90 BEE-FARMING. 



observing his colonies carry it into the hives from a mill 

 close by. If the queen can be persuaded to deposit her 

 eggs early in the season, it must have the effect of 

 strengthening the stocks with young bees, and they be- 

 come exceedingly strong just vs^hen the honey-harvest is 

 commencing; thus a great advantage is gained. Many 

 stocks are, comparatively speaking, worthless, simply be- 

 cause weak through being late hatched. It should be 

 borne in mind, when seeking a substitute for pollen, that 

 it is a substance highly nitrogenous ; both unbolted 

 wheaten, rye, and barley flour contain a fair propor- 

 tion of nitrogen, and might be serviceable in very late 

 seasons. A good plan to feed the hives with flour is to 

 place it on a large dinner-plate at a little distance from the 

 apiary, and on stands about the same height from the 

 ground as the hives, care being especially exercised to keep 

 the flour very dry and free from moisture. 



Each bee collects, apparently only from one kind of 

 plant. We judge this, because if they gathered it from 

 several different kinds of plants the pollen would doubtless 

 be of several colours. After most careful scrutiny I have 

 never observed a bee with more than one colour of pollen 

 on its legs. 



The bees in spring, when new pollen begins to be 

 plentiful, although they may have a large stock of last 

 year's pollen in the hive, disregard this and prefer the new 

 bee-bread ; but, if unfavourable weather comes on, the old 

 pollen rapidly disappears. 



Our large timber or forest trees yield a rich harvest of 

 bee-bread for the bees. About one of the first trees which 

 afford aid to the hives is the elm ; long before its leaves 

 appear the naked branches are clothed with thousands of 

 clusters of reddish-looking flowers, and one of the most 

 pleasant sounds in early spring is the hum of bees gathering 

 pollen from the elm avenue, especially on a fine day, 



