Nov. 2'>, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



759 



situated in the head of the bee, and is similar in operation 

 to saliva in the human being'- 



In order to have a right understanding of the subject, 

 we vpill briefly glance at the way in which the sugar com- 

 posing nectar is produced in the plant. 



There is an important group of compounds which form 

 the largest part of the body of all plants. These contain 

 carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and the elements of hydro- 

 gen and oxygen being present in the same proportion as 

 they exist in water, the name of Carbohydrates has been 

 given to them. 



When light shines on a green leaf and stimulates it 

 into activity, the leaf absorbs, principally thru its stomata 

 or pores, carbon dioxide (also called carbonic-acid gas) from 

 the air. After entering into the cells of the leaf, the car- 

 bon dioxide, together with a certain proportion of water, 

 undergoes chemical changes, the carbon of the carbon diox- 

 ide becoming fixt, and a rapid accumulation of carbohy- 

 drates takes place in the tissues of the plants, the oxygen 

 escaping into the air. 



The most important of these carbohydrates is starch, 

 which, thus formed, at first deposits in the leaf-cell in 

 which it took its origin. From it a number of other vege- 

 table products take their rise, which constitutes the greater 

 proportion of all plant structures. In order that this may 

 be done, the starch once formed must be carried about by 

 the sap of the plant into every cell, whether of the root or 

 flower. As each cell is a delicate membranous bag closed 

 in itself, a solid matter — such as starch would be, owing to 

 its insolubility in cold water — can not be removed from the 

 tissues in which it is stored to the centers of growth where 

 it is needed, but must be digested or transformed into a 

 soluble easily diffusible substance. The solution is effected 

 by the chemical activity of an enzyme, or unorganized fer- 

 ment, which is secreted by the protoplasm in the plant. 

 This ferment is called Diastase, and it is owing to its pres- 

 ence in active plant-juices, that the starch is dissolved. 

 The solution thus obtained is devoid of starch, has become 

 sticky and sweet, and contains a substance called Dextrine, 

 and a variety of sugar named Maltose. 



From the solution every minute cell abstracts a portion 

 of the sugar and deposits it in the form of cellulose. This 

 is the framework or woody fibre of every plant. It has 

 chemically exactly the same composition as starch. Another 

 portion of the dissolved starch is changed by the plant into 

 cane-sugar. All plants form more or less cane-sugar, and 

 secrete it by an apparatus called a nectary, which is gen- 

 erally connected with every flower, altho in many plants 

 nectaries exist in other parts, perhaps quite distant from 

 the blossom, and these are called extra-floral nectaries. 

 This secretion, properly called nectar, is what bees gather, 

 and it consists almost entirely of cane-sugar, to which the 

 sweetness of most flowers is chiefly due. The bee appro- 

 priates this cane-sngar, and by means of the glands already 

 mentioned, transforms it into two other sugars called re- 

 spectively dextrose and levulose. 



According to their composition sugars fall into three 

 groups. These are : 



1. Ths glucose group. The principal members of this 

 group are dextrose or grape-sugar, levulose or fruit-sugar, 

 and galactose. 



2. The cane-sugar group. The principal members are 

 cane-sugar, sugar of milk, and maltose. 



-^ 3. The cellulose group. The principal members are 

 cellulose, starch, gum, and dextrine. 



As much confusion exists in the lay mind respecting 

 the various terms used by the chemist in describing sugars, 

 and as each of the above groups contains different sugars, 

 altho of the same chemical composition, it is well to explain 

 the meaning of those terms with which we have to deal, so 

 that the uninitiated may understand just what the chemist 

 means by the words he uses. 



Dextro-glucose, glucose, and grape-sugar, are synony- 

 mous, and are frequently used to designate dextrose. 



Levo-glucose, fruit-sugar and fructose, are other names 

 for levulose. 



In like manner saccharose, sucrose, and cane-sugar, 

 signify the same thing. 



When the chemist speaks of sugar he may allude to any 

 of the sugars in groups 1 or 2, and when he uses the term 

 glucose he may mean any glucose of group 1. With those 

 who are not chemists it is different; they understand by 

 glucose, commercial glucose which is dextrose only, and 

 by sugar ordinary cane-sugar such as they use daily in their 

 households. Now, altho, from a chemist's point of view 

 honey is glucose, to call it so puzzles an ordinary person, 

 because he at once, and quite naturally, associates it with 



commercial glucose or dextrose, from which honey materi- 

 ally differs in that it consists of both dextrose and levulose. 

