180 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar. 25, 



ion can wage such a war/are and bring the iniquitous practice 

 to an end. 



Honey, as I have stated above, is a glucose-like sugar, and 

 very likely identical with the sugar of digestion which we ob- 

 tain when we take either starch or cane-sugar into our digestive 

 cavity. It is found that sugar of honey is really two sugars, 

 both of a glucose character ; that is, both reduce the copper 

 salts. But one of these sugars (dextrose) rotates the ray of 

 light In the polariscope to the right, while the other (levulose) 

 rotates the ray to the left. We see clearly then here that there 

 are two kinds of sugar. Levulose is usually called " fruit-su- 

 gar," because it is very abundant in various fruits; it is very 

 apparent that it is a very wholesome sugar, else fruit would 

 not be such a rare and admirable diet. 



Dextrose is more easily crystallizable than is levulose, and 

 thus when honey granulates, or candies, as we term it, (these 

 are simply other terms for crystallizatiOD)the dextrose crystal- 

 lizes in the levulose. This is no disadvantage to honey ; in fact 

 is one of the best tests that the honey is genuine. VVith very 

 few exceptions all honey will granulate when cooled down be- 

 low 60 ', and often at a higher temperature. Thus the fact 

 that honey granulates is very good proof that it is genuine 

 honey. The Thurbers, of New York, in apologizing for adul- 

 teration of honey, stated that they did it to prevent granula- 

 tion. Customers did not like the honey to solidify, and by ad- 

 ding the commercial glucose (which as we have seen, is un- 

 wholesome if not actually poisonous) they retain the honey in 

 the liquid form. Granulation does no harm to honey. Gran- 

 ulated honey can be easily reduced to the liquid state by heat- 

 ing, and if this is carefully done — the product should never be 

 raised to more than ISO- F. -it does no injury to the honey. 

 I have found it true that if the honey is once liquefied and then 

 sealed closely, it is very much less likely to re-granulate, even 

 though the temperature be reduced below freezing. I have 

 never been able to explain why this should be so. 



From what has been said above, it will be seen that if we 

 keep honey in a warm place, it will very likely retain its fluid 

 condition indefinitely. I have thus kept ordinary honey for 

 over a year which showed no sign of granulation. It is also 

 true that occasionally we have honey that does not granulate 

 at all. I do not know the cause of this, but venture the sug- 

 gestion that honey is largely composed of levulose and has but 

 little dextrose. I suppose it is the product of certain flowers, 

 but may be owing to the kind of manipulation undergone while 

 being transformed by the bees. 



Some of our best physicians think, as they told me, that 

 some of our worst diseases, like Bright's disease of the kid- 

 neys — which, as they claim, is more prevalent now than in the 

 past ages of the world — is owing to the large consumption of 

 cane-sugar. However this may be, I think we are safe in say- 

 ing that honey is a safer sugar than cane-sugar. We know 

 that sugar is a very necessary food ; this is evident from the 

 fact that the liver is very early to appear and very large in the 

 newly-formed embryo ; and what gives added force to the ar- 

 gument is the fact that a wholly pre-natal organ (the placen- 

 ta) produces sugar before the liver is able to furnish a suffi- 

 cient supply. The fact, too, that the young child so craves 

 sweets, is another proof that sugar is a very important food 

 element. Children then, should have all the sugar tbey desire 

 to eat, but of course this should only be given to them at meal 

 time. We shall be a much healthier people when we learu to 

 to take our food at regular periods, the same time each day. 



We all know that early childhood is a very susceptible 

 period. All the organs at that time seem sympathetic. 

 The cutting of a tooth may bring spasms and possibly death. 

 Is it not wise, then, while we must give our children plenty 

 of sweet, to give them honey ? I believe that no parent can 

 do a wiser thing than to furnish his young children with all 

 the honey they desire to eat, giving it freely at each meal, but 

 only at meal-time. Honey is surely a safe sugar. 



The conclusions, then, that we arrive at in this article 

 are as follows : 



First, adulteration of food by commercial glucose is not 

 only a fraud but a dangerous practice, and should be remedied 

 at all hazards. 



Second, the Bee-Keepers' Union is just the organization to 

 commence this warfare, and carry it to a successful issue. 

 Let us bravely on to the conflict, and not cry halt till this in- 

 Iqultious practice shall utterly cease. 



Thirdly, it seems more than probable that honey is a much 

 safer food than is cane-sugar, and may well replace the latter 

 whenever appetite will give its consent. This is specially true 

 with children. Children should have all the sweets they crave, 

 and honey may well be the source of such sweets. This should 

 be given ad UhUiuii, but only at meal-time. 



