164 DR. miller's 



in which to mail the sample, together with a frank to pay 

 postage. 



Pines. — Q. Do bees ever make honey from pines? My bees 

 are bringing in quite a little honey now, August 9, when usually 

 there is nothing in this section except a few cowpeas that about 

 feed the bees. It has been very dry here for three weeks, 

 following an unusually wet spell. During most of this time the 

 majority of the pines in this place have been covered with bees, 

 and a fine-flavored honey is being stored. (Tennessee.) 



A. Yes, bees store from pines and, in some parts of Europe, 

 very largely. 



Pollen. — Q. My bees are coming in from the fields with their 

 legs loaded with pollen, and there is nothing in bloom here but 

 red elm and a few little wild flowers. Do you think they work 

 on red elm? 



A. Yes, bees work on any of the elms. They may also be 

 working on something else that you know nothing about. Bees 

 can beat us humans a long way in finding nectar or pollen. 



Q. Last spring my bees gathered pollen from maple trees 

 (not sugar maple) as soon as it was warm enough for them to fly. 

 Will they need to be fed flour? 



A. No; with plenty of soft or red maples, they will need no 

 substitute for pollen. 



Q. In winter, it bees run out of honey stores, will they feed 

 upon the stored pollen? Is it as good as the honey stores? 



A. No; when the honey is all gone they will starve to death, 

 leaving plenty of pollen in the hive. 



Q. Where can I get a kind of bee-powder or food that is fed 

 to bees to make them work better and produce more honey? My 

 neighbor uses such, but refuses to tell me where he got it or 

 what it is. It looks something like wheat flour. Bees like it very 

 much. 



A. There is no sort of secret powder or food that can be 

 given to bees to make them do more unless it be honey and 

 pollen, and there's no secret about that. The thing probably 

 meant in the present case is some kind of meal used in place of 

 pollen. In the spring, when the weather is good, and yet there is 

 no pollen to be had, set out a box or dish of any kind containing 

 some kind of meal, and the bees will take it in place of pollen. 

 Grain of any kind ground will answer. The kind I have used 

 more than any other is ground oats and corn — the kind that cat- 

 tle and horses eat, that kind being conveniently on hand. Put a 

 stone or block under one side of the box, and when the bees dig 



