442 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



involving tlie rights of every indi- 

 vidual bee-keeper in the land, whether 

 possessing one or a thousand colonies. 

 Cumberland, p Maine. 



Dixie Farmer. 



Natural and Commercial Glucose. 



ARNOLD DELFFS. 



I hold that organic products, 

 changed into other by the agency of 

 man, are not what they appear to be, 

 j. e., what they are usually called. 

 They are, though greatly resembling 

 certain natural compounds, neverthe- 

 less, strictly speaking sui generis. 

 Allow me to illustrate. Mix nitric 

 acid with sugar (or various other 

 organic compounds), and the result 

 will be a crystallized acid, consid- 

 ered identical with that found in 

 oxalis acetosella principally ; con- 

 sequently termed oxalis acid. Both 

 are considered identical ; science at 

 least says so. But still, there are a 

 few of their respective combinations 

 where the parallel fails, being not the 

 same under any and all circum- 

 stances ; I hold they are two differ- 

 ent substances. Pure natural glucose 

 is the sweet found in fruits, especially 

 grapes (raisins) and dgs ; it is alto- 

 gether harmless. But for commer- 

 cial purposes, it is prepared by mix- 

 ing starch with water and a little sul- 

 phuric acid (oil of vitriol) and boiling 

 it for hours in large earthenware- 

 lined vessels ; then neutralizing the 

 still free acid by lime, tillering and 

 evaporating to dryness. As regards 

 chemical test, no injurious matter 

 can be found. Barely— I doubt if 

 any — traces of acid remain, and the 

 resulting salt (sulphate of lime ; plas- 

 ter of Paris) is inert; being insoluble. 



Here let me point out two weak 

 arguments— the one made by the ad- 

 vocates of glucose, and other similar 

 artificial compounds; the other by 

 many of its antagonists. As for the 

 former, they do not know, do not 

 want to know, that chemical tests in 

 nine cases out of ten, utterly and com- 

 pletely fail, when applied to injurious 

 organic matter; i.e., analysis is un- 

 able to detect its hurtful qualities. 

 Dr. Gall, whilst recommending his 

 "gallized" (sugared and watered) 

 grape juice, applied to chemists to 

 find anything hurtful in his wines; 

 knowing full well that he was talking 

 balderdash. But to the multitude 

 such chat was logical and convincing. 

 On the other hand, you sometimes 

 meet with allies overzealous and con- 

 sequently inconsiderate. They fire 

 away with pop-guns, whilst repeat- 

 ing rifles are at hand ; so, too, in this 

 instance. 



Before going any further, another 

 fact must be mentioned. There is a 

 certain dire disease termed diabetes ; 

 it consists in this, that the system 

 changes all the starch contained in 

 the patient's food into glucose, or 

 something like it, in lieu of carbolic 

 acid, as it does in normal cases. 

 Medical men affirm that the use of 

 artificial, so-called glucose, often 

 brings on that disease. What could 

 sound more plausible, but that it 



should act as an exciting cause ¥ Nat- 

 ural genuine glucose is not charged 

 with such injurious consequences; 

 this aldne proves that the two are not 

 tlie same, though chemistry fails to 

 point out any difference. 1 think the 

 objection I named might be compared 

 to a loaded repeating gun ; whilst the 

 charge of the others — that the traces 

 of sulphuric acid or sulphate of lime 

 possibly detected in the artificial pro- 

 duct, could produce any perceptible 

 effect whatever— win the noise made 

 by pop-guns. Such allies are weak 

 ones at best. 



But let us suppose — for mere argu- 

 ment's sake — that artificial glucose is 

 not injurious, would that justify us to 

 palm off adulterated honey as the 

 genuine article i* If you say " yes," 

 you must necessarily contend also 

 that it is right to counterfeit coins, 

 provided it l3e done so skillfully as to 

 defy detection. The mere saying, 

 " that it is altogether a different 

 thing," amounts to nothing, if you 

 are unable to point out any difference. 

 And who would countenance for a 

 moment such as selling spurious 

 grapes and other relics as genuine 

 articles V Fraud and deception are 

 nothing more nor less than a direct 

 violation of the commandments, 

 " thou shalt not bear false testimony 

 against thy neighbor," and " thou 

 shalt not steal." 



Shelbyville,© Tenn. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



The Season in Kentucky, etc. 