Los Angeles Co., Cal. 



The Salt-Water Cure for Foul Brood. 



By J. A. GOLDEN. 



For the past year I have been searching and reading all 

 the articles at my command on the cure of foul brood, bee- 

 paralysis and other diseases, that have called the attention of 

 apiarists to study the nature and cure for the various diseases 

 of a virus nature that has attackt and destroyed thousands 

 upon thousands of colonies of bees. I cannot find that elec- 

 trolyzed clorid sodium water (salt water) has ever been tried 

 or even spoken of in any article I have read on foul brood, 

 and as no foul brood has ever been known to exist in this sec- 

 tion of country, and not a single case of bee-paralysis can be 

 found since my plain salt water cure has been used by every 

 apiarist in all this section as a preventive and cure, I have 

 had no opportunity to test it, altho, ofttimes, I have wisht for 

 a single case of the most malignant form of each, so that I 

 could thoroughly testthe above remedy ; but as I have neither, 

 I write this short article to call the attention of those that 

 may have the foregoing diseases among their bees, that a test 

 may be made and results reported. 



As T. S. Ford, of Mississippi, has been tussling to eradi- 

 cate bee-paralysis from his apiary for sometime, I hope he will 

 give the electrolyzed clorid of sodium remedy a fair test and 

 report all the particulars of his test, the course pursued, etc. 



Hear what Dr. Proger, of Asniers, says of electrolyzed 

 clorid of sodium water: "It is neither caustic nor irritat- 

 ing ; it may be applied to mucous membrane, as to the skin ; 

 it instantly removes all bad odors, stops all putrescent fer- 

 mentation, kills microbes more effectually and rapidly than 

 any other antiseptic, cleanses and heals fetid wounds, and 

 ulcerous sores, and, in fact, is an Ideal antiseptic in a medical 

 point of view." 



Having such a testimony from the experience of so high 

 an author as the renowned Dr. Proger, would it not be wis- 

 dom on the part of apiarists to give the remedy a careful and 

 thorough test ? 



Having never failed to cure a single case of bee-paralysis 

 by the use of salt water, in all of my experience with the 

 malady, I look forward for great results from the use of the 

 new discovery — electrolyzed clorid of sodium. 



COMB HONEY MANAGEMENT. 



As I have never read Dr. Tinker's work, " Bee-Keeping 

 for Profit," I could not give an intelligent answer to E. B.'s 

 question on page 55, therefore I would suggest that E. B. set 

 apart one colony, and give my method a practical test as de- 

 scribed in the article mentioned, which is the most satisfactory 

 way to settle questions of this kind, and save valuable space 

 which would be necessary to give intelligent information 

 through the bee-papers. Morgan Co., Ohio. 



WlBtering Bees— Producing Comb Honey. 



BY FRANK COLE. 



The winter of 1894 and 1895 I wintered my bees in the 

 cellar with both hive tops and bottoms off, with very little 

 loss. In 1895 and 1890 I wintered my bees with the tops 

 on, filled with dry sawdust, with no loss. This winter I am 

 wintering 10 colonies outdoors. I placed the hives on some 

 2x4, edgewise, that leaves the hive, 4 inches from the ground, 

 setting the hives 12 inches apart, in a row. Next I drove some 

 stakes in the ground 6 inches from the hives, then put boards 

 up against these stakes till they were above the top of the 

 hive, then filled in and around, and covered up the whole top 

 of the hive with good, dry sawdust. I left the entrance open. 

 To do this I was careful to set the hives in a straight row so I 

 can put an 8-inch wide board down flat edge against the front 

 of the hive, and have it touch all of the hives square against 

 the front end, so the sawdust will not rattle down in the en- 

 trance. The bottom-boards project out in front of the hives 

 6 inches or so, and on these I put some small strips like a 

 short piece of lath, or X-inch lumber cut in small strips, these 

 going in under the 8-inch board. That leaves a good space 

 for the bees to fly out in winter. The hive is packt with saw- 

 dust all around in under and around the 2x4's, and the mois- 

 ture from the ground cannot come in contact with the bottom- 

 boards. 



I think from all appearance these bees are coming through 

 in No. 1 condition. Bees in this locality have to be packt 

 well or they are " goners." They cannot stand the cold in 

 single-walled hives, as the mercury gets to 30 below zero 

 here sometimes. 



The forepart of last season bees did very well, but the 

 .atter part was a failure. My crop was 2,500 pounds of comb 



