that have been sure in the fall of young 

 bees and healtliy stores, and who have 

 given them suitable protection, either in 

 doors or out, report success. They tell us, 

 they have no fear of wintering. Young 

 bees, healthy stores, and proper protection 

 can be secured by the intelligent bee- 

 keeper. He can be sure of them. They are 

 entirely under his control. Hence, it does 

 not seem rash to say that the dangers of 

 wintering are, for the intelligent, energetic 

 bee-keeper, among the things that were. 



.5. Lastly, we have the objection that the 

 markets will be overstocked, and hence 

 prices will fall below a paying basis. This 

 objection has been so earnestly urged that 

 it is worth while to look at it somewhat 

 closely, which I propose to do in a subse- 

 quent essay. I will only say here, that the 

 history of nearly every business shows that 

 as the supply of an article increases, and 

 the prices fall, the demand increases so 

 largely as to make the aggregate profits 

 greater than they were when the production 

 was less, and "the prices higher. So in 

 regard to honey; if the prices fall a good 

 deal below what they now are, this reduced 

 price will cause honey to be taken by large 

 numbers, who now do not use it at all; and 

 this consumption will so increase the 

 demand, that the producer can sell 50 lbs 

 where he now sells lib; and so make much 

 larger profits, in the aggregate, in spite of 

 the lower prices. 



The arguments in favor of bee-keeping 

 becoming a great industry of national im- 

 portance seem to me to be clear and strong. 

 The objections do not seem to be well 

 taken. I think there is no doubt but 

 capital and intelligent labor will be 

 attracted to this business, and that in the 

 course of a quarter of a century it will have 

 a growth that will surprise us all. 



Keokuk, Iowa, Dec. 5, 1877. O. Clute. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Grape Sugar. 



A great deal of attention has, of late, been 

 directed to the use of grape sugar as a cheap 

 substitute for honey for wnitering bees.— 

 As the solid crystaline portion of honey is 

 pure grape sugar, there is no reason why a 

 pure article of grape sugar should not be a 

 perfect substitute for it. Perhaps there are 

 some who would like to experiment with it, 

 and as it may be more convenient for them 

 to manufacture it themselves, than to buy, 

 I will describe a process for manufacturing 

 it on a small scale 



Grape sugar is most economically pre- 

 pared by artificially modifying starch.— 

 This can be done in two ways, whicli I will 

 describe: 



To 10 parts starch, (or bolted white corn 

 meal) add 1 part bruised malt and 40 parts of 

 water, all by weight. Heat the malt and 

 water to about 150° fahr., and then add the 

 starch, stir constantly and raise the temper- 

 ture to about 170' fahr., and keep at this 

 degree until the starch is all converted, and 

 when all complete, bail, filter, and reduce to 

 a syrup. Tliis is glucose or impure grape 

 sugar. It contains a great deal of mucilage 

 and is very much inclined to sour. 



The best process, although a little more 

 troublesome, is as follows: 



25 parts of starch will require about 100 

 parts of water, and 1 part of oil of vitrol.— 



The acid should be diluted by adding it 

 slowly to about 10 times as much water, in 

 an earthen vessel. 



Put the water into a copper kettle, on a 

 wooden tank, heated by a copper steam coil, 

 (don't use any other metals, excepting lead,) 

 bring it to a boil, then add the diluted oil of 

 vitrol, and while the liquid is kept boiling, 

 gradually add the starch, which should be 

 mixed with water enough to make it of a 

 creamy consistency. Avoid lumps, and be 

 very careful and do not let it burn during 

 the process of boiling, as that Avill render it 

 poisonous to the bees. Replace the water 

 as it evaporates. The starch is first con- 

 verted into dextrine. It will require from 

 6 to 8 hours continuous boiling to thoroughly 

 convert it into grape sugar. The acid does 

 not unite with the starch, but only acts by 

 its presence. When the convertion is com- 



Elete, the acid must be thoroughly removed 

 y the addition of pure carbonate of lime. — 

 A good article of powdered chalk will do. — 

 Add it in small quantities until the liquid 

 ceases to effervesce upon the addition of 

 more chalk. Stir the liquid while adding 

 the chalk. It will require a little more chalk 

 than the oil of vitrol used. 



After neutralization, the liquor should be 

 strained into a tub, to allow tlie gypsum, or 

 sulphate of lime, to settle; which will require 

 about 34 hours. Keep the vessel closely 

 covered, and use every precaution to prevent 

 souring. The clear liquor should be drawn 

 off and evaporated to the consistency of 

 syrup, again allowed to settle, and then 

 reduced further if you wish it to crystalize. 



The above process will do very well for 

 bee food, but it will be too dark and impure 

 for a commercial article, and requires to be 

 filtered through animal charcoal to whiten it. 



Now let every body try their skill, and let 

 us hear the result. If grape sugar is a relia- 

 ble substitute for honey, and only costs 2 or 

 3 cents a pound, we can extract every drop 

 of honey from the comb and winter on grape 

 sugar. S. C. Dodge. 



Chattanooga, Tenn., Oct. 25, 2877. 



Mr. S. Scott Hammitt, College Hill, Ohio, 

 inquires: 



1. Do you have Clover and Linden with 

 you? 



Yes, in abundance. We also have a great 

 quantity of Poplar, by some, called Tulip. 

 From this we get our first crop of honey. — 

 Its yield some years is very large, and in 

 flavor, we think, far supasses any other 

 kind of honey. In color, it is classed as 

 dark. 



2. Are there many bees kept in and 

 around your vicinity? 



At a guess, I would say, that there are 

 about 1,000 colonies in Maury Co. 



3. Would it pay to embark in the busi- 

 ness there? 



To make it an exclusive business, I hardly 

 think it would. 



4. What do Italian bees sell at per 

 colony? 



From 5 to 10 dollars. 



5. What is good land worth in a small 

 way? 



From 25 to 100 dollars per acre. 



