NECTAR. 



813 



NUCLEUS. 



gravities being 1.375 and 1.373. It had u t^ligiit iicid 

 reaction, but contained no albuminoids or nitrogen- 

 ous matter. It contained 73.17 per cent solids, 

 70.08 being glucose and 1.31 per cent cane sugar. 

 By glucose is meant a mixture of crystallizable 

 grape sugar (dextiose) and uncrystallizable grape 

 sugar (levulose), both having a similar chemical 

 composition. This glucose may already be formed in 

 the nectar by the action of the ferments it contains 

 upon the cane sugar, transforming it into glucose; 

 and this inversion can be continued in new honeys, 

 owing to the action (which he had already demon- 

 strated in 1879) of the saliva of bees which also 

 transforms cane sugar into glucose. 



Grape sugar from the syrup was also obtained in 

 a crystallized form. No trace of formic acid could 

 le detected in the syrup, though quantities of pollen 

 were found in suspension, determined by Professor 

 C. Cramer to be that of Protea meUifera, testifying 

 to its genuineness. 



Wishing to compare this with fresh nectar, he 

 succeeded, after great difficulty, in getting three 

 bottles. The specific gravity was 1.078, 1.079, and 

 1.077. These contained 17.66 per cent of solids, of 

 which 17.06 was grape sugar. They contained no cane 

 sugar. There was not 1 he least trace of formic acid- 

 A comparison of the two shows that the difference 

 was due only to the extra quantity of water con" 

 tained in the fresh nectar. 



Besides these he also examined the nectars of 

 Hoya carnosa and Biynonia radicans, Ijoth in the 

 fresh and evaporated states. The following table 

 gives the results: 



Nectar of 



Protea melUf era, fresh, 



" " dry, 



Hiiya cainiisa, fresh, 



" " dry, 



Bianonia radicans, fr., 

 dry. 



Dr. de Planta has also made aqueous extracts of 

 various flowers, among others those of iJ?iO(Jode?KZ>'OH 

 ■1 hirsutum and Onobrychis gativa. In order to obtain 

 1 gram of sugar (equal to 1.3 grams of honey) the 

 bees must visit at least 3129 flowers of Rhododendron 

 hirsutum and 5530 of Sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa). 



As honey is almost entirely formed from nectar, 

 he gives the following table, comparing the quantitj' 

 of water he has found in nectars and also in old and 

 new honeys : 



' Water in 



Nectar of Nectar. Old honey New honey 



Protea meUifera, 82 34 



Hoya carnosa, 59.23 



Bignonia radicans, 84.70 

 Fritillaria rmperialis, 93 40 



Honey from 

 Department of Landes, 19.09 



Senegal, 25.59 



Melipona, 18 84 



Canton Grisons (alt. 600 m.). 18.61 21.74 



Sainfoin. 19.44 



Canton Grisons (alt. 1395 m.), 17 52 20.41 



(high Alps), 21.68 



Buckwheat, ,33.36 



Acacia from Ingoldstadt, 20.29 



Whereas the nectars vary between 59 and 93 per 

 cent, the quantity of water contained in old honeys 

 varies only between 17 and 31 per cent, and that in 

 new honeys 20 to 21 per cent, with the sole exception 

 of buckwheat honey, in which he found 33 per cent. 



From these observations he thinks that the bees 

 throw off a considerable quantity of the water while 

 it is in their stomachs. He does not admit that it is 

 evaporated entirely in the cells, for the analyses he 



lias iiKide 111' lioiiey newly deposit t'd in Ihc cells show 

 that it already reaches tliem considerablj' concen- 

 trated. The following table sliows the relative pro- 

 ])()rtions of sugar contained in different lioneys: 



Quantity 

 A— Old honeys from— r 



Department of Liandes, 



Senegal, 



Canton Grisons (alt. 600 m.). 



Sainfoin. 



Canton Grisons (alt. 1395 m.), 



B —New honeys f rem— 

 Canton Grisons, Alpine region 



(alt. 600 m ), 



Alpine region, 87.20 



Although most of tiie nectars contain a consider- 

 able quantity of cane sugar it is found in very few 

 of the honeys of the Alps. Some honeys contain a 

 little, while in others it is entirely absent. It is 

 clear that, during the formation of honey, the cane 

 sugar in the nectar is converted into grape sugar by 

 the saliva of the bees, which contains a ferment 

 endowed with this property (see his reseai'ches on 

 this subject i}i Deutsche Bienenzeitung:, 1879, No. 13). 



Another difference between honey and nectar con 

 sists in the former containing nitrogenous sub- 

 stances and formic acid. Mullenliof has shown liow 

 this last is deposited in the honej', and E. Erlen- 

 mayer has proved its antiseptic properties.— B/-i<is/) 

 Bee Journal. 



It will be observed Dr. Planta attributes 

 the inversion of nectar to the saliva of the 

 bees. It seems on the face of this to 

 be only a ''guess," and yet it has been re- 

 peated by many writers on the honey-bee 

 ever since. We know inversion is taking 

 place even while the nectar is still in the 

 corolla of the Ilower, and it occurs long after 

 the honey has been made and deposited, for 

 new honey contains quite a large percent- 

 age of sucrose (sugar) whereas old honey 

 contains little or none. We are very sure 

 this change is caused by minute micro- 

 organisms similar to those in soft sugar or 

 rum. For this reason the composition of 

 honey is quite variable— so much as to 

 baffle the best chemists to make a true stand- 

 ard by which to judge honey. Old honey 

 therefore is actually superior to new, for the 

 process of inversion is complete. If kept in 

 j a dry place it also contains less water, and, 

 I besides, loses the ethereal essential oils or 

 essences of the flowers from which it was 

 gathered; therefore nectar collected even 

 from poisonous plants may become quite in- 

 nocuous if allowed sufiicient time to ripen. 

 See Honey. 



mrCLIiUS. This word, applied to bee 

 culture, signifies a small colony of bees, per- 

 haps from one-fourth to one-tenth of a full 

 colony. The plural of the word is nuclei; it 

 were well to bear this in mind, for there is 

 much conftision in the use of the terms, even 

 in printed circulars. If you remove a dozen 

 bees from the hive, take them so far away 



