1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



329 



tionally heavy — probably the heaviest for 

 over twenty years. The losses for the vari- 

 ous States stand about the same as those 

 indicated in our last issue, except that 

 Michigan now appears to have suffered the 

 most. Next come Ohio, New York, Penn- 

 sylvania, Wisconsin, Indiana. Strangely 

 enough, no severe losses are reported in Ill- 

 inois and Iowa. The States suffering the 

 most are those bordering on the great lakes; 

 and the one almost entirely surrounded 

 (Michigan) appears to have lost the most 

 bees. The reports go to show further that 

 there are very few losses in any of the dis- 

 tricts where the bees were wintered indoors. 



Outside of these lake States the losses 

 have been comparatively light except along 

 the Atlantic coast and in a few scattering 

 localities in New England. It appears 

 that the matter of humidity as well as cold 

 has something to do with the severe losses 

 among the outdoor bees. 



In nearly all the Western States, and all 

 the States south of the Ohio River, the bees 

 have wintered well. In Colorado and Ida- 

 ho, where it is as cold as or colder than the 

 lake regions, the losses appear to be very 

 light. 



We have received scarcely any reports 

 from Canada. This seems to indicate that 

 the majority of bee-keepers there winter in- 

 doors. 



I should be glad to have our subscribers 

 continue to send in reports; but let them be 

 confined to postal cards, and to two or three 

 sentences. It takes a great deal of time to 

 read through and summarize so many let- 

 ters, and long ones have to be passed over. 

 Confine the statements to three facts: 1. The 

 approximate losses for your locality, so far 

 as you can gather; 2. Whether these losses 

 relate to indoor or outdoor bees; and, 3. The 

 character of the spring — whether favorable 

 or otherwise. 



HONEY FROM CORN; ROCKEFELLER SAID TO 

 BE IN A NEW SPECULATION. 



The article below is going the rounds of 



the papers. 



JOHN D. ROCKEFEIvIyKR IS MAKING HONEY. 



NOT THE REAL ARTICLE, BUT A CLEVER SUBSTITUTE 

 MADE FROM CORN JUICE. 



John D. Rockefeller now makes artificial honey 

 •with as much enthusiasm as he formerly pumped pe- 

 troleum out of the ground years ago. He puts corn 

 into water, and boils it with a little sulphuric acid. 

 Then he puts in some lime to neutralize the acid. 

 This forms a precipitate of sulphate of lime. He sepa- 

 rates the sulphate from the corn juice by running the 

 mixture through a filter press. The result is crude 

 glucose, which so resembles real honey in flavor and 

 ■color that it takes an expert to distinguish it from the 

 genuine product. 



There is one objection to the glucose honey. It re- 

 tains, no matter how much it is refined, a certain trace 

 of the sulphuric acid. Commission men say they can 

 taste the acid. Chemists declare that the acid rots the 

 teeth. In another generation or two, from this cause 

 alone, they contend, there will be hardly a child with 

 sound teeth 



Mr. Rockefeller is doing his best to get rid of the 

 sulphuric acid. He has offered, it is said, $500,000 to 

 any chemist who can produce glucose from corn as 

 cheaply as by his present process, without the use of 

 sulphuric acid, or, at least, without having the slight- 

 est sulphuric acid in the corn juice. 



The crude glucose Mr. Rockefeller dilutes with real 

 hcney, puts up in nice looking gla>s jars with fancy 

 labels, and sends all over the world. Grocers sell it to 

 the unsuspecting public, and little children eat it with 

 delight. 



The crude glucose is used in tremendous quantities 

 to adulterate molasses. There is very little pure mo- 

 lasses in the market since Mr. Rockefeller got into the 

 glucose business. Corn juice is very much cheaper 

 than cane juice. 



To refine glucose Mr. Rockefeller has it poured into 

 big vats, whence it passes through a charred bone 

 dust, and comes out as a colorless sticky liquid, like 

 glycerine, which is growing more popular every day 

 with bakers and confectioners. They buy it from Mr. 

 Rockefeller in carload lots, and use it for cheap candy 

 and icings. 



Mr. Rockefeller expects to make a million tons of 

 glucose next year or the year after. .Some of the dis- 

 tillers say if he keeps on at this rate there will soon 

 be no corn left for whisky. 



The above has been sent us several times, 

 It is the best kind of campaign document. 

 Let it go the rounds of the press. Of course, 

 it is a sensational article written by some 

 reporter who wants to create a stir. A 

 little examination will show that the arti- 

 cle is self-contradictory. In the first para- 

 graph we are told that it takes an expert to 

 tell it from real honey. In the second we 

 are told that no amount of refining removes 

 the taste of sulphuric acid. So far as re- 

 sembling honey is concerned, unless genu- 

 ine honey is mixed with it there is no simi- 

 larity. The only thing the honey-men have 

 to be troubled about is that a good many 

 may use this corn syrup instead of honey 

 because it is so much cheaper; but I have 

 not seen any yet that can be compared with 

 good honey; and if it transpires that it is 

 injurious to the health, teeth, etc., we have 

 not much to fear. The statement that Mr. 

 Rockefeller is ofi"ering half a million dollars 

 to any one who will get out the sulphuric- 

 taste is rather significant if true; in fact,' 

 it is a big advertisement for real honey. 



Finally, I can not discover that Mr. Rocke- 

 feller, or whoever the vendor of the stuff is, 

 has ever called it honey at all. If our pure- 

 food laws are enforced so that the label on 

 the bottle tells exactly how much corn syr- 

 up is contained in the article offered for sale 

 we have not much to fear. The people who 

 buy cheap candies and syrups, however, 

 have a good deal to fear until somebody 

 claims that half-million of dollars. 



Many of our friends have become alarmed 

 for fear this product would affect seriously 

 the retail honey business. It may do so to 

 some slight extent at first; but we have very 

 little to fear from it. The taste of the stuff 

 for the first time may not be unpleasaiat; 

 but a regular diet of it would soon disgust 

 the consumer, for sulphuric acid is not a pal- 

 atable food. Honey has long been known 

 to be the best and purest sweet, and no flash- 

 in-the-pan advertising is going to destroy 

 its reputation that has been building up for 

 centuries. Corn syrup is known as glucose 

 pure and simple. It would take more mon- 

 ey in advertising than Rockefeller has, to 

 make consumers generally believe that glu- 

 cose is "better than honey " if it is "cheap- 

 er." The fact is, the brassy sulphuric-acid 

 taste in glucose can't be eliminated without 

 making it too expensive. 



