March, 1914. 



American Hee Journal 



ing the well-cleansed surface with an 

 effective soothing and protective coat- 

 ing, and in France its great usefulness 

 for general surgery and for battlefields 

 has been shown by the experiments of 

 Parvel and Mayer. 



" Used either alone or with a little 

 vaseline, propolisine has given perfect 

 isolation from bacterial infection, with 

 the best conditions for speedy and un- 

 interrupted healing." 



I cannot vouch for the truth of this 

 statement, but can say that I have seen 

 no mention of anything of the kind in 

 medical magazines within a year. As a 

 covering for wounds it might, as is 

 claimed, give " isolation from bacterial 

 infection," but unfortunately for the 

 writer, American doctors do not "var- 

 nish" wounds, depending upon medi- 

 cated gauze instead. To my mind this 

 belongs to the same class of literature 

 as do the tales of wonderful cures of 

 rheumatism by bee-stings, and carry- 

 ing a horse chestnut in the left pants 

 pocket. 



Buck Grove, Iowa. 



[We don't believe the carrying of a 

 horse chestnut in one's pocket should 

 be mentioned in the same breath and 

 on a parity with the cure of rheuma- 

 tism by bee-stings. No remedy on 

 earth can cure everybody, for there are 

 different degrees in diseases. If a dis- 

 ease could ahvays be cured by treat- 

 ment, everybody should be enabled to 

 die of old age. Yet very few people 

 will condemn doctors and their pre- 

 scriptions as does Elbert Hubbard. 

 Propolis is given credit for quite a few 

 new uses, and we propose to translate 

 an article on the subject which has 

 lately appeared in a European bee- 

 journal. Meanwhile we are willing to 

 have such good-natured critics as Dr. 

 Bonney call our attention to new sug- 

 gestions even if they do so only to 

 oppose them. — Editor.] 



Honey and Its Falsifications 



BY ALIN CAILLAS, 

 Aericultural Ene'meer, Paris. 



THE bee's pure and naturally pro- 

 duced honey presents itself to us 

 under different aspects. In nor- 

 mal conditions it granulates; 

 that is to say, in a lapse of more 

 or less time after its extraction, it 

 hardens into a compact and crystalline 

 mass. Instead of remaining liquid, it 

 becomes more or less hard, according 

 to its composition and the plants upon 

 which it has been gathered. 



The granulation of honey is a true 

 crystallization. Honey is what we call 

 in chemistry a " super-saturated solu- 

 tion, "containingan excess of dissolved 

 material, so that the liquid cannot re- 

 main indefinitely limpid at a stated 

 temperature. However, the dissolved 

 principles or constituents may remain 

 in solution for a length of time more 

 or less protracted, on account of atmos- 

 pheric conditions or temperature, or 

 the presence of substances which im- 

 pede crystallization, such as dextrine. 

 We then have to deal with liquid 



honey. On the other hand, when the 

 temperature sinks, when the atmos- 

 phere is dry, or when we add to the 

 liquid honey a few crystals of granu- 

 lated honey, the granulation is pro- 

 duced slowly, in certain parts first, and 

 gradually invades the entire mass. 



In natural condition, therefore, and 

 without interference, honey may re- 

 main liquid or become solid. 



But not all people have the same 

 taste, and some prefer it in the one 

 form, others in the other. We may, in 

 a certain measure, liquefy honey or 

 cause it to solidify. 



Nothing is easier than the liquefying 

 of granulated honey. It is only neces- 

 sary to submit it to a gentle heat, to 

 melt the crystals of glucose and levu- 

 lose, without however removing the 



Mr. Alin Caillas. of Paris. France. 



aroma and the " bouquet " of the honey 

 treated. This operation should be 

 called "pasteurisation," from the name 

 of Pasteur, the great savant who point- 

 ed to it first as a means of destroying 

 microbe germs and securing a perfect 

 and unlimited preservation of the pro- 

 ducts thus treated. 



This is constantly done for milk, 

 beer, and all sorts of fermentable 

 liquids. But for honey, the tempera- 

 ture cannot be raised beyond a certain 

 point without danger. Not only this 

 would give it a cooked flavor, but it 

 would entirely evaporate and suppress 

 the aroma which gives its sole value to 

 the original product. As a rule, a 

 " bain-marie " (water bath) over which 

 the honey is placed, should not go be- 

 yond 70 to 80 degrees C. (15,5 to 175 de- 

 grees F.). Besides, the operation should 

 not last longer than 20 to 30 minutes, 

 and the bulk should be kept stirred. 



We can thus obtain a product more 

 or less transparent which should be at 

 once placed in closed vessels to keep it 

 from contact with the air. 



Some honeys, however, granulate 

 again quickly after having been prop- 

 erly pasteurized. That is an annoy- 

 ance, for the purchaser wonders why 



he finds in the same jar a solid part and 

 a liquid part, and he may suspect fraud. 

 Sonie dealers remedy this possible 

 accident by mixing with the honey one 

 percent of glycerine, which delays and 

 often prevents further granulation. 

 Dextrine has exactly the same influence, 

 and that is why some honey-dews or 

 plant-louse excretions, harvested on 

 pine trees, oaks, lindens, etc., rarely 

 granulate, for they contain as much as 

 10 percent of dextrine. 



It is more difficult to make the re- 

 verse operation, or induce liquid honey 

 to granulate. We have no prompt 

 method to do this. In no manner can 

 we change liquid honey to granulated 

 honey in a few hours. But a low tem- 

 perature, a dry place, and a mixture of 

 honey already granulated favor speedy 

 granulation. 



Granulated honey is usually sold in 

 jars or in blocks cut into cubes and 

 wrapped with paraffined paper. It keeps 

 splendidly in this way. I will also cite 

 a new package which consists in coni- 

 cal, paraffined tubes, made of paste- 

 board and very light. They are used 

 for preserves as well as for honey, and 

 profitably replace the glass containers. 

 [Similar tubes are described on page 

 10 of the January number. — Editor.] 



When honey has been in the granu- 

 lated condition for a long time, it often 

 separates in two distinct layers, the 

 lower solid, the upper liquid and trans- 

 parent. The latter is composed almost 

 entirely of levulose, which is very 

 hygrometric and readily absorbs the 

 moisture of the atmosphere. 



Let us say, before studying summarily 

 the adulteration of honey, that its con- 

 dition cannot give us a positive indi- 

 cation as to fraud. Liquid or solid 

 honey may be falsified. It is on more 

 precise characteristics that we must 

 rely in our researches. 



In spite of stringent laws, there are, 

 in all countries, manufactured products 

 which compete seriously with pure 

 bees' honey, mixtures of sweet com- 



IN THE Laboratory OF Ali.in Caillas at 



Paris. 



Mr. Etienne Giraud at the right. Mr. Caillas 



in the center, tiie Kditor on the left. 



pounds with honey as well as manu- 

 factured articles which contain no 

 honey at all. 



There are in France, and especially 

 in Germany, large factories which pro- 

 duce artificial honey through a well- 

 known chemical reaction. When a 

 solution of cane sugar or be'et sugar 

 (C12H22O11) is heated with diluted acid 



