IHifJ 



lil.EANlNGS IN HEE CULTURE. 



8()5 



rioli luiiit'ral Ihmc soiiicw har. Why! an old 

 prospootor iniKlit tramp around liyar a thou- 

 sand yoaiN ami m'V(>r lind a hit of or(\ while we 

 niiglit stumhlf rinht on to it. Don't ycr see?" 



After tryinji the diviniiii^-machine in several 

 places the wind beiraii to int(>rfere with opera- 

 tions, and the discovery nf the mine was post- 

 poned indeliniteiy. WhiN' Mr. S. could see it 

 swing one way mon' than ihe other, I could not. 

 It was a clear case of faith, and a lack of it. 



There are many in ("alifinnia who think they 

 may stumble upon untold wealth, and still plod 

 through all their lives and never lind it. The 

 bright dreams and anticipations of hnding it 

 are probably as pleasurable as the attainment 

 of the substance itself. 



Our friends returned safely from tholr camp- 

 ing and bathing t«^)ur on schedule time, niucli 

 invigorated in body and spirits, and ready for 

 the further duties of ranch life. Feeling a de- 

 sire to rest from the two weeks of ranch life. I 

 retired with the pony to the quiet recesses of 

 Wilder Canyon: and in that lonely place th(?se 

 lines are written hv the Ramhi-kk. 



ADULTERATION OF HONEY. 



SOMETHINti FHO.M Mi;. I.ANUSTKOTII. 



Friend Root:— It begins to look as though we 

 had nearly got to bed-rock on the adulteration 

 question. Our good friend I'rof. Cook lias done 

 a very great service to all honest producers of 

 and dealers in pure honey. As you say. "' If it is 

 indeed true that glucose adulteration can be 

 easily detected, it is a grim fact that will make 

 evil-doers tremble." 1 fully indorse what Prof. 

 Cook says. " We know that honey is largely 

 adulterated: but almost always, if not always, 

 by feeding*^ glucose. This can be detected. 

 Thus we can successfully light this evil. Prof. 

 Wiley will help us. Let us declare the battle 

 on.'' 



Yes. let us declare the battle on: and if we 

 march under the banner of the IJee-keepers' 

 Union we may expect that, in due time, the 

 victory over (jJucose will be won. 



I believe that you are safe in saying. " Prac- 

 tically, then, glucose is the only article that 

 can be used as an adwlicvdut. at a projit. You 

 say. further. "'Sugar may possibly be iised, but 

 we doubt it." Now. if cither pure sugar syrup, 

 of light co\or. Of (iiiy mil til re of this grade of 

 syrup with the highest grades of honey should 

 be fed to bees to have them produce a choice 

 •luality of comb honey for the market, it mat- 

 ters nothing, even if chemists should be unable 

 to detect this i)roduct from honey entirely gath- 

 ered by the be(!S. Without entering into par- 

 ticulars, it is enough to say that all experience; 

 shows that iioVihuj can he projitdhhj fed to 

 iiees. to be worked up into choice comb honey. 

 I know that it has been suggested that a protit 

 might be made by emptying choice sections of 

 white-clover honey, and thi-n inducing the bees 

 to fill them with a cheapei- substitute; but if 

 glucose has l)een used in the process, detection 

 is sure; and without, then' will be no margin 

 left for proHt. Dark gradi s of liquid honey are 

 too cheap to make it worth while to sugar 

 them. Prof. Cook shows how we could feed our 

 bees a syrup made of. say. one-third honey and 

 two-thirds cane syrup, and the chemists could 

 not detect it: nor could i he consume^-; but as 

 it will not pay to do this, it will not be done. 



There is still a question which I wish to sub- 



* Feeding is a slip of the pen, for Pi-of. Cook sa> >. 

