WHY DO BEES WORK IN THE DARK? 
623 
state by placing it in a capsule over sulphuric acid under the receiver of an air-pump. 
The honey thus operated on was taken from a jar prepared in the usual way by steam¬ 
ing the combs; it was darker in colour than that exposed to the light, but still quite 
fluid. It was kept in vacuo about a fortnight; the pump was worked two or three 
times a day, and at each working there was a disengagement of aii-bubb es, as i a 
slight fermentation had been going on in the honey, but it did not candy. I he capsule 
was now placed on the window ledge by the side of the bottles containing the virgin 
honey. It was left exposed to the air during some weeks, in which time it not only did 
not candy, but increased in bulk to overflowing, thus proving the presence of some de¬ 
liquescent material. . , 
Acting on this idea, I weighed out 100 gram portions of honey from different 
sources into watch-glasses, and exposed them on the window-ledge. They all absorbed 
moisture more or less, and the absorption was greatest in damp weather, but m very un¬ 
equal proportions ; for while Normandy honey absorbed 8£ grains of moisture, Minorca 
honey absorbed only 3^ grains, and when the former weighed 103J grains the latter had 
actually lost weight, the 100 grains being only 99£ grains. The Dorsetshire honey was 
by no means so absorptive as the Rosenthal, but in all four cases that were tried t ere 
was absorption of moisture during damp weather, and loss of moisture during dry; 
showing, in fact, the presence, in greater or less quantity, of deliquescent salts in the 
^Remembering the fondness of bees for salt water, it seemed probable that the diffe¬ 
rence between the Dorsetshire honey and the Hertfordshire honey might arise from the 
fact that the one contained a minute proportion of salt, or of the salts oi sea water, 
which was absent in the other. . , n 
The fondness of bees for salt has long been a puzzle to entomologists. Di. Dei an, 
in his work on “ The Honey Bee,” says“ I keep a constant supply of salt-and-water 
(about a teaspoonful to a pint) near my apiary, m a shallow dish, covering the bottom 
with small pebbles, and find it thronged with bees from early noon to late in the even¬ 
ing. About this period (i. e. the spring) the quantity they consume is considerable, bM 
afterwards they seem indifferent to it.” In the volume on bees contained m Sir William 
Jardine’s ‘Naturalists’ Library,’ it is stated, p. 49, that “bees have recourse in spung, 
but generally speaking in spring only, to dunghills and stagnant marshes .or the sake 
of the salts with which they are impregnated, and which their instinct teaches t em 
are advantageous to their health after their long winter confinement. 
It seemed more probable that bees collect small portions of salt for the purpose of 
keeping their honey fluid than for the purposes of medicine, as suggested by the last 
quotation To test this, two portions of 120 grains each of the candied Hertfordshire 
honey were scraped from a spatula upon the edges of two evaporating-dishes ; one spe¬ 
cimen was sprinkled with about 2 grains’ weight of marine salts, such as are used for 
making artificial sea-water. In the course of a few hours this honey showed signs of 
houefaction although the weather was cold; and in the course of two or three days it 
had run down into the dish in a liquid form, so that it could be poured. The honey m 
the other dish continued for weeks adherent to the edge, showing much less decided 
Si The°lxamfnTto of various specimens of honey did not confirm this view, but it led 
to the detection of a variety of salts, among which lime was particularly abundant, 
especially in honey from inland places. Potash was also found m considerable quantity, 
and this would tend to make the honey deliquescent. As far as my examination has 
extended nothing seems to explain why some varieties of new honey become candied 
sooner than othefs The presence of lime does not seem to explain anything, except 
that bees may introduce a good deal of filth into their honey; for the lime was pro¬ 
bably fathered in the form of nitrate, which is an abundant salt in water from dung¬ 
hills^ stagnant ponds, and bogs, and wherever there is decaying animal matter, so that 
the^ees^inkin °atf such place’s must be a happy thought for honey-eaters. But one 
mactical suggestion arises from this examination, namely, supply your bees with salt- 
and water and they will probably not frequent dunghills. In places near the sea bees 
can procure comnmn salt and the salts of sea-water for themselves; and it will be 
remembered that the most celebrated honeys in the world, such as those of Mount y 
mettus, Mount Ida, Mahon, Cuba, the Bermudas, etc., are all fluid, and even syrupy, and 
that all these places are within easy access of the sea. 
