24 
Bulletin 54. 
lected and taken to Dr. W. P. Headden, Station Chemist, for analysis,. 
In the table below the first analysis is that of corn pollen made by 
Dr. Headden, and the analyses of the other materials are compiled : 
NAME. 
Water. 
Ash. 
Crude 
Fibre. 
Fat. 
Protein. 
Nitrogen 
Free Extract. 
Corn Pollen. 
3.444 
5.039 
7.970 
1.526 
19.598 
62.423 
Oats Ground. 
9.3 
3.5 
8.5 
3.6 
11.4 
63.7 
Corn “ . 
13.6 
1.4 
1.9 
3.4 
9.6 
70.1 
Wheat “ . 
11.5 
2.0 
2.9 
2.0 
12.1 
69.5 
Wheat Bran. 
11.0 
5.7 
10.4 
5.0 
15.9 
52.0 
Cotton-seed Meal. 
8.0 
6.9 
6.7 
10.0 
42.0 
25.7 
Pea Meal. 
8.8 
2.6 
17.7 
1.6 
19.2 
50.1 
Wheat Flour. 
12.6 
0.7 
0.7 
1.2 
11.8 
74.1 
Rye Flour. 
14.0 
1.6 
1.5 
1.6 
10.5 
72.5 
Bean Meal. 
12.0 
1.4 
2.1 
8.5 
11.0 
65.0 
Barley Meal. 
13.1 
2.4 
5.7 
1.9 
11.3 
65.6 
It will be noticed that, while the nitrogenous material (protein) 
is high in the pollen, it is not very high in some of the flours best 
liked by the bees, as for example, corn and oats. Cotton-seed meal 
runs very high in protein and was not specially liked. 
So there are, doubtless, other reasons than the amount of nitro¬ 
genous food material, that influence the bees to take substitutes for 
pollen. It is probable that the aroma and mechanical qualities 
may have much to do in determining their choice. There is noth¬ 
ing very definite in the above order of choice of the different foods 
used. The order will often vary on consecutive days, or even on 
consecutive hours. 
It is by no means certain that the flour the bees like best is 
best for them, for this manner of supplying them nitrogenous food is 
entirely artificial. The best substitute for pollen is that food which 
the bees will take and upon which they do best, and it seems 
probable that it will have a chemical composition approximating 
that of natural pollen. 
