HONEY-DEW. 



273 



HONEY ON COMMISSION. 



It is not to be inferred that this honey-dew is un- 

 wholesome. It is a secretion, and not an excretion. 

 It has a similar origin to honey, and maybe as deli- 

 cious. Much aphid honey-dew is deliciously whole- 

 some, and the honey from it is superior. Most if not 

 all of the coccid honey-dew, on the other hand, is dark 

 and of ill flavor, and its presence in honey, or as hon- 

 ey, is greatly injurious, and can never be sold for the 

 table. I have sold it by the barrel for manufacturing. 

 This was used to make cookies, and was said to be all 

 right by the manufacturer. I explained all to him, 

 yet he gave the ruling price. 



Often this honey-dew is produced in exceeding 

 quantities, and I have known it to crystallize on plants, 

 especially on pine and larch trees, so as to encrust 

 them with white, and become very conspicuous. 



Another authority, Prof. H. A. Surface, 

 President of the Pennsylvania State Bee- 

 keepers' Association, and State Zoologist, 

 has this to say on the subject of the origin 

 of honey-dew: 



Honey dew in tills State is never found excepting 

 on plants that are infested with certain scale insects, 

 plant lice, or similar insects. It is true that it will be 

 seen on the lower leaves of a tree before the insects 

 get there; but this is because they of ten leave the 

 trees by flying through the air and commence to 

 feed on the tender new leaves of the upper part and 

 drop their sweet secretions on the leaves below. 

 Later they drop to the leaves below or crawl down 

 the tree, and may be seen on the lower leaves. This 

 does not mean that honey-dew was on the leaves be- 

 fore the insects were there. 



Honey-dew attracts ants, wasps, flies, bees, and 

 other insects that feed on sweets; but the plant-lice 

 do not feed on the honey-dew nor on sweets, as they 

 draw all their living from tlie sap of the trees or plants 

 that are infested. No one has ever seen plant-lice 

 feeding on the sweet liquid called honey-dew; but, 

 on the other hand, we have frequently observed this 

 liquid coming from the cornicles or honey-tubes of 

 plant-lice, as well as from the ventor digestive tract. 

 No one can watch plant-lice during the summer 

 without seeing the honey-dew appear first in small 

 globules, and then increase to larger drops on the 

 cornicles or honey-tubes, especially when ants are 

 stroking the plant-lice with their antennte. There 

 can be no possible doubt about the source of this 

 liquid. 



As to whether the honey-dew is a benefit to the 

 bee-keeper depends upon how he winters his bees, 

 and upon locality. If the bees can be wintered on 

 their summer stands, or where thev have flight as 

 frequently as they need it, and the locality and sea- 

 son are such that they can fly frequently, say once 

 every two or three weeks, they will winter all right 

 on honey-dew; but if they are to be put into a cellar, 

 or otherwise kept from flying for six weeks or two 

 months, they will doubtless perish with dysentery. 

 Honey-dew makes far more waste material to be 

 voided from the system than any other food that the 

 bees can take, and it is known that this voiding is 

 done only when In flight. This explains why bees 

 must be given an opportunity for flight if they are 

 forced to feed on honey-dew. If such opportunity 

 be not given, it is betterto feed the bees abundantly 

 as soon as possible with sugar syrup, after having 

 removed the honeydew, and save this for stimula- 

 tive feeding next spring. 



THE UNPRECEDENTEDLY HEAVY YIELD OF 



HONEY-DEW DURING THE SUMMER 



OF 1909. 



The year 1909 was remarkable for the im- 

 mense quantities of honey-dew fj rod need 

 in almost every section of the country out- 

 side of the irrigated region where alfalfa 

 and sweet clover are grown. In the eastern 

 portions of the United States there was al- 

 most a failure of cledr white clover or bass- 

 wood. What little there was produced was 

 so mixed with honey-dew that mijcli of it 

 was not suitable for table use. 



Most of the honey-dew for 1909 came from 

 the leaves of the hickory and oak. Con- 

 trary to what many have supposed, this sac- 

 charine matter found on the leaves came 

 from aphides located higher up on the trees. 

 But the ordinary observer not finding the in- 

 sects, even after a search, might naturally 

 conclude that they were not present, and 

 that the sweet, sticky, gummy stuff on the 

 leaves was an actual exudation from the 

 leaves themselves; but in every case a more 

 careful and scientific search has shown some- 

 where the aphides. 



Oddly enough, the honey-dew of 1909 made 

 the bees unusually cross. They worked 

 heavily on the dew during the early morning 

 hours, and as soon as the sun dried the 

 gummy substance down toward noon, so 

 they could get no more of it, they became 

 furious; in fact, they would act very much 

 as if they had been robbing, and the supply 

 of stolen sweets had suddenly given out. For 

 further particulars regarding this, see An- 

 ger OF Bees. 



QUALITY OF HONEY"-DEW^ 



Prof. A. J. Cook says that much of the 

 honey - dew is "deliciously wholesome." 

 While there are samples that are fairly pala- 

 table, the great majority of them, according 

 to our experience, are dark and of very poor 

 flavor, and in some cases positively nauseat- 

 ing. There is almost no market for them. 

 Even tlie large baking concerns will not 

 have them, for, as a matter of fact, they re- 

 quire good table honey, even though it be of 

 very strong flavor. 



We do not know what to do with honey- 

 dew of poor quality but to hold it over and 

 feed it out to the bees in the spring for stim- 

 idating brood-rearing— see Feeding. It is 

 positively unfit to use as a winter food; but 

 for raising bees it is as good as the best 

 honey known. 



HONEY EXHIBITS. See Exhibits. 

 HONEY ON COMMISSION. See C03IB 

 Honey. 



