172 THE bee-kksper'S guide; 



The composition of honey is of course very varied. Thus 

 analyses give water all the way from 15 to 30 percent. The 

 first would be fully ripe, the last hardly the product we should 

 like to market. ' 



The reducing- sugars — so called because they can reduce the 

 sulphate of copper when made strongly alkaline by the addition 

 of caustic potash or soda — include all vegetable sugars but 

 sucrose of cane-sugar ; and consist mainly of dextrose, which 

 turns the ray of polarization to the right, and levulose, which 

 turns the ray to the left. Dextrose and levulose are both pro- 

 ducts of various fruits, as well as honey. Dextrose and levu- 

 lose are also called invert sugars ; because, when cane-sugar is 

 heated with a mineral acid, like hydrochloric acid, it changes 

 from cane-sugar, which revolves the polarized ray to the right, 

 to dextrose and levulose ; but the latter is most effective, so 

 now the ray turns to the left, hence the terms inversion, or 

 invert sugar. Glucose is a term which refers to both dextrose 

 and levulose, and is synonymous with grape-sugar. 



The amount of reducing sugars varies largely, as shown 

 by numerous analyses, usually from 65 to 75 percent ; though 

 a few analyses of what it would seem must have been pure 

 honeys, have shown less than 60 percent. But in such cases 

 there was an excess of cane-sugar. It seems not improbable 

 that in such cases honey was gathered very rapidly, and the 

 bees not having far to fly did not fully digest the cane-sugar 

 of the nectar. Dr. J. Campbell Brown, in a paper before the 

 British Association, gave as an average of several analyses 

 73 percent of invert or reducing sugars ; 36 and 45-100 percent 

 was levulose, and 36 and 57-100 percent was dextrose. Almost 

 always pure honey gives a left rotation of from two to twelve 

 degrees. This wide variation is suggestive. Does it not show 

 that very likely the honey from certain flowers, though pure 

 honey, may give a right-handed rotation with a large angle 

 because of a large amount of dextrose and little levulose 7 It 

 occurs to me that these two uncertain factors, incomplete 

 digestion and the possible variation in nectar, make determi- 

 nation by the analyst either by use of the polariscope or chemi- 

 cal reagents a matter of doubt. I speak with more confidence, 

 as our National Chemist pronounced several specimens of 



