IDE^^OTEID E:x:CX^TJSITrEX."5r TO BEES -A^UvTID HOISTE^S- 



Vol. nL 



JUNE 1, 1875. 



No. VI. 



ADUIiTERATIOBT OF HOIVET. 



BY CHARLES K. MUTH. 



BKAKXOVICE:— IvviUsoivlyou l)y to-nmiTow's 

 mail a sample of dry frrape sugar and a small 

 liottle of fluid grape sugar, or glucose. This is 



the kind made in St. Louis, Mo. Astonishing ({uanti- 

 ties of It are sold to distillers, brewers an(l honey- 

 dealers, as I have leai'ned from the agent of the manu- 

 factory, who is a friend and lives in our city. I was 

 tr\-lng to get the- names of honey-dealers, but he Is pos- 

 irive in not mentioning names to anybody. 



A friend nnd good honey customer, wlio is a drug- 

 gist, when buying a lot of honey a few weeks ago, said 

 that he was buying of me because he believed the hon- 

 ey to be pure, and that he wanted to do his own "mix- 

 ing." He thought, also, that I was not able to pick 

 out my pure from his mixed honey. However, he was 

 mistaken in that. He had taken I part honey and 4 

 parts glucose; and I must say that he had the flavor, 

 and almost the transparency and color, in the adulter- 

 ated honey ; but not the "acid," which all pure honey 

 has. One might say it tasted pleasantcr than pure 

 honey. 



Glucose being grape sugar, is the next relative to 

 honey and crystalizes with the honey. At least so my 

 friend assures me. It sells at 7><c. per lb. in Cincin- 

 nati. The adulteration of honey Is carried on to such 

 .an extent that it is very likely' to injure the honey 

 business. The reputation of the dealer is almost the 

 sole safeguard to consumers. Our markets will be 

 overstocked on account of adulterated honey, so that 

 every one of us will have to retail his own produce or 

 sell at a sacrifice. We cannot warrant our honey to 

 be pure if sold by another party, excepting in small 

 nackages with our name on every one. It will not be 

 long before one "brand" wi'l sell better than another, 

 the same as is the case with peaches and other canned 

 fruits. A thorough posting of every body, as nearh- as 

 we can, is the only means of lighting" successfully, 

 these adulterators. I can buy at our wholesale houses 

 here, all the comb and extracted honey I want, at my 

 own price. It was onlv vostorday that one of them 

 sent me an express wagon load of California comb 

 honey in small frames and small glass boxes, with the 

 request to take it at any price. I did not comply with 

 the request. Adulteration is the sole cause of all this. 



I am astonished, brother Novice, at seeing j-ou so 

 much in love with California white sage honey. It is 

 a nice honey I admit, and when I got the first of it, I 

 thought like you, that It was a little better if any thine-, 

 than our clover honev. I am now convinced that it 

 will not sell by the side of our clover honev, and if 

 you were offering it for sale as I am, you would be of 

 the same ojiinion. I say the above merely to do jus- 

 lice to the matter, so far as I am concerned, and am 

 sure that none cf niv friends will see selfishness at the 

 bottom of my assertion. 



HOW TO BOTTLE HONEY. 



I have been owing a debt to friend Wilson, of Lex- 

 ington, Texas, for some time, bu' as my ap)>arent neg- 

 lect was involnutary, brother Wilson will please ex- 

 cuse. Our friend had bottldl a lot of honev. The 

 jars having been filled and placed on the table, Ihe 

 honey, as In a state of fermentation, commenced to 

 raise and run over and out of the jars, notwithstanding 

 the honey being perfectly sweet" and a choice article. 

 The same happened to tie some years ago, but does 

 not now, as I have a little more system in the matter. 



The jars are easiest cleaned by the use of sal soda 

 and salt, then giving them a good rinsing in clear 

 water. Honey should be bottleil in as quiet a state and 

 as thoroughly skimmed as possible. I have, for in- 

 stance, a tin can holding about f!0() 11)9. or more of 

 honey, into which I empty a barrel and invariably let 



It stand for a few davs to settle and skim. From ci 

 faucet below I then fill the jars, which I again leav<', 

 standing on a counter for a day or two with the corkH 

 put on loosely to give all the "air bubbles -i chance tf) 

 escape. I then have the jars corked, tin-foiled, la- 

 beled and packeil in boxes. If bottled during, or 

 shortly after, the honey season, before crvstalization 

 has commenced at all, honey will keep in its fluid 

 state all winter, if ^lacked In this manner, and not ex- 

 l)osed to the cold ot winter. If ]>acked In Oct. or Nov., 

 it will crystallze, generally in a short time, becausu 

 crystals liad already formed. 



if crystalized honey is to be bottled we fill tin buck- 

 ets holding 2 or 3 gallons. Four of these buckets fit in 

 a nan filled with water which is generally brought to 

 a boiling heat, by which time the honey "Is generally 

 jierfectly dissolved. The honey is allowed to cool ofl' 

 in the buckets, when it Is skimmed, bottled, tin-foil- 

 ed, labeled etc., as nsual. Honey loses its flavor 

 and becomes of a dark color, only l"f heated too fast. 

 A slow coal fire is best for the heating process. It 

 makes no difference with me whether I seal the bot- 

 tles when the honey is yet hot or after it has cooled. 

 It will invariably crystalize again. The California 

 white sage lioney Is the only excei)tIon I know of. It 

 does not crystalize at all. If treated in the above man- 

 ner, honey, when being bottled, will not boll over as 

 in a state of fermentr»tion, as happened with friend 

 Wilson; but if I should run a barrel of honey Into the 

 receiver and when filled, commence to fill the bottles, 

 all would run over. I cm only explain the matter by 

 the fact that air gets mixed with the honey when a 

 vessel Is emptied, and honey, being the lieavler of the 

 two, settles and driving the air u|)ward in rather a 

 hurried manner it causes the "boiling over," figura- 

 tively speaking. 

 Cirit-innatl, O. April I6th, 187.5. 

 The sample of Glucose referred to, we think 

 hardly equal to the imported. It is very thick, 

 and looks precisely like honey, but it is not 

 very sweet — has a raw taste like raw potatoes. 

 Very likely if it were well "sweetened up" it 

 would make a fair substitute, but it strikes us, 

 that it would take more than one part honey 

 to four of the Glucose, to humbug us. We 

 have just made an experiment, by mixing equal 

 parts, honey and sugar syrup ; this looks well, 

 and does not candy, but to us, the flavor of the 

 sugar is very palpable. The sample of grai^e 

 sugar, we find very disagreeable indeed, but 

 perhaps we took too "big a bite" to commence 

 with. 



We feel as though we should mver tire of 

 the California hone.y, but perhaps we would. 

 Mr. Langstroth was remarking that he had 

 some of the far famed honey of Hymettus. 

 When we told him we would "like liim to taste 

 our California honey, he at once declared the 

 similarity was so great that this too must be 

 gathered from the mountain thyme, and we 

 then showed him where "San Diego mountain 

 honey, from the white sage," was penciled on 

 the label. 



We are satisfied that it is an advantage, to 

 allow honey to stand in some large 

 open vessel for some days before barreling, but 

 we shall never think oi bottUng any more with- 



