- After the day's work of
gathering nectar is done,
the bees operate this
amazing ventilation system
until all of it is properly
dehydrated, often workina
all night. tn this way they
reduce the nectar down to
one-third or one-fourth of
its original weight.
Amazingly, the number of
bees assigned to the fanning
operation at both hive ,
entrances is always exactly
proportionate to the need,

A single bee can carry a
quarter to a half its own
weight in nectar, and since ,
a bee weighs less than
1/5000th of a pound, that
means that 10,000 bees

would each have to make one
trip to the gathering place
to bring back on pound of
nectar. ;

The average colony of 50,000
to 75,000 bees manages to
collect five ponds of
nectar a day, though cases
have been recorded in which
a single colony collected
forty pounds during ''honey-
flowing'' time. On one trip
away from the hive a bee may
visit over six hundred
Plants. A single colony of
bees will consume as much

as 450 pounds of honey a.
year,

The comb used to house the
honey is made of wax
‘secreted by eight glands‘ on
fhe underside of the bee's
abdomen. A comb consists of
tiny hexagonal cells, about
27 tothe square inch, tts
walls are so thin that 3000
to 4000 laid on top of each
other would be only one inch
thick.

f

As-a veritable powerhouse of
eneray, probably no other
natural food equals the
sheer. rapidity with which
honey raises a lowered blood
Sugar count. The ancient
Greeks well knew this and
their athletes gorged them-
selves on honey for weeks
prior to the Olympic Games.

Working with children at a
large New York hospital,
doctors recently tried out

a diet in which honey and
milk were substituted for
other formulas, They found
that most infants responded
avidly to the honey formulas.
In the case of premature
infants, they reported that
nearly 38 percent of those
tested showed an immediate
and sharp increase in the
rate of weight gain. Their
conclusion was, "tt would
seem from the observations
of this study that honey has
a definite place in infant
feeding,!!

To the medical profession,
the most intriguing aspect
of honey is its special,

and still little understood,
nutritional power. Along
with its sugars, levulose
and dextrose, honcy contains
vitamins Bl, C, and K-=not
in large quantities, to be
sure, but nevertheless
surprising in an essentially
sugary substance. [t also
contains an astonishing range
of minerals--including
copper, calcium, phosphate,
iron, phosphorus, sulfer, and
manganese--plus certain
enzymes,

Nobody knows just what
inyredinnt in honey gives it
its special digestibility
and growth-producing powers,
Scientists are speeding up

-their investiqations of these

_tory rats,

-hour

In feeding labora-
researchers found
that on a honey supplemented
diet the rats grew faster

than with any other
ingredients. Why? Scientists
do not know, but they are

sure there is a powerful |
growth factor in honey.

points.

Meanwhile, other scientists
have discovered a remarkable
ingredient in honey. It is
deuterium, the heavy
hydrogen of atomic science.
Just what it adds to honey's
food value is not known, but
scientists do know that deut-
terium definitely interferes
with metabolism.

Science needs no mystery
ingredients to explain the
actions of a new discovery
about honey -- the fact that
it will sober up an intoxica-
ted person. Doctors have
noted a definite sobering-up
and sedative effect on alcoh-
olic patients given larae
quantities of honey at half-
intervals. The reaction
‘is explatned'by the fact that
the fruit suqar in‘honey ‘
speeds up alcohol metabolism,
thereby reducing the alcohol
content in the bloodstream. .

Honey may be a nutritional
and a medicinal marvel, but
to most people it is just
something delicious to eat.
And all you have to do for a
new taste adventure in honey
eating is to try a different
kind -- like mosquite honey
from Arizona, raspberry honey
from Michiqan, gqoldenrod hon-
ey from New York, blueberry
honey from Haine.

And there is the one imp-
orted from Guatemala. The
bees make it from a plant
that grows thereabouts, and
you']] smack your lips as you
realize it subtly echoes the
flavor of your favorite -brea-
kKfast beveraaé. Sure enough,
it's coffee honey!