

/; 



Eniered at the Post-Offlce at Chicag-o as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 



QBORQE W. YORK, Editor. 



CHICAGO, ILL,, MARCH 31, 1904. 



Vol, XLIV— No. 13. 



c 



Editorial Comments 





Care in Foul-Brood Regions. 



Oae of the results o( the New York State investigation gives 

 material for thinking over, and helps to explain some things. A sam- 

 ple of /ica^f/iv/ &;'Oorf, taken in a vicinit.v of bees affected with black 

 brood, showed the presence of Bacillus alvei in considerable numbers. 

 For practical purposes it matters little whether the disease in that re- 

 gion was black brood or foul brood, if Bacillus alvei is the culprit in 

 both cases. The point of emphasis is that Bacillus alvei may be pres- 

 ent without being detected by any ordinary means. How can that be i 



Scientists tell us that formic acid in the form of vapor is con- 

 stantly exhaling from combs out of which young bees have lately 

 emerged, temperature and robustness of the colony favoring such 

 development. Also, that where formic acid is present in suflioient 

 quantity the spores of Bacillus alvei can not germinate. This helps to 

 account for the fresh breaking out of disease at times where it has 

 been supposed to be eradicated, and for the belief of some that care- 

 lessness, chilled brood, etc., may produce the disease. It also accounts 

 for the apparent disappearance of the disease when a colony becomes 

 strong and active in the harvest, only to break out later on. 



The moral of all this is that in all cases, and especially in regions 

 where disease is present, it is of first imnortance to keep colonies 

 strong and in good condition at all times. 



The National and Its IncFeasing Work. 



From a letter recived recently from General Manager France, it 

 seems that the National Bee-Keepers' Association is to be kept very 

 busy with various kinds of trouble for some time. Among the cases 

 on hand and in prospect are the following: 



A complaint from Colorado about bees causing pear-blight. 



In New York, a suit before a .Justice of the Peace as a result of a 

 little neighborly spite-work. 



In Canada, trouble caused by bees soiling clothes on a neighbor's 

 wash-line. 



In Minnesota, bees soiling clothes and stinging neighbors, 



In California, 60 colonies of bees burned by a neighbor, who then 

 refused to pay the damages to the bee-keeper; honey stolen, and the 

 guilty parties and the honey found— prosecution to follow ; and a 

 case of honey adulteiation. 



The New York horse and bee case was decided in favor of the 

 bee-keeper, the owner of the horse to pay the witnesses and court 

 costs. The attorney's fees paid by the National in this case are .?.55. 



It troubles continue to multiply, it will be necessary for the Na- 

 tional to have a general manager who can devote most of his time to 

 its interests. It will lie necessary to pay a larger salary for such ser- 

 vices than at present. The fact is, that no one can afford to do the 

 work of the general managership on the small salary that is paid at 

 present. The Association could well afford to pay the right man a 

 good salary for devoting practically his whole lime to the work, of 

 course it would be necessary to develop a number of lines that are not 

 now followed up at all. In order to do all that might be done through 

 the A.ssociation for the benefit of the bee-keepers, it would take con- 



siderable money, but we believe that after bee-keepers began to see 

 the good resulting from the work done by the Association, they would 

 be glad to pay all it would cost. 



Perhaps some day the Association will be strong enough, and wise 

 enough in its management, to take hold of the many great subjects of 

 vital interest to bee-keepers, and push them to a successful end. Much 

 excellent work has already been done, but there is a growing demand 

 for a larger service in the interest of honey-producers. The National 

 Association should take the lead in this work. We believe it will do so, 

 in due time. 



Artificial of CoFn-Juice " Honey." 



Several of our subscribers have lately sent to us copies of the fol- 

 lowing taken from such papers as the Philadelphia Public Ledger, the 

 New York World, etc. : 



John D. Rockefeller now makes artificial honey with as much en- 

 thusiasm as he formerly pumped petroleum out of the ground years 

 ago. He puts corn into water and boils it with a little sulphuric acid. 

 Then he puts in some lime to neutralize the acid. This forms a pre- 

 cipitate of sulphate of lime. He separates the sulphate from the corn- 

 juice by running the mixture through a filter press. The result is a 

 crude glucose, which so resembles real honey in flavor and color that 

 it takes an expert to distinguish it from the genuine product. 



There is one objection to the glucose honey. It retains, no matter 

 how much it is refined, a certain trace of the sulphuric acid. Commis- 

 sion men say they can taste the acid. Chemists declare that the acid 

 rots the teeth. In another generation or two, from this cause alone, 

 they contend, there will be hardly a child with sound teeth. 



Mr. Rockefeller is doing his best to get rid of the sulphuric acid. 

 He has offered, it is said, §500,000 to any chemist who can produce 

 glucose from corn as cheaply as by his present process without the use 

 of sulphuric acid, or, at least, acid in the corn-juice. 



The crude glucose Mr. Rockefeller dilutes with real honey, puts 

 up in nice-looking glass jars with fancy labels, and seuds all over the 

 world. Grocers sell it to the unsuspecting public, and little children 

 eat it with delight. 



The crude glucose is used in tremendous quantities to adulterate 

 molasses. There is very little pure molasses in the market since Mr. 

 Rockefeller got into the glucose business. Corn-juice is very much 

 cheaper than cane-juice. 



■To refine glucose Mr. Rockefeller has it poured into big vats, 

 whence it passes through a charred bone-dust and comes out as a col- 

 orless, sticky liquid like glycerine, which is growing more popular 

 every day with bakers and confectioners. They buy it from Mr. 

 Rockefeller in car-load lots, and use it for cheap candy and icings. 



Mr. Rockefeller expects to make 1,000,000 tons of glucose next 

 year, or the year after. Some of the distillers say if he keeps on at 

 this rate there will soon be no corn for whiskey. 



It seems strange that there can be found men who will try to make 

 people believe that corn-juice as a food is equal to honey gathered by 

 bees. Some time ago we called attention to a thick syrup that was 

 being thrown on the market. Its advertisements told the people that 

 it was " better than honey for less money.'' Just why any manu- 

 facturer should make such a claim as that, when it is not true at all, 

 we can not understand. Any one who has ever tasted pure honey 

 knows that no glucose concoction can ever take its place. It may 

 deceive some people for awhile, but sooner or later they will realize 

 the deception, and then the glucose product will be dropped. 



We suppose that it is true that practically every good article in 

 this world is counterfeited in some way or other. It is said that the 

 very fact of a genuine article being counterfeited, is a testimonial in 

 favor of the real article. However that may be, we think it behooves 

 honey-producers everywhere to help along a National pure-food law, 

 which will require the exact ingredients .jf every new article offered 

 for sale, printed on the label, which label must be on every package 



