

 to call "bee-bread." 



"Is that so? I have seen piles and piles of 

 bee-bread, but had no idea it was clover pol- 

 len. Do bees that gather pollen gather hon- 

 ey also, or are there two classes?" 



"What do you mean by two classes?" 



"Just this: One class of bees that gather 

 only pollen dui'ing their lifetime, and an- 

 other class that gather only nectar or honey?" 



"Then I should answer that there are not 

 two separate classes " 



"What then?" 



"The held bee may gather nectar and no 

 pollen, or it may gather pollen and no nec- 

 tar, doing the same on the same day. In 

 other words, the same bee may gather only 

 pollen in ,the forenoon and only nectar iu 

 the afternoon." 



"Is not the most of the pollen gathered in 

 the morning?" 



"That depends upon what the pollen is 

 being gathered from. Mainly, it would be 

 right; but with hard maple and the clovers, 

 especially the clovers, the most will be gath- 

 ered in the afternoon, for the reason that 

 the bees gather very little from the clovers 

 before 9:30 a. m." 



" Do bees gather both pollen and honey at 

 the same trip?" 



"Not from corn-tassel, Indian plantain, 

 and such like pollen-producers only; but 

 where dowers yield both honey and pollen, 

 both are gathered on the same trip." 



" But some claim bees do not gather both 

 on the same trip, do they not?" 



" Yes. I was noting only a short time ago 

 that so good an authority as Dr. Miller gave 

 utterance to this in the Americmi Bee Jour- 

 nal; but doubtless he had not thought of ex- 

 amining a bee coming in with that greenish- 

 brown pollen from clover, for had he done 

 so it is almost sure he would not have penned 

 what he did." 



"Perhaps he would call that bee-bread and 

 not pollen." 



"I hardly think that, for there is more clo- 

 ver pollen gathered during each year than 

 from any other plant or tree which blooms, 

 owing to the time of the flowering of clover 

 covering a much longer period than any oth- 

 er one kind of tree or plant. But only 

 the close observer notices this pollen, as it is 

 so near the color of the pollen- baskets of the 

 bees, so they go in with it unobserved, while 

 the lighter-colored pollen attracts the eye 

 just the instant the bee is noted." 



' ' But how do you know that bees carry 



both nectar and pollen on the same trip 

 when working on clover?" 



" By catching a returning bee and dissect- 

 ing it, or causing it by gentle pressure of the 

 abdomen to throw out the nectar on the 

 tongue." 



"That is proof, sure. Now just one more 

 question and I must be going. You told us 

 in one of your conversations to keep conibs 

 of honey for feeding in the spring, but you 

 did not say how to keep the honey in them 

 from granulating. How is this doiae?" 



"I lake no special pains to prevent the 

 granulation of the honey in such combs. In 

 fact, I never thought of the matter before. 

 I leave ihem with the bees till I clean all 

 honey off the hives in the fall, when it is 

 piled away in the hives, just as left by the 

 bees when they are run down off it through 

 a Porter bee-escape. At the out-apiary these 

 hives are simply stacked up as was given in " A 

 Year's Work at the Out-apiary," and left 

 thus till I wish to use them for feeding in the 

 spring. Those at the home apiary are car- 

 ried to the storeroom in the shop, and so left 

 till wanted in the spring or early summer, 

 and I never had any granulated honey thrown 

 out at the entrance from such combs, that 

 I remember. Honey soon liquefies, where 

 granulated, when with a good colony of bees 

 during the summer heat, which often comes 

 during May in this locality. If I had any 

 trouble from granulated honey being thrown 

 out of the hive l^y the bees I would store 

 the combs in a warm room during the win- 

 ter, so that the honey might remain liquid." 



Be careful not to allow caged queens or 

 bees to remain in the sun or any hot place. 

 A few days ago I caged a queen with the 

 usual escort to take to an out-apiary. The 

 cage was in the pocket of a dark-colored coat 

 which was left lying on the wagon-seat. Two 

 or three hours later all were dead. 



We all know how bees will collect around 

 a cage that has held a queen. Has any one 

 noticed that drones will do the same? It is 

 new to me; but yesterday, among the bunch 

 of bees that gathered on a cage that had held 

 a queen for several days, were three drones. 



Bicycle trousers- guards have been recom- 

 mended for keeping the bees from crawling 

 up where they are not wanted. A light rub- 

 ber band is even more effective. A supply 

 of them can be kept in the pocket at all 

 times, and they do not weigh much or take 

 up much room. 



