POLLEN. 87 



texture compared with wax, it would suffice to con- 

 vince the most skeptical that not even a trace of 

 similarity exists between the two. 



Pollen, or farina, in the language of botanists, are 

 terms applied to the powdery particles discharged by 

 the anthers of flowers. The color, as well as the 

 structure of pollen, varies in different plants. Its use 

 in fecundating the germs of flowers is well known, 

 and is pretty well understood by naturalists and bot- 

 anists. The honey bee renders very essential aid in 

 accomplishing this purpose, by passing from flower 

 to flower, never visiting any but one variety of 

 flowers at a time, thus disseminating this fructifying 

 substance amongst the flowers in a manner scarcely 

 possible to be attained in any other way. 



Huber was probably the first to demonstrate that 

 the principal purpose for which bees collect pollen, is 

 to feed and nourish the embryo bees ; which accords 

 well with what we find in the animal kingdom, where 

 the food of the young is quite different from that 

 consumed by adults. Dr. Hunter made a careful 

 dissection and examination of the stomachs of young 

 bees when in a maggot state, and found farina, or 

 pollen, in all, but not a particle of honey in any of 

 them. Huber believes the pollen undergoes a pecu- 

 liar elaboration in the stomachs of the nursing bees, 

 to prepare it properly for the nourishment of the 

 larva. 



Huber shut up a swarm of bees with some young 

 brood, but without any pollen at all, supplying them 

 liberally with honey; they very soon manifested un- 



