=DE-V-OXEID E^SICLTJSI^V-EL.-'S' TO BEES .A^KTID HOnSTE^S- 

 V0I.IIL 



OCTOBER 1, 1875. 



No. X. 



[For GleaniiiETS.] 

 HO^fEY A:VD its ADirL,TE rations. 



BT A CITY I5EE-KEEPEK. 



^ntsjjIIE solid part of lionejs examined under the mi- 



J| croscope. is sure to consist of myriads of regular- 

 ==J ly formed crystals; these crys'tals arc for the 

 most part exceedingly tliin and brittle, so that many 

 oftliemare Ijroken and imperfect: but wlien entire, 

 rhey consist of six-sided piJisms. They appear to be 

 iileiitical in form with those of cane" sugar. Inter- 

 min?;Ied witli the crystals may also ho seen pollen 

 .irraiiules of different forms, sizes and stnicture; these 

 are in such jjcrfect condition that in many cases thej' 

 may be refeiTcd to the plants from which the honey 

 was procui'cd. This is a verj- interesting and beauti- 

 ful fact in relation to honey. The bees in collecting 

 the honey from the (lowers, also carry away with them 

 some of the pollen ; now this pollen consists of com- 

 )>lex utricles or cells, dillering in size, shape and or- 

 ganization, in <iiflerent plants, and in diflerent orders 

 of (ilants, so that the observer acquainted with the 

 character of the pollen of flowering plants, will be en- 

 abled in many cases to determine whether any partic- 

 ular honey submitted to his examination was collect- 

 ed from flowers of foreign or native growth, wdiether 

 from field, garden or mountain. 



I have made some highly interesting observations 

 in connection with honey; one showing in a very 

 striking manner the amazing industry manifested by 

 the bee" in the collection of honey. In examining the 

 l)lossoms of our meadows, some years since, 1 was 

 surprised to observe that there was scarcely one th.M 

 had arrived at maturity that did not exhibit, usually 

 on the upper surface of the corolla, one or more dark 

 spots caused by jierforations. The conjecture at once 

 occuiTcd to me, that these perforations were made by 

 the bees in their search for noney, and in order to lac- 

 ilitate its abstraction from the tubular shaped flowers. 

 It was not long before the correctness of this conject- 

 ure was ascertained. The bees, on alighting on the 

 flowers, almost constantly inserted their probosces 

 through the aiiertiires already made, or they pierced 

 fresh ones. Now of the countless myriads ofblossoms 

 in the field, there was scarcely one mature one observ- 

 ed by me which had not been perforated. 



A Very good way of obtaining the pollen of honey 

 lor microscopic examination is to dissolve a teaspoon- 

 inl or so of tlie lioney in water contained in a conical 

 glass, and to examine a little of the sediment vvbich 

 suljsides in the course of a lew minutes, and which in 

 some honeys is very considerable. The water causes 

 the granules to change in form in some cases, ami so 

 the better ))lan is to view the pollen as contained in 

 the Inid jiart of the honey. Another useful plan is to 

 collect and examine the honey ot flowers from which 

 the bees are sujiposed to have gathered their honey, 

 and to search in this for similar pollen granules. 



The more usual adulterations of honey are various 

 forms of starch and cane sugars. Other adulterations 

 useil for "candied" honey are chalk, i>l;istcr of Paris 

 and pipe clav. The starch is adilcd not only for the 

 sake of weight and bulk, but also to improve the color 

 of very dark lioney, and to correct a sharp and acidu- 

 lous taste which old honey is apt to acquire. 



Of the adidterations practiceil upon honey, some arc 

 very easy of detection, and others diflicult. if not im- 

 liossible. The general method of proceeding in the 

 examination of honey with a view to iliscover whether 

 it is adulterated or not. is as follows :— 



A little of the honey is to be examined under the mi- 

 croscope, when if it contains unboiled starch, the 

 granules will be visible, and may be identified bv the 

 characters which they ])rescnt. If none are to be seen, 

 a small quantity of tincture of iodine is to be added, 



which will show whether the starch is present in any 

 form. The starch, as well as anv insoluble and inor- 

 ganic material which may be present, mav .also be di-;- 

 covered by dissolving a portion of the bonev in warm 

 water, and then a deposit will occur after a time. 

 This dej)Osit should be examined, in the lirsi instance, 

 with the microscope, and if it is not found to Ije of an 

 organic nature, it most probabh- consists of chalk. 

 For the cjuantitive determination of inorg.anic matters 

 in honey, nothing more is requisite in ordinary cases 

 than to collect, dry and weigh the residues deposited 

 from the solution of a given (juantity of honev in wa- 

 ter, or to take the weight of the ash.' 



The adulterations of honey, the discoverv of which 

 is more difficult, are those with the cane and grai)e su - 

 gars. There are three ways in which the i>resence ot 

 cane siigar in honey may be determined, two of them 

 being supplied by the microscope. 



The first is by the size and esi)cciallv by the Oiick- 

 ness of the crystals of sugar; their shaije is essentially 

 the same as that of honey. The crystals of cane sugar, 

 as found in honey, difl'er from those of that substance 

 in being much larger, thicker and less regular in 

 shape; the anodes being acted upon by the fluid part 

 of the honey, and in part melted down. 



The second is, supposing brown sugar to have been 

 used, by the presence of the sugar acari, discernable 

 either on the surface of a solution of honey in water, 

 or in the residue dejiosited from it. 



The third method is chemical. Orape sugar is sepa- 

 rated from cane sugar by means of Fehling's solution ; 

 the sngaa* which remains is of course cane sugar; it 

 may be procured, by means of alcohol, from the resi- 

 due left on evaporation. This method must be resort- 

 ed to in those cases in which the cane sugar has been 

 added in the state of syrup, when in consequence the 

 crystals are thus destroyed. 



'''he adulteration ol'lioa^y, which so far as we are 

 aware it is scarcely possible to detect in many cases, 

 is that by grape sugar or glucose, sir.ce these possess 

 the same chemical ])ropcrties as the sugar of houey. 

 As glucose is usually made by boiling with sulphuric 

 acid, and as the excess of th'is is sometimes neutral- 

 ized with chalk, the presence of cousiilerable quanti- 

 ties of sulphate of lime aflbrds strong evidence of adul- 

 teration with sugar of starch. 



We coufess the idea is uew to us in regard to 

 the houey coutaiuiug polleu tills, aud a rather 

 hasty experiineut lias uot euabled us to discov- 

 er thciu. We should be much pleased to hear 

 from others iu regard to the matter. If the sed- 

 iment were pollen granules, v."c should rather 

 expect it to float. However, ''City Bee-keeper" 

 may know much better than we, and we tender 

 him thauks for l(is valuable coiumunicatiou. 

 We have l^een for several years much interest- 

 ed in trying to liiid where the bees were forag- 

 ing, and in uiany cases have been quite suc- 

 cessful. When working on the touch-me-not 

 they show the queer white spot we have men- 

 tioned, when on pumpkins, melons, etc., they 

 are covered with a yellow powder; when on 

 the boneset and eupatorium family, this pow- 

 der is white; when going to cider mills we can 

 usually detect it b}' their dirty noses and daub- 

 ed appearance generally. We remember one 

 day duniig a drouth, seeing a colony whose 

 bees came in heavily laden with something, 

 and yet with an uuuiistakable air of soberly 



