PRODUCTS OF BEES 135 



The chestnut trees are, I believe, a favourite 

 source from which this substance is gathered, and 

 where these are abundant, propolis is freely used. 

 Bees will also frequently collect it from varnished 

 surfaces, and I have frequently seen them carrying 

 it away from an old hive. They transport it in 

 the same way as they do pollen, that is, by packing 

 it into the pollen basket. It has been suggested 

 that a creditable varnish could be obtained from 

 propolis, but it seems hardly worth while taking 

 it in this second-hand fashion, when we are able 

 to procure it from pine trees much more readily. 



Pollen, of course, is only another form of 

 farinaceous food, and the amount collected by 

 bees would not be worth taking from them. 

 They consume vast quantities of it, not only for 

 brood rearing, but also as a heat and force-produc- 

 ing element of their own diet. 



Pollen is stored in the cells in large quantities 

 just as honey is. It having a very strong tendency 

 to go mouldy, the bees cover up all that is to 

 be kept for winter use with honey, this forming 

 an effectual preservative. Beyond keeping the air 

 out, they do nothing to preserve the honey, which, 

 like all sugary materials, is practically everlast- 

 ing. A notion has got abroad somehow that in 

 order to assist in keeping the honey, the bees put 

 some of their acid into it. This is giving them 

 credit for more intelligence than they really 

 possess, or, perhaps, it is the other way about. 



