FOOD FOR INFANT-BEES. 193 



POLLEN, OR FOOD FOR INFANT-BEES. 



Bees, when fully grown, feed almost wholly on honey; 

 but the larvae require for their development a more sub- 

 stantial kind of nourishment. Such solid fare is found 

 by the bees in the pollen of flowers, a farina which con- 

 tains some of those nitrogenous elements in whidi honey 

 is deficient. The body of a worker-bee is covered with 

 hairs, to which the pollen adheres when, by contact wifli 

 the bee, it is rubbed from the anthers and stamens" 

 of flowers (see page 41). Dewy mornings or humid 

 bowers suit the bees for the gathering of the pollen. If the 

 atmosphere be too dry for kneading it into pellets, they 

 roll themselves in the blossoms and trust to the good offices 

 of the bees at home, who, on their return, brush off the 

 &rina into the cells intended for it. A portion of thfe 

 "bee-bread" is taken at once by the "nursing- bees," 

 who are supposed to subject it to some change before 

 offering it to the larvae ; but the greater part «f thfe 

 pollen is stored away and sealed over in the cdls for 

 future use. In April and May, the bees are frequently 

 busy "aU the day " in gathering- pollen, and often on€ 

 community of bees will collect aboat twenty pounds 

 weight of "beeJiread " in one season. 



One of the objects of the apiarian is to assist the bees 

 in providing for the nurslings of the hive. A Grermati 

 pastor, Herr Dzierzon, first suggested the plan of proi- 

 viding the bees with "unbolted rye meal," as a substi- 



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