THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



251 



several changes in the composition are 

 produced. Among the most important 

 of these is evaporation of the nectar to a 

 water content of about 20 per cent. 

 This is effected in the hive by the bees 

 exposing the nectar in thin layers to the 

 action of a current of air produced by 

 the fanning of the wings. This evapora- 

 tion is further hastened, according to 

 some, by a process of regurgitation, the 

 nectar being continually thrown out from 

 the honey-sac on the partly doubled 

 tongue, and then drawn in again until. 

 by the movement of the air and the heat 

 of the hive, the nectar is sufficiently re- 

 duced to be deposited in the cells of the 

 comb. 



"Another change of considerable im- 

 portance which takes place while the 

 nectar is in the honey-sac of the bee, 

 and also probably during evaporation 

 and storage in the comb, is the inversion 

 of a considerable part of the sucrose in 

 the nectar through the action of an 

 inverting enzym secreted by the bees. 



"Another modification produced in the 

 nectar by the bees is the introduction of 

 a minute quantity of formic acid. This 

 acid is wanting in the pollen and nectar 

 of flowers, and is supposed to be intro- 

 duced into the honey by the bees just 

 before the capping of the cells. The 

 formic acid thus introduced by the bees 

 is supposed to act as a preservative, and 

 prevent the honey from fermenting." 



I am a great admirer of E. W. Alex- 

 ander, and have one of the copies of the 

 little book which contains his writings, 

 which I have read often. So far as 1 

 have had an opportunity of working out 

 his plans I find they are well suited to 

 the conditions existing here in this locality 

 of the middle West with one exception, 

 and that is his method of extracting the 

 nectar from the combs before it is sealed 

 or even well evaporated. In Mr. Alex- 

 ander's locality, and with his equipment 

 and methods, this process may work out; 

 but in this locality, and with the equip- 

 ment that the average or even extensive 

 bee keeper has, I believe this plan is 

 worse than a failure— it is a damage 

 to the honey market. I am of the opinion 

 that no producer of extracted honey 

 should try it unless he wants to enter 

 quite extensively into the manufacture of 

 honey vinegar, and I doubt if the nectar 

 will make as good vinegar as ripe honey 

 would. 



Some bee keepers favor the frequent 

 extracting of the green honey on account 

 of the apparent economy, believing that 

 it will save them something in the way 

 of investment for fixtures, such as extra 



supers, frames, foundation, etc. But 

 from an economical standpoint alone, 

 to say nothing of the quality of the honey, 

 I find that it is easy to prove that having 

 the extra fixtures, and allowing the 

 honey to stay on the hive until the end 

 of the season, and then making a busi- 

 ness of extracting at one time, rather 

 than be dabbling in it at intervals during 

 the summer, is the cheaper method, for 

 much more time is sure to be wasted at 

 each small extracting than would be 

 wasted if the work were left to be done 

 all at once. 



Some argue that frequent extracting of 

 the honey from the combs stimulates the 

 bees to greater effort to gather more to 

 replenish their scanty store. On this 

 question Mr. Dadant thinks that the 

 more stores the bees accumulate the 

 more they will continue to gather, pro- 

 vided they have the combs to store it in; 

 that is. they are not unlike human beings 

 in that they work the hardest when they 

 are prosperous: but if their hard earnings 

 are continually taken away, they become 

 discouraged, and are more likely to give 

 up trying to get ahead. 



However, leaving out this phase of the 

 question, we all know that, if we are 

 going to extract partly ripened nectar, 

 we must have large, open tanks to put 

 the honey in for further ripening and a 

 suitable building to hold the tanks. A 

 ten-frame super complete with frames, 

 nailed and painted, is catalogued at 

 $1.15, and 1 4 lbs. of foundation is 

 worth in small lots 58 cts. per lb. or 73 

 cts., and if we add the labor of putting 

 in the foundation at 12 cts. per super 

 we have a total cost of S2,00 per super. 

 Thus if we are fitting up for 100 colonies 

 we have a total cost of S200 for the one 

 extra super over and above the equip- 

 ment that we should have to have if we 

 followed the other method. Now, I do 

 not believe that we can purchase tanks 

 and build a suitable house, in these days, 

 for $200, that will last as long as those 

 supers and combs. 



But the all-important question with 

 the consumer is the flavor of the honey 

 that he is eating; and if we want him to 

 eat more honey we must give him the 

 thick, delicious honey with the bouquet 

 of flowers in it; and we cannot get this 

 from nectar, nor can man ripen the 

 nectar so that it will be equal to the 

 honey the bees have finished. There is 

 a big demand for good honey, and I 

 predict that the fields will be taxed to 

 their limit to supply this demand when 

 the bee keepers will join efforts in pro- 

 ducing the right kind of honey. I do not 



