MANUAL OP THE APIARY. 105 



Btore, and the seeming entire similarity between honey and 

 sugar fed to them, and the same immediately extracted from 

 the comb, has led me to believe that the transforming power 

 of the stomach is very slight, if, indeed, it exists at all. To 

 be sure, I have fed sugar, giving bees empty combs at night- 

 fall, and found the flavor of honey early the next morning. 

 In this case, honey might have been already in the bees' 

 stomachs, or might have been carried from other portions of 

 the hive. The method of collecting the honey has already 

 been described. The principles of lapping and suction are 

 both involved in the operation. 



When the stomach is full, the bee repairs to the hive, and 

 regurgitates its precious load, either giving it to the bees or 

 storing it in the cells. Mr. Doolittle claims that the bees 

 that gather, give all their honey to the other bees, which 

 latter store it in the cells. This honey remains for some 

 time uncapped that it may ripen, by which process the 

 water is partially evaporated, and the honey rendered thicker. 

 If the honey remains uncapped, or is removed from the cells, 

 it will generally granulate, if the temperatr.re be reduced 

 below 70°. This is probably owing to the presence of the 

 cane-sugar, and is a good indication, as it denotes superior 

 quality. Some honey, as that from the South, and some 

 from California, seems to remain liquid indefinitely. Some 

 kinds of our own honey crystallize much more readily than 

 others. But that granulation is a test that honey is pure, is 

 untrue ; that it is a sign of superior excellence, I think quite 

 probable. 



When there are no flowers, or when the flowers yield no 

 sweets, the bees, ever desirous to add to their stores, frequently 

 essay to rob other colonies, and often visit the refuse of cider 

 mills, or suck up the oozing sweets of various plant or bark 

 lice, thus adding, may be, unwholesome food to their usually 

 delicious and refined stores. It is a curious fact that the 

 queen never lays her maximum number of eggs except when 

 storing is going on. In fact, in the interims of honey-gather- 

 ing, egg-laying not infrequently ceases altogether. I'he queen 

 seems discreet, gauging the size of her family by the probable 

 means of support. 



Again, in times of extraordinary yields of honey, the storing 



