THE APIARY. 
401 
loaded, fly off to their hive, as white and as merry 
as the miller and his men. The pea-flour is packed 
so smoothly and closely upon the legs, that it glistens 
with a polish, and is semi-transparent. It is filled 
into the cells of the brood-nest precisely like the 
anther dust of flowers. In fine, mild weather, the 
bees will labour at this work with great industry, pre- 
ferring the meal to the old pollen. They, in con- 
sequence, breed early, and rapidly recruit their 
numbers. When the opening blossoms furnish a natural 
supply, the substitute is neglected. Yet so eagerly 
is the latter taken in some cases, that, where the 
supply is granted without stint and without interrup- 
tion, an excess, useless, if not even harmful, may be 
carried. It is wise, as natural sources become avail- 
able, to discontinue our bounty the more quickly, to 
compel the bees to repair to the blossoms. 
Artificial pollen, given as now described, necessitates 
the bees leaving their hive, and, in some springs, colonies, 
possibly needy, are kept within by stress of weather. 
Some years since, reflecting that, when natural pollen 
is stored, it is frequently covered with honey, and then 
sealed with wax, I concluded that, possibly, the 
artificial pollen mixed with honey, or its food 
equivalent, might be plac-ed at once in the cells, and 
so save the bees the need of the exposure and labour 
involved in gathering and storing it. I therefore mixed 
pea-flour with syrup into a paste, and, removing a 
comb from a colony distressed for lack of pollen, 
applied the paste with a flat knife, as boys at 
school sometimes apply butter to bread, “to fill up 
the holes.” About 30Z. of pea-flour were put into 
2 D 
