March 29, 19C6 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



275 



use strong alcohol — 95 percent. Take a clear glass or tumbler about a 

 third full of the honey or syrup to be tested. In the presence of glu- 

 cose a milky turbidity will be caused, and at the bottom of the glass 

 will be formed a thick, gummy mass, which can be easily collected in 

 a spoon. If glucose is not present a slight lloeculent precipitate will be 

 formed instead of the gummy mass, and there will be no turbidity 

 after the te6t has stood a few moments. It should be borne in mind 

 that the glucose is not to be considered necessarily harmful, but that 

 its presence always indicates a cheaper or low-grade product. 



By a simple mistake I got two explanations of the 

 above test from Prof. Frank T. Shutt, Chemist, Central Ex- 

 perimental Farm, Ottawa. The following letter will ex- 

 plain : 

 Alcohol and Barium Chloride Tests for Glucose in Honey. 



Dear Mr. Pettit: — Personally I can not speak of the validity of 

 the test in the presence of small quantities of glucose. It is no doubt 

 indicative when the proportion of glucose is at all considerable. 

 Leach, in his recent work on 'Food Analysis," writes as follows: 



" The presence of commercial glucose is strongly indicated if, on 

 the addition of 3 or 4 volumes of strong alcohol to the honey, a pre- 

 cipitate of dextrin is found. Pure honey should show only a slight 

 milkiness and no actual precipitate when thus treated." 



I may add that I do not think there is any simple test which a 

 layman could use with certainty for the detection of glucose in honey, 

 though a precipitate in the diluted honey on adding a solution of 

 barium chloride would indicate traces of sulphuric acid, which very 

 frequently accompanies glucose. The absence, however, of such a 

 precipitate would not in itself necessarily imply freedom from glucose. 

 Tours truly, Frank T. Suutt, ChemUt. 



Report for Season of 1905 



Mr. MorlEY PETTIT : — From 3 colonies we got over 

 200 pounds of honey and 4 swarms. I have also a large 

 amount of new combs for another year. I lost one colony 

 from being queenless, and did not find it out till too late ; 

 it was my own fault. I tried to stop swarming by killing 

 most of the queens (as a man had advised me), and I sup- 

 pose the cells I left turned out " no good." Oh, I learned a 

 lot last summer. 



I am wintering 6 colonies. They were all out to-day, 

 and I think they are doing well. The neighbor I spoke of 

 as having foul brood in his apiary, lost all his bees. I have 

 heard of no others with foul brood. I kept the Richardson 

 10-frame hive that I started with, made the hives myself 

 and bought the frames. I wanted to go slow at first. The 

 clover and fall wheat are all right at present. 



Greenock, Ont., Feb. 20. Joseph Condy. 



Southern 

 + 23eebom -fr 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholl. New Braunfels, Tex. 



J 



'Those Bee-Problems" 



don't, I can already imagine that "Hasty " man jumping 

 up with, "I told you so !" 



Two Foul-Brood Inspectors 



That man with those " unreliable glasses " says some- 

 thing about a little dog that " died or run away" — I don't 

 just recollect which the dog did. He also heaves a big sigh 

 as if he feared that " those bee-problems " would never be 

 solved now ; but, Mr. Hasty, had you not thought about it 

 that there might be others who might do it ? 



Then, too, we'uns have been wondering whether the 

 Ohio State University would be so much interested in us if 

 we went there, as some evidently suppose we did, especially 

 in the heart of snowy winter, when it was proposed to ven- 

 ture there. Since then a kind of hankering toward wanting 

 to stay at home and among my own bees has kept me tied 

 down to it, and here I am. Yes, I am a "sure enough " bee- 

 keeper again, with several hundred colonies, to run them 

 all by my little self (only 6—3 tall). Of these doings, some 

 may prove good enough for publication some time sooner 

 or later, depending upon when they happen to happen — even 

 if they are only good for some " wit and humor " page. 



And, again, in my dabblings with bees, sure enough 

 bees, it is to be supposed that some of the stumbles might 

 happen to be across something of — well — er — of value. It 

 may also happen to happen that some of "those toothsome 

 bee-problems " to which Mr. Hasty refers, and which he 

 would like to see solved (I suppose) might happen. If they 



As assistant in the Department of Entomology and 

 Apiarist at the State A. and M. College, the duty of foul 

 brood inspection fell on the shoulders of the writer at vari- 

 ous times since the foul brood law was placed in the hands 

 of the State Entomologist. This gave me a lot of varied 

 experiences, some of them as serious as others were comical. 



It was during my inspection work in Southwest Texas, 

 however, that I was aided by a young bee-keeping friend, 

 who, by his services, through his kindness, his good-will and 



"BIO bill" and "little BILl^"— two bee-inspectors. 



his generosity, enabled much work to be accomplished in a 

 short time, than if the labors had fallen to one man. This 

 same young man was none other than Willie Atchley, 

 whom almost every reader knows, and whose picture will be 

 seen here. Willie is the leetle fellow in the " rig," while 

 " ye humble bigger fellow " towers up on the left of him. 



Indeed, this couple was not known by their right names, 

 for 'twas "Big Bill" and "Little Bill" that they were 

 called. Everybody in Beeville knew them by these names. 



But in showing the picture of Mr. Atchley, the bee- 

 keepers of Southwest Texas have before them a young man 

 who has been very helpful and instrumental in the work of 

 inspecting the apiaries there, and in locating the diseased 

 apiaries that were destroyed and thus rid of the dreaded 

 foul brood. He is the person who has only lately been 

 appointed as inspector for that section. 



Preventing the Introduction of Foul Brood 



As foul brood inspector for Southwest Texas, Mr. Willie 

 Atchley, of Beeville, was appointed by Prof. Albert F. Con- 

 radi, State Entomologist at the A. and M. College, under 

 whose supervision the Texas foul brood law is. Mr. Atch- 

 ley should make a good officer. He is a thorough bee-man, 

 and well acquainted among the bee-men of his section of 

 the State. We are hoping that there will not be very much 

 for him to do in the inspection work, however ; not that we 

 wish to see him spend his life in idleness, for he is one of 

 those fellows who would find— and, in his case, already has— 

 enough to do ; but I am sure that I voice the sentiments of 

 the bee-keepers of the entire Southwest Texas in my wishes. 

 Foul brood is not a much-desired thing, and the less there 

 is to do for the inspector the better for the bee-keepers. 



A word of explanation concerning the situation of foul 

 brood in the above-alluded-to section is due the bee-keepers 

 of that part of the State, especially since it seemed neces- 

 sarv to appoint an inspector. Those who are not familiar 

 with the facts of the case, and the situation of the subject, 

 may draw conclusions from the fact of this appointment 

 that are not at all warranted. 



Although there is no foul brood there now, there has 

 been trouble at two different times, of bees being imported 

 into that section that were diseased. As the matter has 

 been properly taken care of, and the destruction of the dis- 



