BEE PASTUEA&E. 77 



industry, as well as to prevent marauding, which is very- 

 important. 



To feed it advantageously, make a floor a few feet 

 square, with a curb around, three or four inches high, 

 to prevent waste. When practicable, feed rye, ground 

 very fine, and unbolted. The bees seem to like to work 

 out the flour and flne particles from among the bran, bet- 

 ter than to work in clear flour. Yet the latter will do 

 when the former is not to be obtained, but should be 

 mixed with cut straw or saw-dust. The bran left by the 

 bees may be fed to other stock. When the flowers yield 

 poUen in sufiicient quantities, they will no longer take the 

 flour. It should be remembered that flour feed is only 

 advantageous in the earliest part of the season. Unless 

 it can be given then, it is useless to take the trouble. 



SUESTITUTB FOB HONBT. 



A substitute for a small quantity of honey is found in 

 the sap of a few kinds of trees. A syrup made from su- 

 gar is a very good substitute for honey. 



MAKNBE OF PACKHSTG POLLES. 



The particular manner of packing pollen has been sat- 

 isfactorily witnessed by but very few persons, as the oper- 

 ation is mostly performed on the wing, thereby preventing 

 a fair chance for minutely inspecting it. When collecting 

 poUen only, they light upon the flowers, and pass rapidly 

 over the stamens, detaching a portion of the dust, which 

 lodges on most parts of them, and is brushed together, 

 and packed into pellets when they are again on the wing. 

 While the bees are gathering flour, the jprocess is more 

 readily seen. 



The Italians may often be seen appropriating old 

 Dits of comb that have been squeezed together, and 

 propolis from old boards of broken hives. They merely 



