Abstract :
The factors like TRS, NRS, ash, acidity and pH were detected in five stages of honey
ripening process of indigenous hive honeybee Apis cerana indica. Five stages of nectar to honey
transformation comprise floral nectar (fn), honey crop of foragers (hf), honey crop of house bees (hh),
unsealed honey cells (uh) and sealed honey cells (sh). The TRS of fn and sh cells was 2.12% and
73.01% respectively. Correspondingly NRS of hh and uh cells was 14.90% and 7.50%. The ash
content of hf and sh cells was 0.20% and 1.49% respectively, whereas the acidity of sh cells and hf
was 0.503 and 0.06 respectively. Similarly pH of hh and uh cells had a value of 1.03 and 2.61. All the
five parameters viz., TRS, NRS, ash, acidity and pH tested apart from NRS were less in floral
nectaries and maximum in sealed honey cells. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) of TRS of ripening
of honey was significant at P
Keyword :
Apis cerana indica, Chemical changes, Honey ripening.