562 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



September, 1910 



including honey. We don 't think so, at 

 least not immediately. 



Even the best experts of the country seem 

 to be all at sea as to what is going to hap- 

 pen, and it is probable that one guess is as 

 good as another. To summarize: If there 

 should be a scarcity of sugar, and honey 

 should be taken as a substitute, its price 

 will advance. If, on the other hand, the 

 price of all foods declines, it would be ex- 

 pected that honey would go down with other 

 commodities. It is our guess, and only a 

 guess, that one tendency will offset the 

 other, and that the price of honey will re- 

 main stationary. 



A MANUFACTUEER of invert-sugar syrup 

 is sending out what appears to be a cir- 

 cular to the trade. 

 Honey Adulter- From it we make 

 ated with the following quota- 



Invert Sugar, tion: "It has been 



found that honey 

 can be diluted with two to three parts of 

 invert sugar syrup, and the resulting prod- 

 uct can not be distinguished from natural 

 honey." Black type ours. While further 

 on in the letter it is admitted that this 

 adulteration should be ' ' properly labeled, ' ' 

 there are some people to whom such a letter 

 might go, who, taking the hint, would not 

 take the trouble to see that the mixture was 

 ' ' properly labeled. ' ' 



In the first place, it is not true that a hon- 

 ey adulterated with invert sugar ' ' can not 

 be distinguished from natural honey. ' ' The 

 United States Government, in a test case, 

 clearly proved that chemists could and did 

 detect the difference, with the result that- 

 the adulterator was made to pay a heavy 

 fine. See Invert Sugar in the ABC and 

 X Y Z of Bee Culture. 



Buyers should, nevertheless, be on their 

 guard against being ' ' taken in " in the pur- 

 chase of so-called honey containing invert 

 sugar. While, of course,- it is more difficult 

 to detect adulteration of honey with invert 

 sugar than it is to show adulteration with 

 glucose, nevertheless a good chemist will 

 not be fooled in either case. 



THE LOSS from careless shipping each year 

 costs the producer thousands of dollars. This 

 waste is so entirely 

 Hurting the needless that no 



Market by Care- one can think of 

 less Shipping. any possible ex- 



cuse. The plain fact 

 is that the gambling spirit in many produc- 

 ers causes them to attempt saving a few 

 cents on cans and containers, while taking 

 chances on a good many dollars' worth of 

 honey. 



Buyers in foreign countries as well as our 



own are feeling the effect of our poor ship- 

 ping. This we can ill afford when exports 

 have so decided an effect on the honey mar- 

 kets. In foreign shipments even greater 

 care must be taken than in home shipments. 

 It has been claimed that not a single im- 

 porter in Italy has been making any profit 

 on the importation of American honey. If 

 foreign importers are to purchase our honey 

 from choice instead of as a last resort, we 

 shall be obliged to make radical changes in 

 our methods of shipping. 



Every year quantities of honey are re- 

 ceived at Medina in poor condition. In some 

 cases the honey has been removed from the 

 hives before being sufficiently ripened, and 

 has accordingly fermented on the road, ooz- 

 ing from the cans and running all over the 

 car floor. In rare instances, cans arrive in 

 veneer jackets that are fit only for kindling 

 wood on arrival. At other times the cases 

 are too light or too large. 



Recently a carload arrived in very poor 

 condition. In almost no time Root's bees 

 had located the car, and soon the air was 

 filled with millions of angry, hissing bees, 

 frightening the passers-by, stinging the 

 horses, and causing great excitement gen- 

 erally. The Root fire company was called 

 out. Some of the men refused to work, but 

 soon two men were on top of the car and 

 others on the ground, with the hose playing 

 all about. The trouble subsided to some ex- 

 tent, but it was necessary to keep up the 

 performance the rest of the day. Not until 

 night did the bees allow the honey to be re- 

 moved from the car. During all that time 

 the honey was oozing from every crack and 

 crevice. On opening the car the cases and 

 cans were found in the most astonishing 

 confusion. Later we learned that the car 

 had been overloaded, and the contents had to 

 be transferred at Cincinnati to another car. 

 The honey had been leaking so that, during 

 the process of transferring, the bees started 

 robbing, and the freightmen in their fran- 

 tic excitement threw the cases in like cord- 

 wood — endwise, sidewise, crosswise, any way 

 to get there. After these cases had jammed 

 this way and that on their trip to Medina, 

 one may possibly imagine their condition on 

 arrival. 



Now that carload represented over $10,000 

 worth of honey. Doubtless nominally the 

 railroad will make good the loss. In reality 

 it will come from the pockets of the bee- 

 keepers. 



In this country the largest part of the 

 honey is now shipped in 60-pound cans, and, 

 if suitably packed, this is a good method. 

 Bulged or rusty cans should never be used. 

 Nor should anyone tolerate a round can, for 

 if knocked over, they are soon battered to 

 pieces. Moreover, the cans should fit the 

 cases, leaving no space for chucking. On the 

 arrival of carloads of honey, one will some- 

 times notice instances in which the cover 

 has been nailed to the case, driving the nail 

 straight into the can. The hole being at 

 the top, the trouble is perhaps not in evi- 



