1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



673 



a higher price. In the London market, Deni- 

 erara yellow crystals always command a high- 

 er price than any other sugar ; and, knowing 

 this, the German refiners color their sugar 

 with aniline dyes so as to imitate very closely 

 cane sugar ; but, like all imitations, it is not 

 so good as the original. 



Only a few days ago a grocer in England 

 was tried for selling dyed beet sugar as " Dem- 

 erara yellow crystals," and he was heavily 

 fined. It was a test case, and the best legal 

 talent was retained on either side ; but the 

 judge very properU' decided that dyed Ger- 

 man sugar was not Demerara yellow crystals 

 as the customer had ordered, therefore the 

 grocer was guilty of a fraudulent transaction. 

 According to the " theory " of expert chem- 

 ists like Prof. Wiley, cane sugar is beet sugar, 

 and beet sugar is cane sugar ; but in practice 

 this idea is worthless. The fact is, that plain 

 common sense is a better guide. By the 

 same process of reasoning, "saccharin," 

 which is 500 times sweeter than ordinary 

 sugar, ought to be "cane sugar" also, but it 

 is not ; and some countries have gone so far 

 as to prohibit its use altogether as dangerous 

 to the public health. 



Some chemists, among whom stands Prof. 

 Wiley, maintain that honey is glucose and 

 glucose is honey ; but he is a very poor judge 

 indeed who can not tell the difference be- 

 tween the two. The chemists have been al- 

 together too hasty in this matter, and I be- 

 lieve the very latest theories give the bee- 

 keepers much more standing-room. What 

 the chemists seem to forget is that honey con- 

 tains small amounts of powerful substances 

 that are not present in manufactured sugar, 

 and, hence, to compare them is odious. Be- 

 cause the chemists can do nothing with these 

 ethereal substances they have neglected them 

 altogether, or set them down as "extraneous 

 substances." 



I do not believe any living chemist is smart 

 enough to tell us what gives basswood or any 

 other honey its distinctive flavor ; therefore I 

 hold that, until they can, all chemists should 

 be careful in making round assertions with re- 

 gard to honey. It is the same with sugar. 

 The chemistry of sugar has been largely cre- 

 ated by French and German chemists, and 

 therefore favors beet sugar ; yet we can read 

 between the lines and see for ourselves 

 " whether these things are so." 



The best white sugar sold is very highly re- 

 fined, be it cane sugar or beet. The bee-men 

 of Europe carefully avoid it because, in the 

 process of refining, it has been robbed of some 

 of its finest constituents. 



Here is an analysis of a good quality of 

 highly refined cane sugar. 



Per cent. 

 Cane sugar, - - - - 98.00 



Glucose, .50 



Water, 1.00 



Ash, .--.•- .30 



Organic matter, ... .20 



Now notice the difference in a sample of 

 muscovado sugar which has not been refined 

 to the same extent. 



Cane sugar, 



Glucose, 



Water, 



Ash, 



Organic matter, 



84.00 

 6 00 

 5.50 

 1.50 

 3.00 



Notice the difference. The large amount 

 of glucose makes it more agreeable to the 

 bees, and the 3 per cent of organic matter 

 contains flavoring extracts or ethers that give 

 to muscovado sugar its honey-like flavor, so 

 much appreciated by the bees. The first 

 sugar is the best from a chemist's point of 

 view, but from the point of view of a good 

 Italian bee the muscovado is healthier, and 

 nicer to the taste. 



I believe that, in this matter, we have been 

 too hasty in following the crowd. American 

 and English housewives buy sugar from its 

 look ; but the careful bee-man ought to con- 

 sider that bees do not judge by looks ; and 

 in buying a sugar with a high percentage of 

 natural glucose he is pleasing the bees and 

 conforming to their wants. For my part I 

 believe the larger the percentage of glucose 

 in sugar the better it is for the bees ; and, 

 seeing that it is cheaper than white sugar, 

 why should we not use it ? 



Barbados makes large quantities of this 

 kind of sugar, which is exported to New York 

 to be refined into white sugar. It is the old- 

 fashioned sugar, but nevertheless a good one 

 for some uses. Jaggery, or palm sugar, would 

 be better still ; but it is not easy to get, being 

 mostly produced in India. But any sugar 

 having a high percentage of glucose ought to 

 have the preference, as it is more readily as- 

 similated by bees, being nearer their natural 

 food, and therefore less likely to cause de- 

 rangement to their intestines, ending in bee- 

 diarrhea and perhaps other troubles. There 

 is no trouble in getting all the muscovado 

 sugar that is required, hence the way is plain. 



Bridgetown, Barbados. 



[This is one of the best if not the very best 

 articles on the subject of cane and beet sugar 

 we have ever published ; and, moreover, it is 

 stated so simply that any one, be he scientist 

 or layman, can understand every point that 

 is made. 



I have till recently believed that beet sugar 

 answered all the purposes of general cane su- 

 gar ; but while on my trip through California 

 I was told that the large canning- factories on 

 the coast positively will use nothing but cane 

 sugar, because beet sugar does not give them 

 the desired results. 



Mr. Thos. Wm. Cowan, editor of the Brit- 

 ish Bee Journal, and, in fact, a great many 

 of the bee-keepers in England, recommend 

 cane sugar for feeding bees, in preference to 

 beet, as they consider it a higher grade of 

 sweet. But it seems to me reasonable that a 

 beet sugar such as we have used here at the 

 Home of the Honey-bees with excellent re- 

 sults for fifteen or twenty years will be equally 

 good if not better. I have always supposed 

 that nine-tenths of the granulated sugars on 

 the market were beet, and that the average 

 bee-keeper, in the United States at least, when 

 he buys sugar for feeding, receives that sugar. 



