Substitute For Pollen
Categories:
BEE PASTURAGE.
Bee Keeping:
Mysteries Of Bee-keeping Explained
During these warm days, while waiting for the flowers, the bees are
anxious to do something. It is then interesting to watch them, and see
what will be used as substitutes for pollen and honey. At such times, I
have seen hundreds engaged on a heap of sawdust, gathering the minute
particles into little pellets on their legs, seeming quite pleased with
the acquisition. Rotten wood, when crumbled into powder, and dry, is
also collected. Flour, when scattered near the hive, I have known to be
taken up in considerable quantities. Some apiarians have fed it to
their bees at this season, and consider it a great advantage; I have
not tested it sufficient to give an opinion. A substitute for honey is
sap from a few kinds of trees, yet it all amounts to but very little.
All these unnatural sources are abandoned when the flowers appear.