272 



THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



posed of invert sugar together with 

 a certain portion of sugars optically 

 inactive (anoptose), water, a small 

 quantity of albuminous matter, ash, 

 and solids not sugar, i. e., those which 

 while resembling sugar in chemical 

 composition are yet not detected in 

 the ordinary process of analysis. 



In addition to the above it appears 

 from the results of a large amount of 

 work done at my suggestion by Mr. 

 G. L. Spencer, that pure honey con- 

 tains a varying amount of dextrine 

 which in some cases amounts to as 

 much as four per cent.^*^ 



This investigation is still in progress 

 and therefore its result cannot yet be 

 announced. The presence of dex- 

 trine in honey doubtless accounts for 

 the phenomenon that in some sam- 

 ples of pure honey the Isevo-rotatory 

 power is very small or, according to 

 some authors, entirely disappears, 

 which would not be the case except 

 for the presence of some highly dex- 

 tro-rotatory substance. 

 Agric. Dept., Washington, D. C. 



FOREIGN NOTES. 



By Arthur Todd. 



Frank Cheshire of London, Eng., 

 has been kind enough to send me 

 the first two parts of his new work 

 entitled, Bees and Beekeeping: Sci- 

 entific and Practical. 



Not having time fairly to examine 

 or pass any opinion on them, I 

 sent them to Professor Hasbrouck, 



1" Since this investigation wns nnflevtaken 

 the :mtlior(Kei). Anal. Cliem., 18So, p. I(;3)lia8 

 shown that lioney gatheied from jjine i'oiests 

 contains rlextiine, often in such quantities as 

 to become dextio-rotatory. Klinger claims 

 that this phenomenon is not exclusively con- 

 fined to honey of conilerous origin. Accord- 

 ing to our observations even left-handed 

 honey may contain marked quantities of dex- 

 ti'ine. If this be so it can hardly be true as 

 W. Lenz (Cliem. Zeit. 8, (il3) affirms that after 

 fermentation honey yields no optically active 

 substance. 



and requested him to kindly give me 

 his views. The following are his 

 words : 

 Boimd Brook, N.J., Oct. 28, 1885. 



I have read first and second parts 

 of Frank Cheshire's new book, Bees 

 and Beekeeping: Scientific and Prac- 

 tical, and I have been pleased with 

 it, as with no other new book that I 

 have seen for a long time. It will 

 be a very valuable contribution "to 

 general entomology, and the only 

 exhaustive work on bees yet written. 

 The plates are magnificent, original, 

 and so skilfully arranged as to dem- 

 onstrate the anatomy of the "bee," 

 as has not heretofore been done. 

 They prove Mr. Cheshire to be one 

 of the very ablest microscopists in 

 the world. 



The publishers also deserve great 

 credit for the elegance with which 

 they have done their part. Every 

 beekeeper.oa this side of the water 

 will want this book, and if the prac- 

 tical part proves to be as much in 

 advance of all competitors as the 

 scientific part is, we shall all be 

 obliged to have it. 



[Signed,] S. Hasbrouck. 



The British Bee Journal in com- 

 menting on the work speaks most 

 highly of its merits as seen in the two 

 parts issued, and only regrets that it 

 will be at least nineteen months be- 

 fore the work is complete. 



It appears by a recent decision 

 in a Sheriff's Court in Scotland 

 that the ancient laws relating to 

 bees are not binding if the circum- 

 stances attending their application 

 are considered strained, by the light 

 of modern usage and thought. The 



