OR, MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 171 



CHAPTER IV, 



PRODUCTS OF BEES; THEIR ORIGIN AND 

 FUNCTION. 



Among' all insects, bees stand first in the variety of the 

 useful products which they give us, and, next to the silk-moths, 

 in the importance of these products. They seem the more 

 remarkable and important in that so few insects yield articles 

 of commercial value. True, the cochineal insect, a species of 

 bark-louse, gives us an important coloring material ; the lac 

 insect, of the same family, gives us the important element of 

 our best glue — shellac ; another scale insect forms the Chi- 

 nese wax of commerce ; the blister-beetles afford an article 

 prized by the physician, while we are indebted to one of the 

 gall-flies for a valuable element of ink ; but the honey-bee 

 affords not only a delicious article of food, but also another 

 article of no mean commercial rank, namely, wax. We will 

 proceed to examine the various products which come from bees. 



HONBY. 



Of course, the first product of bees, not only to attract 

 attention, but also in importance, is honey. And what is 

 honey ? It is digested nectar, a sweet, neutral substance 

 gathered from the flowers. This nectar contains much water, 

 though the amount is very variable, a mixture of several kinds 

 of sugar and a small amount of nitrogenous matter in the 

 form of pollen. Nectar is peculiar in the large amount of 

 sucrose or cane-sugar which it contains. Often there is nearly 

 or quite as much of this as of all the other sugars. We can 

 not, therefore, give the composition of honey. It will be as 

 various as the flowers from which it is gathered. Again, the 

 thoroughness of the digestion will affect the composition of 

 honey. This digestion is doubtless accomplished through the 

 aid of the saliva — that from the racemose glands of the head 

 and thorax (Fig. 59, Ihg, Ig, and Fig. 60). 



