'IBE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



301 



is probable that there is as much difference 

 iu these two qualities between the different 

 kinds of nectar as there is between the dif- 

 ferent kinds of honey made from them. 

 Nectar is a rejined substance; not a crude 

 one. It is a secretion by tissues formed for 

 the purpose of secreting it, and not a dis- 

 charge from plant cells whose connection 

 with other cells is broken. It is absurd to 

 call such a crude substance as sap oozing from 

 wounds in plants and such offensive sub- 

 stances as the excremeutitious discharges of 

 plant aphides, nectar, for they are not. 

 They contain more sugar than ordinary 

 sap, but this is easily accounted for. When 

 growth is taking place nature sends plenty of 

 rich sap, such sap always contains an 

 extra amount of sugar, the tissue forming 

 material. Wounds in plants are repaired by 

 growth, hence the abundance of rich sap 

 sent to repair them. Owing lo the cells of 

 wounds being broken and connection with 

 other cells being cut off and the cuticle being 

 torn away, the sap oozes out carrying with it 

 the sugar and also raw materials contained 

 in it. 



Plant aphides attack the younger parts of 

 plants, suck up the rich juices and appro- 

 piate such parts of them as they need and 

 and discharge the balance which is some- 

 times more or less sweet. It is probable 

 that some kinds of these pests do not con- 

 sume the sugar, but discharge it, thereby 

 giving it its sweet- ess. It is plain to be 

 seen that such substances and sap oozing 

 from plant wounds, are in no sense nectar. 

 Sweetness alone cannot make anything 

 nectar. It is only one quality of it. 



Sometimes the delicate cells of growing 

 leaves allow the sweet sap to pass through 

 them on the surface of the leaves and we 

 have the real honey dew, the true mielUe. 

 It is probably caused by au abnormal state 

 of the plants producing it, or to certain 

 conditions of soil or weather. Although it 

 may not be crude as sap oozing from plant 

 wounds, it can hardiy be called nectar. It is 

 doubtless an exudation rather than a secre- 

 tion. 



When nectar is first gathered by the bees 

 it usually contains an excess of moisture 

 that has to be removed before it can become 

 honey. The heat within the hives, often 

 intense in warm weather — causes the moist- 

 ure to evaporate and the warm air of the 

 hives to absorb it. This process is acceler- 

 ated and continued by the bees circulating 



this warm air by rapidly vibrating 

 their wings, called fanning, and by the 

 same means forcing a current or the moist- 

 ure laden air out of the hives. New air 

 ruches in to supply its place which goes 

 through the same course of being warmed, 

 circulated throughout the hives, and becom- 

 ing moisture laden, and finally forced out 

 of the hive entrances. 



While this change is taking place other 

 changes which are of a chemical nature are 

 also taking place. In other words the nec- 

 tar is changing to honey. The chemical 

 changes sometimes commence in nectar 

 before the bees gather it, but usually while 

 it is in the honey sacs of the bees while 

 they are gathering their load of it and while 

 they are taking it to to their homes. After 

 a time the cells filled with the more or less 

 ripened nectar or honey as we may call it, are 

 capped over, but it continues to change and 

 this it does for some length of time after- 

 ward. In fact, honey seems to be better 

 the year after the nectar is gathered, than 

 during the year the nectar is gathered. 

 Like wine it seems to improve with age. 



Investigation has led Mr. G. M. Doolittle, 

 a leading authority on bee-culture in our 

 country, to the conclusion that bees evapo- 

 rate the excess of moisture from the nectar 

 by taking the nectar into their honey sacs 

 and forcing it out on their probocides and 

 drawing it back again into their honey sacs 

 and so on. At night during a good flow of 

 nectar by means of a lighted lamp he has 

 seen a tiny drop of nectar appear on the 

 probocis of eachbee engaged in the opera- 

 tion and disappear as it is drawn into the 

 honey sac. Dividing the nectar into such 

 small parts must greatly hasten the evapo- 

 ration of the surplus moisture from it, but I 

 think there is another purpose, and an im- 

 portant one, in this operation besides the 

 evaporation of moisture, this is the addition 

 to the nectar of sufficient secretions of the 

 glands of the bees and the thorough admix- 

 ture of the secretions with it. 



The secretions of the bees no doubt per- 

 form an important function in honey mak- 

 ing. I doubt if honey could be made 

 without them. Their antiseptic character 

 probably hinders decomposition of nectar. 

 Acid fermentation would be likely to set in 

 if they were absent. They give a common 

 flavor to honey which is important. It is 

 possible that they change the flavoring 

 principles of nectar, making thereby the 



