In those districts of England where mustard seed is cultivated so extensively, it would be well worth while for the farmers to keep large colonies of bees. Another, but a very uncertain, source of honey is the "honey-dew," which in some seasons appears in large quantities on the leaves of the oak, the lime, and some other trees (see below).
§ IV. HONEY.
All that need be said in this place is a few observations upon honey considered in itself. Practically, but not absolutely, it is destitute of nitrogen, which is the flesh-forming principle in food. It has been much contended whether or not it undergoes any transformation by being swallowed by the bee. Dzierzon and others have maintained that it does; Gundelach and Dr. Dönhoff have taken the contrary view, and Von Berlepsch has come round to the same, which it will be seen is also held by Schmid and Kleine, from whom we translate the following description of this article:—
"Honey may be of diverse origin: it is either nectar or bud honey, or leaf honey (the so-called honey-dew), or aphis honey [another form of honey-dew], or fruit honey. The sources of honey unfortunately do not flow with the same strength everywhere and at all times.
"For collecting the honey, bees are provided with tongues and honey-stomachs.... In the stomach the honey undergoes no transformation; only by evaporation in the cells does it receive its subsequent distinctive character. After sufficient evaporation the cells that contain it are sealed over with flat wax lids.
"Between different honeys there exists an essential difference in respect of aroma, taste, colour, and composition. Whether there is such a thing as poisonous honey is a question upon which opinions are divided.
"In trade honey is often adulterated with starch, syrup, sugar, and more pernicious ingredients, which can easily be detected by chemical and microscopical analysis. The crystallisation of honey differs essentially from that of sugar or of a mixture of honey and sugar."
On this matter of adulteration we have been favoured with some remarks from a well-known apiarian who writes under the name of "A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper." He recommends the purchaser to take a common test-tube, nearly fill it with water, and add about one-twelfth as much of the honey; when dissolved it will be turbid if the honey was pure, but clear if sugar had been mixed with it. Those who wish to proceed further may add a few drops of concentrated nitric acid, and then let the tube stand for a week, at the end of which time the honey will be precipitated, but the sugar remain in solution, and then by filtration the quantities may be found.
Honey, like most vegetable products, should be fresh every year. It may easily be kept from one season to the next; but after that, unless carefully stored in a warm temperature, it will crystallise in the comb, or perhaps ferment if separated therefrom.
Bees will often gather honey from the laurel, ivy, or other sources more agreeable to themselves than to us, in which case there is little choice but to leave the benefit of it to its producers (see [page 97]). Again, the fact related by Xenophon in the retreat of the Ten Thousand, that bees in Asia Minor extracted honey from plants which had not only a disagreeable but a poisonous tendency to man, shows that it is quite possible, where such noxious plants abound, for the bees to extract the juices without any injury to themselves.