At 04:48 PM 11/6/96 +0000, Rick Grossman wrote:
>This one should get plenty of comment.  To my understanding, nectar is
>sucrose, a di-sacharide (sp?) which is then converted by the bees with
>invertase enzymes into mono-sacharides (again sp?).  Sugar is also sucrose,
>so the resulting product should be honey, not sugar syrup.  This is my
>understanding - what do the long time experts have to say?
>
>Rick Grossman
>Oregon
 
Actually different plants have different sugar ratios. E.g. White Clover
(Trifolium repens - not Melillotus clovers) has average sugar ratios of
1/3rd each of glucose, fructose and sucrose. Climatic and soil differnces
will affect this. A deficiency of Boron in the soil has the effect of an
increase in the level of fructose in white clover.  Presumably similar
factors will be at work with most (all?) other plants.
Peter Bray,
Airborne Honey Ltd., PO Box 28, Leeston, New Zealand
Fax 64-3-324-3236,  Phone 64-3-324-3569  [log in to unmask]
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