THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



275 



than pleased to re-set any of the advertise- 

 uieuts of old customers according to my 

 ideas of display if allowed to use as much 

 space as I think necessary, and submit 

 proofs for approval. Most advertisers send 

 in their copy and say put it in so many lines 

 of space. Sometimes there is scarcely room 

 to squeeze it in. The editor hesitates 

 about urging the use of more space for fear 

 it will be thought that he is actuated by sel- 

 fish motives. If a larger space cannot be 

 afforded better say less and have it well dis- 

 played. Gleanings advertising pages have 

 improved wonderfully of late. Some of the 

 advertisements are very effectively gotten 

 up, tasty ornamental borders are used, etc. 



Chemical Analysis and Honey Adulteration. 



Reference was made in the last Review to 

 the fact that samples of pure honey submit- 

 ted by Prof. Cook for analysis, were pro- 

 nounced adulterated with cane sugar. Con- 

 sidering the " pounding " that the Review, 

 its editor and some of its correspondents 

 have received for the part they took in the 

 " sugar honey " discussion, it is not surpris- 

 ing that a triumphant smile flitted across 

 the face of the editor when he read the 

 following from the Afjricultuval College 

 Specidum, and learned that even the best 

 chemists put "sugar honey" and floral 

 honey in the same class. That they detected 

 the sugar-fed honey is to their credit, but 

 this is all lost when thoy put floral honey in 

 the same class, and it should teach them 

 that there is something yet for them to learn 

 about the composition of honey. Here is 

 what the Speculum says: — 



D"It is well known that sucrose or cane 

 sugar is chemically distinct from glucose; 

 that unlike glucose it will not reduce the 

 copper salts, and has a strong right-handed 

 rotation. The nectar of flowers is largely 

 cane sugar. 



Commercial glucose reduces the copper 

 salts and because of tlie presence of dextrose 

 gives a right-handed rotation. 



Invert sugar — cane sugar that has been 

 reduced by heating with an acid^s left- 

 handed in its rotation. It is usually given 

 as 25 degrees. 



;;;iBees gather the cane sugar of nectar and 

 while gathering and passing to the hive they 

 reduce it by digestion, or change it to invert 

 sugar. Thus honey contains from two to 

 eight per cent of sucrose, sixty to seventy- 

 five per cent of reducing sugar levulose and 

 dextrose, and gives a left-handed rotation 

 rarely higher than 20 degrees. 



As bees digest the nectar of flowers, we 

 would suppose that honey gathered very 

 rapidly would he less perfectly digested, as 

 it would be a shorter time in the digestive 

 canal and so would contain more sucrose, 

 and less reducing sugar. As bees gather 

 sweets from such varied sources: widely 

 different flowers, sap and secretions from 

 various insects, we would suppose that the 

 honey might vary not a little. 



Thus I have long wondered if the formulae 

 depended upon by our chemists were entire- 

 ly reliable, and sufficient to always deter- 

 mine the genuine from the adulterated. 



To determine this point, I recently sent 

 over fifty samples of honey to three of our 

 ablest chemists, viz: Dr. R. C. Kedzie, Prof. 

 H. W. Wiley, government chemist, and Prof. 

 M. A. Scovell of Kentucky. I have prelim- 

 inary reports which are exceedingly inter- 

 esting. 



The samples which I sent were simply 

 numbered. There were honeys from all our 

 noted honey plants, several samples of honey 

 dew, honey stored rapidly from pure cane 

 syrup fed very rapidly to the bees, and mix- 

 tures of honey and glucose. 



The samples of honey adulterated with 

 glucose, were detected, but with them was 

 classed a sample of aphis honey, which our 

 bees gathered from bark lice, and which 

 was rank and entirely unmarketable. Two 

 other samples of honey dew were pronounced 

 genuine honey, f )ne of these was from cynip 

 infested oak acorns, and the other from a 

 lachnus on the larch. Both were pleasant to 

 the taste. 



The samples of honey from cane sugar 

 syrup, one extracted the next day after it 

 was stored and the other not till it was cap- 

 ped, were both detected. But with them 

 were classed genuine honey from basswood, 

 white clover, both were very fine, and one 

 from horse mint, all very rapidly gathered. 

 Thus my opinion, often expressed to my 

 students, that our chemists could not dis- 

 tinguish genuine honey which was rapidly 

 gathered from that secured by feeding cane 

 syrup, is fully sustained. 



Three samples, one white clover, one 

 golden rod, and one white sage, all very 

 rapidly gathered by the bees, gave such a 

 high left-handed rotation that there was a 

 suspicion of adulteration, with invert sugar. 

 Yet these were all genuine honey of sui)erior 

 excellence. 



Three other samples, one from black man- 

 grove, one from an unknown source, stored 

 in Louisiana, and which never granulated, 

 and one from horse mint, the latter gathered 

 very rapidly, deported themselves exactly as 

 would invert sugar. 



Thus we see, that while the chemists can 

 detect adulteration, even with one-third or 

 one-fourth glucose, they could not distin- 

 guish honey from flowers, from that secured 

 by feeding bees pure cane sugar syrup. 

 That while they can now detect adulteration 

 by use of commercial glucose, that most if 

 not always used, they cannot by use of pres- 

 ent methods, detect honey produced by 

 feeding bees wholly or in part on cane sugar 

 syrup. A. J. Cook." 



