Inversion of Cane Sugar in the Honey Stomach of the Bee

Abstract
Cane sugar solutions were fed to caged honey bees. The honey stomach contents were then recovered at intervals and analyzed according to the methods of Shaffer-Hartman and Associa. of Official Agric. Chemists. The sucrose solutions were inverted at a rapid rate within the honey stomachs. Dilutions of the contents, presumably by glandular secretions; were noted: The inversion of cane sugar sirup was much more rapid in vivo than in honey stomach contents in vitro. Chemical changes of sirup or nectar within the honey stomach of the bee probably cannot be satisfactorily studied by means of a refractometer.

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