APICULTURE. 335 



No. 12 — Contains starch sugar, seasoned with sulphate of iron and 

 lime. 



No. 13 — Starch sugar; contains in the gallon, oS.4S grains of sul- 

 phate of iron, 83.14 grains of free sulphuric acid and 440.12 grains of 

 lime. 



No. 14 — Starch sugar; contains in a gallon, 80 grains of free sul- 

 phviric acid, 38 grains of iron and 262.48 grains of lime. 



Nos. 15, 16 — Contain starch sugar, sulphate of iron and lime. 



No. 17 — Starch sugar, sulphate of iron and 202.33 grains of lime." 



"A very important element in this discussion is the great disparity 

 in sweetening power between cane sugar and starch sugar, or glu- 

 cose. One pound of cane sugar has the same sweetening power as 

 two and one-half pounds of glucose. In these starch sugar syrups 

 the public is not onlj^ treated with compounds loaded with foreign 

 and injurious inaterials, but they are enormously cheated in the 

 very thing they seek to buj-, viz.: the sweetness.'' 



"Tests. Strong tea will detect iron, or copperas. Lime may be 

 easil}" recognized in the sj-rup b}' a solution of oxalic acid- 

 Dissolve one ounce of oxalic acid in a pint of rain water; if the 

 solution is not clear, let it stand for a few hours till it settles, then 

 pour off the clear solution into a clean bottle and lable it 'Oxalic 

 Acid — Poison.' To test the sjrup, place a tablespoonful in a tumbler' 

 half full of rain water, stir it up and add a tablespoonful of the 

 oxalic acid solution. If there is much lime in the syrup it will show 

 itself b}' a white precipitate, the amount of which will give some 

 measure of the amount of lime present." 



The following was published in "Gleanings", and taken from a Ger- 

 man Bee Journal, the "Bienenvater", published in Vienna, Austria. 



" 1. Adulteration with glucose. — Take a tablespoonful of the honey 

 to be tested; pour it into a small bottle; then add three spoonfuls of 

 pure spirit, and shake the whole thoroughU' together. In about a 

 quarter of an hour there will form in the bottle a cloud}' whitish 

 sediment, and from this 3-ou ma}- be sure the hone}' is adulter- 

 ated. 



"2. Adulteration with flour, starch, &c. — Pour into a tumbler partly 

 filled with honey a few drops of the tincture of iodine, stirring it 

 thoroughly with a glass rod. In a few moments, it will, if adulter- 

 ated, be of a bluish color. If the honey is greatly diluted, it will 

 form on the bottom of the glass a sediment of a deep sky blue color.^ 



"3. Adulteration with flour. — Warm the honey until quite thin; let 

 it cool off, and add very cold water, constantly stirring till the flour 

 separates from the honey and falls to the bottom, where it is easily 

 recognised. 



"Additions •i flour can be easily detected in such honey by warm- 

 ing it. It melts very slowly and burns easily. 



"4. Adulteration with glucose. — Mix honey with boiling water; if it 

 has not an aromatic smell, but smells of starch or fusil, it is adul- 

 terated with potato or starch syrup. 



"Aciixlteration of syrups can be detected by putting- a little in tea, 

 which will turn the tea black if adulterated." 



I speak of these facts because I think and believe that if we can 



