On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1257

arealwaysaccustomedtoassociatethe
humofthebee-hivewiththefarm-house
andflower-garden,andtoconsiderthose
industriouslittleanimalsasconnectedwith
thebusyhauntsofman,andIamtoldthat
thewildbeeisseldomtobemetwithat
anygreatdistancefromthefrontier.They
havebeentheheraldsofcivilization,
steadfastlyprecedingitasitadvanced
fromtheAtlanticborders,andsomeofthe
ancientsettlersoftheWestpretendtogive
theveryyearwhenthehoneybeefirst
crossedtheMississippi.TheIndianswith
surprisefoundthemoulderingtreesof
theirforestssuddenlyteemingwith
ambrosialsweets,andnothing,Iamtold,
canexceedthegreedyrelishwithwhich
theybanquetforthefirsttimeuponthis
unboughtluxuryofthewilderness.
For those of us who buy our luxury in
jars, this initial sense of wonder is worth
reimagining.


TransformingNectarintoHoneyInthehive,
thebeesconcentratethenectartothepoint
thatitwillresistbacteriaandmoldsandso
keepuntilitisneeded.“Housebees”pump
thenectarinandoutofthemselvesfor15or
20minutes,repeatedlyformingathindroplet
undertheirproboscisesfromwhichwatercan

evaporate,untilthewatercontentofthenectar
hasdroppedto50or40%.Thebeesthen
deposittheconcentratednectarinathinfilm
onthehoneycomb,whichisawaxynetwork
ofhexagonalcylindersabout0.20inch/5mm
across,builtupfromthesecretionsofthewax
glandsofyoungworkers.Here,withworkers
keepingthehiveairincontinuousmotionby
fanningtheirwings,thenectarlosesmore
moisture,untilit’slessthan20%water.This
process,knownas“ripening,”takesabout
threeweeks.Thebeesthenfillthehoneycomb
cellstocapacitywithfullyripehoneyandcap
themwithalayerofwax.
Theripeningofhoneyinvolvesboth