BREEDING. 11] 



pollen. But if they cannot procure the former, the latter must 

 be given (320). Pea flour makes an excellent substitute for 

 natural pollen. It may be dredged into the vacant cells of an 

 outside frame and placed beside the brood combs (183); it 

 may be dropped into the blossoms of crocus or other spring- 

 flowers adjacent to the hives ; or it may be exposed in the 

 apiary, in a small box, protected from rain, and upon it may 

 be laid a few straws on which the bees may alight. The effect 

 of a good supply of pollen in the spring is often very remark- 

 able. Forming, as it does, a very necessary ingredient "of bee 

 food, it stimulates brood rearing and adds an air of busy 

 industry to the whole apiary, with results very desirable to the 

 bee-keeper who wishes to have his colonies built up to full 

 strength before the opening of the honey flow (255). 



" An Experiment. — I am the happy owner of a small garden. In 

 it grow many plants and shruba, and some fruit trees. Among them 

 are a companion pair of pretty daphne shrubs. It is natural to 

 them to come forth in full bloom at the end of February, while there 

 is not yet a leaf to shelter their bare branches. Just at that time we 

 got a few warm sunny days, and forth from every hive came myriads 

 of delighted workers. The air was thick with them, and a few con- 

 descended to test the nectaries of the daphne flowers ; but the aerial 

 dance of the others was too entrancing to permit their following the 

 lowly example set them. I fancied that this was a good opportunity 

 for the distribution of artificial pollen, and procured a supply of flour, 

 which I dredged over the shrubs. Immediately the shrubs became 

 two living bouquets. Never did I witness such a desire for hard 

 work; and in quite a little time bees were returning to their hives 

 with pellets of pollen as soft as floss. I repeated the experiment twice 

 a day while the warm weather lasted, and I have no doubt but this 

 aided to bring my stocks into the congested condition they now are 

 in, the majority calling visibly for supers at the end of April," — M. J. 

 O'Doherty, in the Irish Bee Journal. 



Under such treatment breeding will proceed apace. And, to 

 still further hasten the growth of the colonies, the operation of 

 " spreading the brood " is resorted to. 



193. Spreading the Brood Spreading the brood consists in 



enlarging the brood nest by the insertion, in the centre of 

 it, of frames of drawn out comb, or of comb foundation. 

 This is an operation which should not be attempted by inex- 

 perienced bee-keepers. It must not be recklessly performed, 

 nor without due regard to the strength of the colony ; because, 

 if the brood nest be enlarged beyond the covering capacity of 

 the bees, brood will be chilled, and much mischief may ensue 

 (338). But, where wisely and carefully carried out, the effect 

 of spreading the brood is to quickly increase the strength of 

 the colony. For, the queen, finding vacant cells in the centre 



