vii] THE SOCIAL-BEES 103 



synonymous, in spite of the fact that anyone who has 

 ever tasted a drop of nectar from any flower must 

 have noticed that the limpid drop was very different 

 from the honey of a honey-comb. Both liquids, it is 

 true, are sweet to the taste in consequence of the 

 sugar which they contain; but whereas nectar is a 

 thin fluid with a high percentage of water, and has 

 generally a flavour which distinctly suggests the 

 flower whence it came, honey is much thicker, with 

 far less water, and does not possess the odour or 

 flavour of any particular blossoms though honey 

 derived from certain kinds of flowers is recognisable 

 by an expert. These differences between the raw 

 nectar and the finished product, honey, are brought 

 about partly within and partly outside the bodies of 

 the workers. The nectar is sucked up by the long 

 tongue of the bee, and is received into a portion of 

 its digestive apparatus known as the honey sac. It 

 is probable that a portion of the water is here re- 

 moved from it, and that a slight chemical change is 

 effected also. On the return of the bee to the hive 

 the now denser liquid is discharged from the mouth 

 into the cells, and at the same time the secretions of 

 certain glands in the head of the bee are mixed with 

 it. Formic acid has been demonstrated to be present 

 among these secretions, and this probably serves as 

 an antiseptic and prevents decomposition of the 

 honey. The honey, however, is not yet "ripe," and 



