Page 164 - The Miracle of the Honeybee

162 THE MIRACLE OF THE HONEYBEE

HOW DO BEES FEED IN WINTER?

Bees store honey for use in Beekeepers remove from
winter. The amount of honey the hive only a portion of the
to be produced depends on honey-filled combs, because
the flower sources. Even if the bees will need some of
they collect enough honey the honey to consume during
for the needs of the colony a the winter. If bee-keepers do
month before the flowers take away most of the honey,
fade, they still do not neglect they feed the bees with sugar
to gather more nectar, and water during the winter. The
try to store as much honey as only exception is in the very
possible, even if it requires to coldest days, when sugar
increase the volume of the water is not enough. At these
comb. times, the bees must be given
honey.

honey than they need. No doubt, this is a blessing from God for human
beings’ benefit.

The Contents of Honey

The reason for honey’s sweet taste, the first characteristic that comes to
mind, is the three different sugars in honey: dextrose (34%), sucrose (2%)
and levulose or fructose (40%).
In addition, 17% of honey is water. The remaining 7% consists of iron,
lime, sodium, sulphur, magnesium, phosphorus, pollen, manganese, alu-
minum, calcium, copper, albumen, dextrine, nitrogen, and traces of other
substances besides protein and acids. It is this 7% of the mixture that de-
termines the quality of the honey. 145

There is one very important difference between honey and the ordi-
nary cane sugar with which we are all familiar. Sugar enters the blood-
stream only after undergoing changes in the digestive system, while