BEE MANUAL. 97 



The grains of pollen, although so minute as to form an almost 

 impalpable dust, exhibit when viewed through a powerful 

 microscope very beautiful and distinctive markings, according 

 to the plants from which they are obtained. The engraving 

 (Fig. 33) shows four different sorts of grains ; that marked A 

 being from the hollyhock ; the sources of the other grains are 

 not given in Eoot's "ABC of Bee Culture," from which the 

 illustration is taken. 



Previous to Huber's experiments, bee-bread was supposed to 

 be used in comb-building. He, however, proved, as we have 

 seen, that comb could be built by the bees in confinement, by 

 being fed with honey or sugar syrup alone. He was not long 

 in discovering that pollen was used for the nourishment of the 

 young bees. Confining some bees to their hives without pollen, 

 he supplied them with larvae, honey, and eggs. In a short 

 time the young all died. A fresh supply of brood being given 

 them, with plenty of pollen, the development of the larvse pro- 

 ceeded in the natural way. The following analysis of bee-bread 

 is taken from the Journal of Horticulture : — 



Artificial nitrogenous organic substance 



Water 



Ash 



Albuminous . 



Sugar 



36 '59 

 1274 

 2-72 

 21-75 

 26-20 



100 00 

 Here we find nitrogen and albumen predominating. 



The mode in which the bee-bread is deposited in the comb- 

 cells is graphically described in the British Bee Journal for 

 May, 1876, as follows : — 



" The pollen laden bee, upon entering the hive, makes directly for 

 the brood nest, and where its load is required, it quickly disencumbers 

 itself. Sometimes the nurse bees are in want of the all-necessary 

 pollen, and nibble it from the legs of the worker without ceremony ; 

 but more often the bee goes to a cell devoted to pollen-storing and 

 hangs by its first pair of legs to another cell immediately above, and 

 (as it were) kicks the balls of pollen into the proper receptacles. Here 

 they are mixed with a little honey and kneaded into a, stiff paste, 

 which is then rammed hard against the bottom of the cell for future 

 use, the bee using her head as a battering ram ; these operations are 

 repeated until the cell is almost filled with the kneaded dough, when 

 a little clear honey is placed on the top, and it is sealed over and 

 preserved as bee-bread. If a cell full of pollen be cut in two longitu- 



H 



