BEE rflODUOTS, STu. 



S3 



CHAPTER VII, 

 BEE PRODUCTS, &0. 



67. Honey. — It is a common error to siappose that honey is 

 gathered by bees from flowers. Honey is the product of the 

 nectar secreted in the nectaries of flowers, and subjected to a 

 chemical change in the honey sac (38) of the bee ; the cane 

 sugar of the nectar being converted into the grape sugar of 

 honey by its mixture with the secretion of certain glands in 

 the insect. Speaking generally, nectar may be said to contain 

 from 50 per cent, to 80 per cent, of water (59), according to 

 the flowers from which it is collected and to the state of the 

 atmosphere as damp or dry. Some flowers — the fuschia, for 

 example, secrete nectar which has a much smaller percentage 

 of water. The secretion is nature's provision for securing the 

 fertilization of plants by inducing the visits of insects, notably 

 of the bee, in order that pollen, the fertilising dust, may be 

 carried from flower to flower (74). It is affected by tempco'a- 

 ture, and by the state of the weather. It is lessened by con- 

 tinued drought, and increased by gentle rain accompanied by 

 heat. Usually it is greatest in the morning ; decreasing in the 

 afternoon. Every bee-keeper knows what it is to have his bees 

 idle during days of sunshine, tho' situated in the midst of 

 honey-producing plants and flowers, when long absence of rain 

 and dew has retarded the secretion of nectar. 



58. Gathering and Storing Honey 



- ■" I When bees visit the flowers, they 

 suck the nectar by means of the spoon 

 (32) and groove; and, passing 

 through the oesophagus or gullet, it 

 enters the honey sac (38), Below the 

 honey sac is situated the stomach 

 mouth which the insect can, at will, 

 open to admit the honey to the chyle 

 stomach as food, or close when the 

 honey is intended to be stored (38). 

 In the latter case the muscles of the 

 ' honey sac are brought into play, and 

 ; the fluid is forced out of the mouth 

 —I and deposited in the comb cells. The 

 existence of the honey sac and 

 stomach mouth explain various phen- 

 omena in the life of the bee — how, when 

 swarming, she can carry from the 



(Photo 

 BBE 



iy J. 

 fig. 

 ON 



(i- Diggei.j 

 13. 

 CLOVEB. 



