May 2'J, 1902 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



345 



Kxtrac'teil lionoy varies In color aci-ordlin,' to the (lower upon 

 which lli(^ ben feiiils. Airiilfii uTul luisHwood hoiii'.vs are nearly wliilu, 

 i;r]|(kMir(jil and lHiiO<wheal ilurk ; (In; laller Hirrjelirnes aluiohl lihick. 

 The clovers, ()i•all^,'e (lower, cic , occupy an inlernieilia(u pohlllon as 

 renarils color of houey pro(lu<'e(l from them. 



lloney-eonilis (irodiiced I'roui KiKdi plants are as whilcMir wliiler 

 than the iuiney enclosed. I'uri' luiiH^y is usually a vihci<l lii|ni(l, liul 

 may bi^ entirely solidillcd. All lioucy (granulates in (inic, and lids is 

 rather a badK(^" of purity tluui impurity. (Iranulated ho[iey is not, 

 however, of necessity pure. 



Adulterated honey has had a loutrand i>rosperous reit;n in Illinois, 

 but the " Dynasty " is totteriut: on its throne. The .National lice- 

 Keepers' Assuciation commenced war on adulterated extracted hnney 

 in Chica^'o in bs'.is, and I, as the expert clieudst, found over ob percent 

 of samples tal<en adulterated. However, owinj; to loose food laws, 

 nothinii' coulil be done with (larlies arrested. The creation of the 

 Illinois l''ood ( 'omuiission, however, had a wholesome elTect on tlie 

 honey market, imd but ei)ilit of '12 sanjples analyzed were found adul- 

 terated in tile preliniimiry work of the commission. 



Since that time :i() samples have been collected and examined, with 

 a view to selecting adulterated or suspicious goods, and but six, or 20 

 percent, were found adulterated. 



While the adulteration of extracle<l honey has not been wiped out 

 (indeed, never will be so lontf as there is a prolit in adulteration, and 

 a chance to escape detection), yet the market is in a more satisfactory 

 condition than it has ever been, as gladly testifled to by bee-keepers, 

 and emphasized l)y the result of our work. 



Many years aj;o Dr. Wiley described, in pleasantry, a process of 

 manufacturing comb honey. Since that time comb honey has striven 

 in vain to live down the aspersions cast upon its character. No doubt 

 they have been fostered by the manufacture and common use of arti- 

 ficial comb foundation, and also the re-usiug of oUl comb after extrac- 

 tion of honey by centrifuge. In the course of my analytical career I 

 have exan)ined many samples of comb honey, usually those suspected 

 of adulteration, the last ,iust before going to press, and I have never 

 yet discovered a sample which was not, in my opinion, supported by 

 the chemical evidence, made in whole or in part by the bee. Nor have 

 I seen, in any literature on the subject, a record of such fabricated 

 goods. 



However, I have seen and have analyzed adulterated comb honey. 

 I will refer to this later on in a portion of this article on honey adul- 

 teration. Before discussing that part of the subject it were well to 

 define accurately the article as understood by me, and describe its 

 properties. 



A comprehensive definition of honey must include the saccharine 

 liquid food secreted by the honey-bee. Apis rufUif^ra^ the bunible-bec, 

 ISombus peinisiihuuticux, or other hynienopterous insect. Wiley (ls;)l) 

 defines honey as the transformed nectar of Howers. Cook (IsiW) 

 would modify this definition to conform to our more extensive knowl- 

 edge of the food of Ijees and o\ir limited knowledge of honey by defin- 

 ing honey as simply transformed nectar. This definition, to be sure, 

 would include aphis or louse honey, but would not include honey 

 obtained by feeding bees cane-sugar, etc., a form of honey sometimes 

 met with and very difficult to distinguish from (lower honey. 



Several States forbid the selling of honey obtained by feeding 

 bees cane-sugar, and in view of the fact that the fiavorof honey is the 

 one important property that gives it its iudividif^ility and establishes 

 its reputation as a delicacy, which flavor is wholly obtained from 

 flowers; and also considering that the composition of such honey is 

 ofttimes so greatly changed as to destroy its character as honey, I 

 believe it to be just to adopt the following definition for honey as a 

 marketable commodity: 



Commercial honey is the nectar of flowers, transformed, and 

 stored in a comb by the honey-bee. 



It is true that this definition will rule out some honeys admitted 

 by the comprehensive definition previously given, but not to the dis- 

 advantage of the producer, the tradesman or the consumer. 



As stated by Cook, honey-dew (aphis) is so unattractive in appear- 

 ance and fiavor as to 'be rarely foimd on the market. Honey produced 

 by other insects than the honey-bee is not made in sufficient quantity to 

 give it commercial standing. Honey produced by artificial feeding is 

 an adulteration in fact, and, although concocted with the bee as an 

 accomplice, is a fraud and a cheat. The physical properties of honey 

 depend somewhat upon the variety of bee, but much more upon the 

 food. As previously stated, the color depends wholly upon the plant 

 visited, as also does the flavor, this flavor and color being in part due 

 to pollen carried by the bee from blossom to hive, and intended as a 

 food for young. 



The viscosity of honey varies from a solid sugar to a limpid syrup. 

 The amount of water present will depend somewhat upon the variety 

 of bee producing the honey, the time of ripening and the lenglh of 

 time kept in the hive. All honey will "^ candy," and some, more par- 

 ticularly alfalfa, will " candy " in the comb, and on short notice some- 

 times. Usually honey " candles " evenly, and a honey half liquid and 

 halt solid is suspicious. Honey should not contain over 23 percent 

 of water. 



