IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
67 
A CHEMICAL STUDY OF HONEY. 
BY W. H. HEILEMAN. 
It has long been known that honey is composed chiefly of 
dextrose and levulose (reducing sugars), wflth a small per cent 
of sucrose. These, with water and ash, are generally all that 
is given in an analysis, and their sum invariably falls from three 
to ten per cent below one hundred. The results of analyses 
vary with different examples, as shown by the following sum- 
mary of results, obtained by different observers : 
Reducing sugars 58 per cent to 82.5 per cent; average, 77 per cent. 
Dextrose 22.2 per cent to 44.7 per cent; average, 35 per cent. 
Levulose 32.2 per cent to 46.9 per cent; average, 39 per cent. 
Sucrose.. 0 per cent to 8.9 per cent; average, 
Water 10 per cent to 20 percent; average, 
Ash - - average, 0. 15 per cent. 
Solutions of genuine honey, with few exceptions, exert a left- 
handed rotation on polarized light, ranging in amount from 0° 
to 20°, at a temperature of 20° C. 
I analyzed by ordinary methods the following four samples : 
No. I. Extracted buckwheat blossom honey, produced in 1892 and 
belonging to the entomology department of the Agricultural College ; the 
sample was taken in May, 1893 ; the honey was much crystallized, dark in 
color and strong in flavor. 
No. II. Extracted clover and basswood honey; history like No. 1 ; it, 
too, was nearly all crystallized. It had a golden color and fine flavor. 
No. III. Bought in May, 1893, at the grocer’s, in Ames ; it was put up 
by J. M. Jacobs, of De Witt, Iowa. It was said to be strained honey. It 
had a bad flavor and taste, but a rich brown color. 
No. IV. A sample of comb honey, in one-pound brackets, sold by a local 
apiarist. It presented a golden color, a fine taste and flavor, and was 
undoubtedly a pure honey. The analyses showed the following results : 