 Honey consists of water and sugars belonging to the 

 first group. The quantity of water varies from 12 to 23 

 percent, the normal proportion being 18 to 21 percent. 

 When the percentage falls below 18 the honey is generally 

 hard and solid ; when it is higher than 21 it is often almost 

 or quite clear, but the clearness does not always depend 

 upon the amount of water alone. 



Normal honey almost invariably divides into two por- 

 tions, a crystalline, solid one, and a syrupy one devoid of the 

 power of crystallizing', and rather sweeter than the solid 

 portion. Chemically these two dissimilar substances are 

 identical in composition, and both belong to the glucose 

 group of sugars, but physically they possess very widely 

 different properties. If a polariscope be used it would be 

 found that the crystalline portion twists a ray of polarized 

 light to the right, and is therefore called dextrose ; the non- 

 crystalline portion however turns the polarized ray to the 

 left, and for this reason it is called levulose. 



The great bulk of honej' is composed of these two 

 sugars in about equal proportions. It is kept in solution or 

 liquid by about one-fifth of its weight of water, which, 

 however, is not quite sufficient to keep one of the sugars — 

 dextrose — permanently in solution, and gradually this sep- 

 arates in the crystalline form, holding the liquid levulose 

 in suspension, and we have what is known as candied or 

 granulated honey. The proportion of water in the honey is 

 not a merely accidental one. Were more than one-fifth 

 part of water present, it would be so fluid as to cause the 

 honey to run out of the comb. Were it smaller than that 

 stated, it would in damp weather attract moisture from the 

 air. It remains transparent in the comb for a considerable 

 length of time, because it neither loses nor appreciably 

 attracts moisture. 



Genuine honey almost invariably becomes opaque, or 

 granulates, altho there are rare exceptions. When it hap- 

 pens that before the honey is extracted some of the crys- 

 tals of dextrose remain attacht to the cells, levulose pre- 

 dominates, and the honey remains clear for a long time, 

 notwithstanding that the proportion of water may be very 

 low. 



All the saccharine substances in the different groups 

 mentioned act upon polarized light, turning it more or less 

 to the right, except levulose, which, as I have already 

 stated, turns the ray to the left. 



When treated with acids they undergo a remarkable 

 change — they are all transformed more or less completely 

 into dextrose, with the exception of cane-sugar, which 

 yields both dextrose and levulose. 



The rotation of the polarized ray, to the left of levulose 

 is greater than the rotation of the same quantity of dextrose 

 is to the right. Therefore, when mixt together, as they are 

 in honey, the polarized ray is twisted to the left side. All 

 other sugars turning to the right, it is clear that whatever 

 saccharine admixture is made to the honey, the mixture 

 must polarize to the right, thus possessing perfectly dis- 

 tinct optical properties, distinguishing it from genuine 

 honey. 



But the bee carries with it from the flowers other con- 

 stituents of considerable importance, and incorporates them 

 in the honey. A great number of pollen-grains find their 

 way into the cells, and from these minute quantities of col- 

 oring-matter are dissolved, which give honeys from different 

 flowers the innumerable shades of yellow and brown with 

 which we are so familiar. Thus, honey produced from 

 white clover is devoid of color, that from sainfoin is yellow, 

 from beans brown, and from heaths quite dark. Honey 

 always contains more or less pollen, and with the micro- 

 scope an expert can frequently tell from the shape of the 

 various pollen-grains, the sources from which the honey 

 was derived. 



Still greater is the variety of flavors and odors, and 

 every conceivable aroma due to the essential oils, is met 

 with, so that a practiced observer can, without much diffi- 

 culty, decide from what kind of blossom the nectar was ob- 

 tained from which the honey was produced. 



Having briefly stated the characteristics of genuine 

 honey, I will endeavor to show how when adulterated the 

 adulteration can be detected. 



There are three classes of manufactured honey : First, 

 that made from ordinary sugar, consisting of cane-sugar 

 syrup ; second, that obtained by the action of an acid or 

 ferment upon cane-sugar, and consisting as genuine honey 

 does, of water, dextrose and levulose ; and, third, the pro- 

 duct of the action of acid on starch, called corn syrup or 

 commercial glucose. 