It is the custom of bee-lteepers to set a sheet of comb foundation 

 m the center of a honey-box. that the bees may build regular cells and 

 till out the corners of the comb. The comb foundation is embossed 

 on both sides with the form of the cell-bases, and is made from bees- 

 wax. Other waxes, fats and paraffin have been tried, and found 

 wanting. Even with this starter the cells are seldom, if ever, per- 

 fectly hexagonal, nor even level, and each section, like each leaf of 

 the forest, possesses an individuality of its own. And the same is 

 true, to a lesser extent, of the honey contained therein, as no two 

 samples have exactly the same composition. 



Chemically considered, honey is a water solution of invert sugar 

 (sucro-dextrose and sucro-levulosej. It also contains a small amount 



of sucrose (cane-sugar), manidte (a sugar) and dextrin (a ifuiri). Still 

 smaller quantities of formic acid i '; and other organic and mineral 

 subhtarK.'es are invariably present. 



(ienuine honify always turns a ray of polarized light to the left 

 from II to 'J.j degrees; gives a slightly Increased rotation on Inversion; 

 usually contains but 2 or !! percent of sucrose, rarely "t.^ to !i percent. 

 The higli percentage jirobaljly signlfles unrlpened honey. Dextrin 

 should be i>resenl in small amount i>idy. 



The statement is often made that honey normally contains glucose 

 in greater or less proportion. Sm h is a mistake, (ilucose, in a com- 

 mercial sense, can not tM5 incorporated In comb honey. (JIucose, In a 

 chemical sense, sigidfles a group of sugars having common character- 

 istics, and incluiles almost two dozen varieties, the most common of 

 which are dextrose and Icvulo.so. Money, therefore, contains glucoses, 

 but no "glucose." " (ilucose " also contains glucoses, dextrose bein^ 

 common to both products. 



The physiological process of converting nectar and sugar into 

 honey is \'ery little understood. The constitution of nectar can only 

 be approximated, as it is obtainable in such very small quantity. Vet 

 it certainly contains a uiuch larger i>roportlon of sucrose and dextrin 

 than is found in honey. Watts allirms that the sugar is converted 

 into glucose by a ferment in the honey. Cook, with more reason, 

 thinks that the largtt couqiound racemose glands in the head and 

 tliorax of bees furnish the ferment which induces the change. In 

 view of the fact that the inversion of cane-sugar is seldom complete, 

 Mr. Doolitlle thinks that the young bees work over the honey and 

 more thoroughly digest it. 



ADVI.TEKATION' OF UOXEY. 



In is,sr the United States Department of Agriculture caused an 

 examination of honey to be made in various sections of the Inited 

 States. It was found that the percentage of adulteration ranged as 

 follows: 



Seventy-six percent in Nebraska. 



Eighteen percent in California. 



Twenty-six percent in Kentucky. 



Twelve percent in Massachusetts. 



Thirty-four percent in New Orleans. 



Fifty-eight percent in Pennsylvania. 



Forty percent in Ohio. 



Forty-eight percent in New York. 



In calculating the percentage of adulteration all honey suspected 

 of being adulterated with invert sugar, but not susceptible of positive 

 proof, were classed as pure honey. It will be observed that this inves- 

 tigation, although extensive, was mainly conducted along coast lines. 

 Nebraska is the only representative of the great corn and glucose pro- 

 ducing territory between Ohio and ('alifornia, and it was in Nebraska 

 that the highest percentage of adulterated honey was found. 



Bee-keepers seem to have been the last to recognize such a com- 

 modity as adulterated honey. Yet honey was adulterated extensively 

 with cane-sugar as far back as 1S65. 



The manufacture of glucose gave an increased impetus to adul- 

 teration, as it had advantages not possessed by cane-sugar or other 

 adulterants. Within the last few years honey, especially extracted 

 honey, has been sold so cheap that it was not thought profitable to 

 adulterate it. The American Bee .Journal of .July, l.sss, says: " Adul- 

 teration of honey is now a thing of the past." Owing to the immense 

 yield in California, honey is to-day cheaper than ever. But glucose 

 and cane-sugar have also decreased in value. The work of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, in isni, and my own work on 

 honey, offered for sale in Minnesota in 18113, in Illinois in 1S9" and to 

 date, show that there is still balm for a seared conscience, and suffi- 

 cient inducement in the sophistication of extracted honey to hazard 

 detection and punishment. 



(Concluded aext weelc.) 



* The Afterthought. 



iJ4 



WT?TfTfTrTrTrTfT!?T5r' 



The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlasses.. 

 By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo. O. 



FINE S.WVDUST FOI'! WINTER P.\CKING. 



At tVie Ciiicag-o convention Mr. Cog-gsiiaU brought out 

 one excellent minor trait of fine, drj' sawdust used as winter- 

 packing. Wlien mice try to burrow in it the roof of their 

 working immediately falls in, and they have to give up. 

 And of course it does not, like chaff, offer premiums in the 

 shape of ati occasional eatable grain. Page 215. 



PL.\NER-SHAVINGS FOR PACKING. 



Dr. Miller's contribution to the wintering question 

 ought to be passed around till all have had a chance at 

 least to think about it. Put in sis inches of planer-shav- 

 ings and the top gets wet and keeps wet. Put in two inches 

 and the whole keeps dry — and so presumably is better for 

 the bees. Does damp packing, on the top of dry, really do 

 much harm ? And how about those who still stick to enamel 



