POLLEN AND POLLEN SUBSTITUTES 127 



satisfying substitute is apparent. Since pea-flour more 

 nearly approximates natural pollen, the author prefers 

 to feed this meal, though the fact must be faced that the 

 food is inert. 



SUBSTITUTES. 



Bees, when pushed, will accept a number of sub- 

 stances, such as flour (wheaten and rye) ; oatmeal, and 

 cheese makers report bees carrying off the "dust" that 

 accumulates on the maturing shelves. This "dust" is 

 nothing more or less than living animalculae, and is, 

 perhaps, the best and most valuable substitute for natural 

 pollen. Wheaten flour is carried into the hives all right, 

 but it dries into a paste-like condition, that takes con- 

 siderable work to remove it from the cells when it has 

 become too hard for use. Bee-keepers place a number of 

 flat trays containing flour about the apiary and the bees 

 carry it packed in pellets, similar to the genuine article. 

 They waste considerably in this way and it entails a deal 

 of wear and tear on bees already impoverished. 



The author has had better success by mixing pea-meal 

 — with a pinch of salt added — into a thick paste with 

 honey, and after plastering it into an empty comb, giving 

 it directly to the brood-nest. Last autumn a fair colony 

 cleaned out a i/4 lb. of this mixture in one night, and, on 

 examination of the brood-nest next morning, not a trace 

 of pea-meal could be found. That the brood beneflted is 

 quite apparent, for it is the strongest colony in a yard of 

 one hundred. 



Most hives in winter have no brood or eggs, and this 

 is to be preferred, when no natural pollen is available in 

 late autumn. Eecently a recommendation has been made 

 to cook the meal or flour, but this is not advisable since 

 it renders the substitute more inert than ever.* Milk in 



* Professor Osborne, D.Sc, has stated tliat the ' Vitamines '—the abbence of which 

 in po]ished rice canses Beri Beri — are present in some form or another in all fresh food, 

 but many forms of preservation entirely destroy the substance. 



