CHAPTER III. 



FOOD OP BEES. — HONEY. 



246. The main food of bees is the honey or nectar, pro- 

 duced by plants and flowers. That honey is a vegetable 

 product was known to the ancient Jews, one of whose Rab- 

 bins asks: "Since we may not eat bees, which are unclean, why 

 are we allowed to eat honey?" and replies: "Because bees do 

 not make honey, but only gather it from plants and flowers." 



247. Yet during its sojourn in the honey-sack, the nectar 

 nndergoes a chemical change. Most of its cane-sugar, or 

 saccharose, is changed into grape-sugar, or glucose.* This 

 change is due to its mixture with the saliva of the glands, 

 while in the honey-sack (63). "But the cane-sugar yet re- 

 mains in large proportion in honey gathered on the moun- 

 tains'' (Girard), — or when it is gathered very fast. 



248. The nectar is produced by the plants in nectariferous 

 tissues, m which accumulations of sugar can be found, and 

 exudes most frequently through small apertures, named 

 stomata. 



249. It contains more or less water, according to the kind 

 of flowers, and the conditions in which it is produced. Some 

 flowers give nectar which is almost completely deprived of 

 water. Such is the fuschia. AYhen the nectar of this flower 

 is produced in very dry weather, it sometimes crystallizes in 

 the blossom, as it comes in contact with the air. 



In some other flowers, as in the FritiUaria imperialis, the 

 nectar contains as much as ninety-five per cent of water. But 

 in many cases, in dry weather and especially in late honey 

 crops, the nectar contains but little water. Although the 

 honey of the summer crop may be said to contain from sixty 



* What is chemically known as glucose should not be confounded 

 "witli the impure ijlucose of commerce. 



116 