JNO. T. CONNLEY. 



have enough honey to run the bees ; 

 but I will get no surplus this year. I 

 have taken only one barrel of ex- 

 tracted honey, and I will take no more 

 this season. I send $1.2-5, as I want 

 to be a member of the National Bee- 

 Keepers' Union. I favor anything 

 that will honorably further the inter- 

 ests of our favorite industry. 

 Napoleon, 5 Ky., July 8, 188-5. 



We are experiencing the hardest 

 season on bees that has been known 

 for many years. The clover bloom 

 was light, and contained but little 

 nectar, besides for more than three 

 weeks of day-time that it was in 

 bloom, the weather was too unfavor- 

 able for the bees to do anything ; 

 most of the time there was a strong 

 north and east wind, with cold nights; 

 on the morning of July 1, the mer- 

 cury stood at 48-, making it too cold 

 for bees I 



I think that Mr. Doolittle's sugges- 

 tions are good — that those who keep 

 both sheep and bees give their evi- 

 dence to Mr. Freeborn as to whether 

 bees are an injury to sheep, or 

 whether or not they interfere with 

 sheep grazing on white clover. 



For eight years I have kept both 

 bees and sheep, and every summer I 

 have an average of 140 sheep and 

 lambs, and I often go to the pastures 

 to observe the state of the clover 

 bloom, but I have never known a 

 sheep to get a bee-sting ; for by the 

 time the bees are on the clover the 

 sheep are full, and take to the shade. 

 In Kentucky, sheej) do their eating at 

 nights and mornings, while the dew is 

 on the grass ; especially during June 

 and July, the time of clover bloom. 



There has been but little swarming 

 in this county (Gallatin); I have not 

 heard of as" many as 2.5, all told. I 

 have had but .5 from 90 colonies. 

 My apiary is in good condition, and I 



For tbe American Bee JoumaL 



Father M. ftuinby. 



.J. R. D. 



What does the "M" stand for? 

 None of his so-called biographers have 

 yet told us. Capt. J. E. Hethering- 

 ton. Cherry Valley, N. Y., in a 

 memorial published in a work entitled 

 " Quinby's New Bee-Keeping," fails 

 to show when or where this famous 

 untutored naturalist was born. All 

 we are told is that he was sixty-five 

 years old at his death, and that he 

 was a Quaker. 



In the " Introduction " (page 17) of 

 the above work, the remark is made : 

 " Fifty years ago, Mr. Quinby, then a 

 lad of iinietoii," etc. As the work is 

 dated 1884, this would leave the date 

 of the period in 1834, when Mr. Quinby 

 began bee-keeping. Taking the nine- 

 teen from 1834 would leave the year 

 1815 as the one in which was born the 

 " father of practical bee-culture " in 

 America. 



Then again, by the use of subtrac- 

 tion and addition we find that Mr. 

 Quinby should have been 69 instead 

 of 65 years of age at his death. Capt. 

 Hetherington, on page 16 of the work 

 alluded to, says : " Thus, at the age 

 of sixty-five, ended the life-work of our 

 counsellor, friend, and public bene- 



Mr. L. C. Root, ISIohawk, N. Y., in 

 his preface, to the edition before me, 

 dated May, 1879, although claiming a 

 close intimacy with Mr. Quinby, fails 

 to furnish anything that is clear on 

 this point. 



Can you, Mr. Editor, or any of your 

 able contributors, inform me where I 

 can obtain an instructive and clear 

 biography of one of America's great- 

 est of naturalists y 



[We invite Mr. L. C. Root, who is a 

 son-in-law of the late Moses Quinby, 

 to prepare a biography for the Bee 

 Journal, for the satisfaction of the 

 many who delight to honor the 

 memory of that distinguished pioneer 

 of apiculture. We regret to say that 

 we can add nothing to what is con- 

 tained in that excellent book — 

 "Quinby's New Bee-Keeping."— Ed.] 



To Correspondents. — It would save 

 us nuich troiil.)le, if all would be particular 

 to give their P. O. address and name, when 

 writing to this oftice. We have several letters 

 {some inclosing- money) thfitt have no name; 

 many others having no Post-Office. County 

 or State. Also, if you live near one post- 

 ollice and get your mail at another, be sure 

 to give the address we have on our list. 



