HONEY. 111 
CHAPTER III. 
FOOD OF 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 
undergoes 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 
remains 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 nectarifer- 
ous tissues, in which accumulations of sugar can be found, 
and exudes most frequently through small apertures, named 
stomatee. 
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 de- 
prived of water. Such is the Fuschia (fig. 41): When the 
nectar of this flower is produced in very dry weather, it 
sometimes crystallizes in the blossom, as it comes in con- 
tact with the air. 
* What is chemically known as glucose should not be confounded with the 
impure giucose of commerce. 
