HONEY. 



117 



to eighty per cent of water, there are many late plants that 

 give honey which needs little evaporation. The honey from 

 heather is said to be diffieult to extract from the combs ('746), 

 owing to its density. 



250. The quantity of nectar produced by the flowers 

 decreases during drought, and increases on the first or second 

 day after a rain. But it is then more watery. In some sea- 

 sons the saccharine juices abound, while in others they are so 

 deficient that bees can obtain scarcely any food from fields all 



Fig. 48. 



COMBS CONTAINING SEALED HONEY. 



(Forty Years Among the Bees.) 



white with clover. A change in the secretion of honey will 

 often take place so suddenly, that the bees will, in a few 

 hours, pass from idleness to great activity. 



As a rule, the quantity of nectar, exuded by the plants, 

 varies according to the time of day and atmospheric condi- 

 tions. Usually, it is most abundant in the morning. Its 

 quantity decreases as the sun rises higher. At three o'clock 

 in the afternoon, the flowers give the least nectar. Then the 

 yield again increases till dark. In Algeria, Africa, in the 



