94 BEE-FARMING 



carrying no pollen to the hive the queen has not com- 

 menced to deposit her eggs. It is a joyous sign to the 

 bee-master to see the little workers (really very small in 

 size after the winter's idleness) loaded with pollen early 

 m the year ; he knows then that all is doing well inside 

 the hive, the queen must be healthy, and it is also the 

 best sign he can have that he may look for early swarms ; 

 but, if no bee-bread has been carried in by March, he 

 should begin to suspect that something is wrong. The 

 hive ought to be at once overhauled, the queen examined 

 — most probably the hive under these circumstances will 

 be found queenless. 



If the worker bee is carefully observed, it will be seen, 

 covered with small hairs, and if followed to the flower 

 where pollen is abundant it will be seen to roll itself over 

 the anthers, or by going down the tubes of the flower 

 the pollen dust falls upon it, then it scrapes as it were the 

 pollen off its legs, and gathers it together in a hollow (in 

 bee-books called a basket) on the thigh. When the laden 

 bsc has returned to the hive, it somehow attracts the 

 attention of others ; these, perhaps engaged in feeding 

 the larva, take a portion, sometimes all the pollen, from 

 its legs. This may be required for immediate use, as 

 suggested by Langstroth ; however, the hard-worked bee 

 is not always aided in unloading, for often when the 

 pollen is being brought to the hive in abundance the bee 

 has to take and press it down one of the cells. It is very 

 interesting to watch this operation ; it places the lower 

 half of the body in the cell and scrapes off the pollen with 

 its legs in the same manner that it pressed it on the thighs 

 when in the flower. Not unfrequently the bee finds it 

 difficult to press the pollen in lumps on its legs ; then in 

 this dilemma it rolls amongst the anthers, and returns to 

 the hive with its body thickly covered with the powder. 

 We have tried to find out the reason for this non-adhesive- 