 " Bee-keepers do not adulter:ite. Dealers— wholesiile 

 dealers — do this:" but dealers do not fee^l glucose ; 

 they itae it oidy for inixiiuj. 



mit to our friend Trof. Cook: Suppose that 

 one-third choice extracted honey, say wliite 

 clover or linden, be mixed with two-thirds 

 choice whittvsugar syrup, and the Ix'es allowed 

 to do nothing to the mixture, can the chemist 

 or consumer detect the difference between this 

 mixture and the i)ure li(|uid honey? Why this 

 (juestion is ask(>d will he better understood if I 

 quote from the lirst edition of my work, "The 

 Hive and Ilonev-bee," published in the spring 

 of 18.53, pages 33V). 337: 



Dissolve two pounds of the purest white sugar in 

 as much hot water as will he just necessary tio re- 

 duce it to a syrup; take; one pound of the nicest 

 wliite-clover honey (any other light-colored lioney 

 of good flavoi' will answer), and, after warming it, 

 add it to tlie sugar s.vrui), and stir the contents. 

 Wiien cool, this compound will l)e pronounced, 

 even l)y the best judges of honey, to be one of the 

 most luscious articles whicli they ever tasted, and 

 will be, by almost ever.y one, preferred to the un- 

 mi.xed honey. Ketined loaf sugar is a perfectly 

 l)iire and inodorous sweet; and one ])ound of lione.v 

 will communicate the honey flavor in lugh perfec- 

 tion to twice that quantity of sugar; while the new 

 article will be destitute of that smarting taste 

 which honey alone so often has. . . . If desired, 

 any kind of flavor may be given to the manufac- 

 tured article; thus it may be made to resemble in 

 fragrance the cla.ssic honey of Mount Hyniettus, or 

 itniay have the flavor of the orange-groves, or the 

 delicate fragrance of beds of roses washed with 

 dew. 



While tho.se who choose may make this mix- 

 ture for their own u.se, it would surely l)e dis- 

 honest to sell it to the public as pure honey. 

 Dealers who wish to maintain a high character 

 for strict integrity should sell nothing but pure 

 honey. ' L. L. Langstkoth. 



Dayton, ().. Oct. (1. 



[We are glad you called attention in a foot- 

 note to what is manifestly a slip of the pen 

 from Prof. Cook. As we stated in our last issue, 

 page 7(iO, we do not believe that bee-keepers 

 feed glucose, although just one and only one 

 case of the kind has come to our knowledge. 

 Referring to the mixture of sugar and honey, 

 described in the extract from your book, we are 

 afraid we shall be treading on dangerous ground 

 if we give any sort of countenance to it. In 

 the first place, we do not believe that such a 

 mixture would be profitable. Sugar is coming 

 up, as you are well aware, in obedience to the 

 sugar-trust. In the second place, we feel sure 

 that wi' should be able to recognize sugar and 

 honey at once by the taste, because we have 

 already had some experience in that line. It is 

 recommended, in some of the bee-books, to keep 

 syrup from granulating that is to be fed to the 

 bees for winter use. to put in a little honey. 

 We did so last season, but not to sell it: and 

 although we could detect a slight honey taste, 

 a peculiar flavor of granulated-sugar syrup, 

 such as is used on pancakes, was very easily 

 recognized. We have'uo doubt that consumers 

 would like it, but W(; are strongly of the opin- 

 ion that they would also detect the sugar. We 

 know perfectly well Mr. Langstroth did not 

 reproduce the recipe simply that bee-k(!epers 

 might try it nowadays, but only to ascertain 

 whether such a mixture would be recognized as 

 puri' or mixed honey. 



Asifle from all other considerations, it would 

 be very unwise, if not inimical to the sale of 

 pure honey, for be(;- keepers to put up sugar 

 and honey as an article of sale as good and 

 wholesome a sweet as sugar syrup is. We want 

 no siibstiiutes resembling honey, that will enter 

 into comp''tition with it. While the bee-keeper 

 himself might be perfectly honest, and sell it 

 for exactly what it is. a dealer less scrupulous 

 might bottle it and sell it as pure extracted 

 honey, leaving off, as adulterators usually do, 



