THE APIARY. 
399 
late autumn feeding, and of stocks built up from 
condemned bees. Sometimes, also, in old-standing 
colonies, the pollen of the autumn, in the central 
combs, has desiccated so as to be useless, while that 
of the outside ones has mildewed and spoiled. One of 
the signs of returning activity will then be the removal 
of the first-mentioned, indurated masses, which the 
bees, with admirable perseverance, tug at and teaze 
until they accomplish their dislodgment. These are 
then dragged to the alighting-board, where, in the 
spring, they may be frequently observed in some 
numbers. Under these circumstances, farinaceous 
bodies exposed in bulk will often be taken by bees in 
considerable amount, and to their great advantage. 
Artificial pollen^ now largely used in many apiaries 
as an aid to brood-raising, we owe to the obser- 
vations and suggestions of the great German bee- 
master, Dzierzon. He noticed very early one spring 
that his bees were carrying home flour, which they 
had stolen from a neighbouring mill. He profited by 
the hint, and quickly gave them this substance close 
at hand, with results in the highest degree satisfactory. 
Rye-flour and chesnut-flour — the latter at a high price 
— have constantly been insisted upon as especially 
suitable. Their chemical constituents, however, show 
the first To be unequal to wheat-flour, and greatly 
inferior to oatmeal, while the second is far less desir- 
able than pea-flour. 
A good plan for giving it is to place, loosely, 
some clean shavings in a skep, in a sunny corner, 
sprinkling the pea-flour thickly upon them. A 
wind screen, and a sheet of glass some few inches 
