a Mr Linder snip.. 
On the topic of feed and winter bees,  I didn't mean to imply that our feed is no better than it was in 1917,  but that:
 
"our knowledge of its effects and timing and best use  is no better than it was in 1917."

my comments... which may sound a bit tangential...
A long time ago I was in the cattle rearing business.  Being young, somewhat innovative and mechanically inclined I purchased and began operating one of the first round balers in north Louisiana.  At this time folks began having an interest in accessing the quality of hay in those bales and a program by the extension service resulted where you could send cored sample of hay and get the evaluated as to content (you really wanted to have some idea of protein content no matter if you were using, selling or buying these).*  I should point out that in the smaller package square bales lots of knowledgeable folks could look at the bales, break a few stems and have a pretty good idea of quality.

what became known from the mass of data collect in the program was pretty revealing.  it seems that in a wide range of locations certain micro nutrients were being mined from the soil and this was impacting forage quality.  I often wondered if in substantial parts of the country if the basic quality of the natural pasture for bees has not also declined for much the same reason.

*in thin soils this mining would likely not take very long and I suspect pretty much explains a lot of historical crop failures.  in more robust deeper soils the mining would simply take longer.  

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