THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



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Honey. 



The saccharino juico of plants, collected by 

 bees from flowers, and deposited by them in the 

 waxen cells of the comb in the liive, is called 

 honey. These juices undergo some modifica- 

 tion "in the honey-bag of the bee ; but, though 

 their chemical character is somewhat changed, 

 tlwy still retain the flavor and to some extent 

 tlu! peculiar properties of the plants from which 

 they were collected. Under a powerful micro- 

 scope the pollen that was mixed with the juices 

 may be delected in the honey, and even referred 

 to the particular kind of plant to which it be- 

 longed. The prevalence of certain varieties 

 may determine what sort of localities — gardens, 

 woods or mountains — have been most frequented 

 by the bees. Flowers of sweet perfume impart 

 an agreeable odor and flavor to the honey; so that 

 the product of some districts is famed and 

 prized, wliile the bees of others, drawing upon 

 very dilFerent sources, give to the honey they 

 gather the disagreeable and even dangerous 

 properties of the plants themselves. Thus the 

 honey of Mount Ida in Crete, has always been 

 held in highest estimation, as also that of Nar- 

 bonnc and Chamouui; but the houey of Trebi- 

 zond causes headache and vomiting, and posses- 

 ses poisonous properties supposed to be derived 

 from the rhododendron Azalea Pontica. Xeuo- 

 phon, in his " Anabasis," notices his soldiers 

 being poisoned by eating such honey. Cases of 

 the same character are recorded in the "New 

 Jersey Medical Reporter," November, 1852. 



The substances recognized in honey are 

 grape, sugar, manna, gum mucilage, extractive, 

 a little wax, pollen, acid, and odoriferous sub- 

 stances. When allowed to drain from the 

 comb it is wholly fluid, and this, as well as the 

 superior quality first made in the season, and de- 

 posited in the upper part of the hives is known 

 as virgin honey. But as ordinarily pressed out 

 it holds a solid crystaline sugar, which may be 

 separated by draining and pressing the fluid 

 portion through a linen bag. The sugar is be- 

 lieved to be identical wilh grape sugar ; but 

 except its consistency and tendency to chrys- 

 tallize, it is not apparently different from the 

 fluid honey. Their taste and chemical proper- 

 ties are the same. The proportion of cr^-stalli- 

 zable sugar increases with the age of the honey, 

 so as to give it in time a granular character. 

 The consistency of houey is thus very variable. 

 The best and newest of the spring season is a 

 clear fluid contained in a white comb. Older 

 honey is yellowish and reddish. It is freely 

 dissolved in cold water, and in this condition 

 honey undergoes the vinous fermentation. 

 Various substances are fraudulently introduced 

 into honey, to add to its weight and improve 

 its color. The i)resence of such matter ma}' be 

 detected by dissolving some of the honey in 

 warm water, and letting the mixture stand for 

 the deposite to fall. The different sugars are 

 also used as adulterants, the presence of all 

 which may be detected either by microscopic 

 observations directed to the forms and compara- 

 tive sizes of the crystals, or to the presence of 

 the sugar acari, or by the chemical tests also 



cited with the others by Dr. Ilassall in his 

 work " Adulterations Detected." Starch sugar, 

 possessing the same chemical properties as tlie 

 sugar of honey cannot be detected ; but being 

 often accompanied by sulphate of lime resulting 

 from the materials used in its preparation, the 

 ])resen(',e of this is an indication of adulteration 

 with starch sugar. 



From the remotest times honey has been em- 

 ployed as an article of food ; and to the ancients, 

 in the absence of sugar, it was of greater import- 

 ance than to the moderns. A land flowing 

 Avith milk and honey, was to them a region 

 abounding with the chief necessaries of life. As 

 an article ofdiet and of medicine, honey possesses 

 the properties of sugar, but is perhaps more laxa - 

 five. Many constitutions, especially those sub- 

 ject to dyspepsia, cannot resist its disordering 

 tendencj' ; but those accustomed to its use find 

 it wholesome and agreeable, In medicine its 

 use is principally as a vehicle for other more 

 active substances; but its composition and action 

 upon all constitutions being somewhat uncer- 

 tain, a solution of pure sugar is generally pre- 

 ferred for this purpose. When in combination 

 with vinegar, the preparations are called oxj'- 

 mels. Houey is easily clarifled by heating it in 

 a water bath till it becomes so fluid as to be 

 easily strained through flannel. The wax and 

 lighter impurities may be removed by skimming, 

 while the heavier substances sink to the bottom. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



"He leaps from the batli — rushes into the streets of 

 Syracuse, exclaiming Eureka] EurckaP' 



Mr. Editor : — The ecstacies of our beloved 

 brother correspondent, Wm. A. Bennett, an- 

 other Syracusan Philosopher on the mechanical 

 arts — Page 17, Volume Third, American Bee 

 Journal, forcibly strikes our susceptible imagi- 

 nation as bestowed upon an object equally desi- 

 rable and useful with the crown of Hiero, to 

 wit : A Home for the Honey Bee clearly pre- 

 eminent, as invented by Mr. T. R. Allen. 



Believing, as we do, Mr. B's description ol 

 the hive in cpiestion to be correct, we at the 

 same time say that he has never seen the inven- 

 tion of Mr. T. S. Underhill ; and speaking from 

 experience, that hives of this description are, 

 in our humble opinion, vastly inferior to simplft 

 boxes, top and bottomless, from which the 

 frames are lifted out from the top, the persistent 

 denials of interested parties to the contrary not- 

 withstanding. 



Mr. Allen has certainly chosen a very inap- 

 propriate name (Home) for his hives; for in a 

 real home there should be committed no wilful 

 murder, and were it for this advantage alone, 

 the Langstroth hive would " claim as we think 

 with justice, a clear pre-eminence" over any and 

 every hive Avith which we are acquainted, our 

 own not excepted. 



As the bees cannot by any known means be 

 driven out of the way on the further side of the 

 comb when introduced into the hive laterally, 

 but instinctively mean to hasten from danger 

 to that very side as soon as brought in contact 

 with the hive, the danger of murdering scores 



