118 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 18, 19C4. 





Contributed Articles 





Converted Cane-Sugar is Not Honey. 



BY MORLEY PETTIT. 



WE know that chemists have succeeded in putting to- 

 gether the elements in their proper proportion which 

 constitute living organisms, but failed to add the 

 spark of life. It is facetiously related that hen's eggs were 

 produced which hatched chickens, but without feathers. In 



honey from different sources in fixed proportions, and if, for 

 any reason, they are unable to supply this particular flavor, 

 their sale of honey is seriously affected. 



Now, if the statement that " honey is practically cane- 

 sugar already digested " were given prominence in the pub- 

 lic press, what would be the result ? A revival of the 

 " Wiley lie " with renewed vigor, and also a hard blow to 

 the reputation of extracted honey, whose good name we are 

 trying so hard to put beyond reproach. 



I would say with Prof. Cook, "It seems to me that one 

 of the blessed uses of our Christianity, is to teach and 

 persuade people to let in the light." I would add, however, 

 that it is better, sometimes, to be conservative even in mat- 

 ters of such import as stating " truth," and to be especially 

 careful that we state a whole truth. Ontario, Canada. 



No. 2.— Getting Both Increase and 

 Honey. 



BY J. B. JOHNSON. 

 (Continued from page 102.) 

 HAD only one swarm abscond ; that was my 



I fault. They lit in a tall tree, and in getting 

 them down I dropped them, and although I hived 

 them they were as mad as hornets, and I think that 

 is why they left. On a warm day, if I hive a large 

 swarm thus, I take a blanket or piece of carpet, 

 wet it in a tub of cold water, wring out some of the 

 water, and put over the hive for a day or two, letting 

 it hang down on the south side. I also use a venti- 

 lated cover, and have practically no trouble from 

 absconding. I have a young peach-orchard in and 

 near the apiary, and in there the swarms would 

 cluster and were easily hived. I always shake the 

 bees down in front of the hive and let them run in. 

 Now, in regard to raising that extracting super 

 and putting a super of sections between, I have 

 tried that plan and want no more of it ; that is, 

 when there is brood in it ; queen-excluder or no 

 excluder, I get pollen in the sections, and some- 



either case, while the scientist would understand 

 that his efforts had not been crowned with success, 

 he would need to report his results with caution lest 

 the public should receive a wrong impression there- 

 from. 



On page 21, Prof. A. J. Cook has a scholarly 

 article on the chemistry of honey, and its relation 

 to the other sweets. While I indorse all the Pro- 

 fessor has said on its food-value and its superiority 

 over other sweets, I would guard against a miscon- 

 ception which might arise in the lay mind from 

 some of his statements with reference to nectar, 

 cane-sugar, and honey. For instance, "Digestion 

 of cane-sugar converts it into honey, so honey is 

 practically cane-sugar already digested." This 

 gives a wrong impression. The conclusion most 

 commonly arrived at would be that bee-keepers 

 were able to produce honey by feeding their bees 

 sugar syrup, and that they were in the habit of 

 doing so. 



L,et us consider carefully this statement which 

 he quotes from Dr. Kellogg. There are two state- 

 ments, the second apparently meant to be the con- 

 verse of the first. But the word practically is in- 

 serted. 



Let us see farther down : " The nectar of the 

 flower is not honey." True. "It is virtually [my 

 italics] cane-sugar." He then explains practically 

 and virtually by the incidental insertion of ''slightly flavored 

 with some organic extract from the flower." "The bee 



converts it into a mixture of dextrose and levulose. 



This is honey." No, not without the "organic extract," 

 which, in most cases, more than "slightly" flavors it. 



This constituent which distinguishes honey from all 

 other substances, is described by another eminent chemist 

 as "certain volatile oils and indefinable matter " which give 

 the flavor and aroma of blossoms from which it is g:athered. 

 What an important part the flavor and aroma play in honey 

 all dealers know. Some markets demand honey of a certain 

 flavor, and will have none of a certain other variety gen- 

 erally considered its equal. Prominent and successful deal- 

 ers have their standard blend of honey produced by mixing 



times brood besides. I wanted those extracting supers for 

 brood-rearing. That was the means of my getting such 

 roaring colonies before they swarmed. Profuse swarming 

 from small colonies is disastrous to surplus honey from either 

 swarms or old colony, no matter how you work them. I have 

 not had good results by cutting the brood-chamber in two. 



Now, as to natural or artificial increase, I have tried 

 both for something like 20 years (I have moved and started 

 anew in difterent localities several times). If, in a good sea- 

 son, I have only a few colonies, give me natural increase 

 every time for honey the same year ; but build the colonies 

 up big and strong by feeding judiciously and giving large 

 brood-chamber (I don't want anything but an 8 frame hive, 

 using an extracting super above at the proper time) ; and 



