82 AUSTRALASIAN 



cane sugar is largely changed to a substance chemically like glucose : 

 the mellose seems also somewhat modified. There is a little mannite, 

 probably the result of chemical change in the bee's stomach. The 

 acid condition of honey is plainly recognisable by the taste, as all 

 lovers of honey know." 



The small amount of nitrogenous material above referred to 

 is no doubt owing to the minute particles of pollen which get 

 accidentally mixed with the honey in the way already men- 

 tioned. 



Langstroth, who has left scarcely any point connected with 

 his subject unconsidered, says in reference to this matter : — 



" The notion that bees can change all sweets, however poor their 

 quality, into good honey, on the same principle that cows secrete milk 



from any acceptable food, is a complete delusion That the 



honey undergoes no change during the short time it remains in their 

 sacs cannot positively be affirmed, but that it can undergo only a very 

 slight change is evident from the fact that the different kinds of sugar 

 syrup fed to the bees can be almost as readily distinguished after they 

 have sealed them up as before. " 



This is undoubtedly true ; it is clear that bees do not secrete 

 the honey, as they do wax, for instance ; but it is not quite 

 correct to say, in the words of Aristotle, as quoted by Lang- 

 stroth, that " bees gather honey, but do not secrete it." They 

 gather a substance which is converted into honey, partly, perhaps, 

 in its passage through their honey-sacs, and partly by a sub- 

 sequent process of evaporation in the cells of the comb. The 

 flavour and perfume may be retained, notwithstanding an 

 important change in other respects ; and that some such change 

 does take place is shown clearly by Langstroth himself, though 

 he attributes it chiefly to the evaporation of the watery particles 

 of the honey. He remarks that " bees are very unwilling to 

 seal it over until it has been brought to such a consistency that 

 it is in no danger of becoming acid in the cells;" and in another 

 place, when speaking of honey gathered from poisonous flowers, 

 he says, " In some of our Southern states, all that is unsealed 

 is rejected. The noxious properties of honey gathered from 

 poisonous flowers would seem to be mostly evaporated before 

 it is sealed over by the bees." However this may be, it is 

 evident to our senses that a change does take place, and the 

 conversion of a poisonous or deleterious substance into a whole- 

 some article of food would seem to indicate a decided chemical 



