1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



291 



wind up by daubing every thing with bee- 

 glue. It is easy to see, however, that these 

 very qualities, undesirable for us here in the 

 North, might serve an excellent purpose 

 when held in restraint by a strain of bees 

 having opposite tendencies. 



This is a fruitful and important theme 

 for discussion, and we shall be glad to hear, 

 not only from our Southern but Western 

 breeders who run up against the same prob- 

 lem. 



AN IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT DECISION 

 THAT INDIRECTLY FAVORS THE HON- 

 EY business; SACCHARIN BARRED 

 FROM FOODS AFTER JULY 1, 1911. 



Two or three years ago we had consider- 

 able to sav on the subject of saccharin — a 

 product of coal tar, and hence poisonous as 

 a sweetening for jellies, jams, beers, and 

 soda waters. We explained to our readers 

 time and time again, that any product of 

 coal tar, when used in food, was injurious. 

 The fact that it is 300 times sweeter than 

 cane sugar makes it very cheap; and the 

 manufacturer of sweet pickles, jams, and 

 jellies, and the brewers, have been using 

 large quantities of it in place of the more 

 expensive sugar. We have been told that a 

 large percentage of the soda-water fountains 

 have been using the product. 



We have been hoping for some years that 

 there would be a government decision that 

 would bar the use of saccharin; and now 

 our dear old Uncle Sam has given a fair 

 warning that on and after July 1 its use 

 must be discontinued. This is what he 

 says: 



U. S. Department of Agriculture," 

 Office of the Skor»'tary, 

 Washineton, D. C. Aoril 28, 1911. 



The Secretary of Agriculture has to-day issued a 

 decision, based upon a finding of the Referee Board 

 of Consulting Scientific Experts, which forbids the 

 use of saccharin in food on and after July 1st next. 

 The decision is under the Food and Drugs Act, and 

 will prohibit the manufacture or sale in the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia or the Territories of foodstuffs 

 containing saccharin, as well as Interstate com- 

 merce in such foodstuffs. The finding of the Board 

 Is the second since its creation, and is regarded as 

 very sweeping, inasmuch as the decision affects 

 more than 30 different classes of foods. Some of 

 the articles affected are soft drinks, sweet pickles, 

 jellies, and jams, and, in some Instances, beer. 



The decision as promulgated is signed by the Sec- 

 retary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture, and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, In 

 order that the regulations embodied in the decision 

 may be put into effect. The decision follows: 



"At the request of the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 the Referee Board of Consulting Scientific Experts 

 has conducted an investigation as to the effect on 

 health of the use of saccharin. The Investigation 

 has been concluded, and the Referee Board reports 

 that the continued use of saccharin for a long 

 time in quantities over three-tenths of a gram per 

 day is liable to Impair digestion; and that the addi- 

 tion of saccharin as a substitute for cane sugar or 

 other forms of sugar reduces the food value of the 

 sweetened product, and hence lowers its quality. 



"Saccharin has been used as a substitute for 

 sugar in over thirty classes of foods in which sugar 

 Is commonly recognized as a normal and valuable 

 ingredient. If the use of saccharin be continued it 

 Is evident that amounts of saccharin may readily 

 be consumed which will, through continual use, 

 produce digestive disturbances. In every food in 

 which saccharin is used, some other sweetening 

 agent known to be harmless to health can be sub- 

 stituted, and there is not even a pretense that sac- 

 charin is a necessity In the manufacture of food 



products. Under the Food and Drugs Act, articles 

 of food are adulterated If they contain added poi- 

 sonous or other added deleterious ingredients 

 which may render them injurious to health. Arti- 

 cles of food are also adulterated within the mean- 

 ing of the Act if substances have been mixed and 

 packed with the foods so as to reduce or lower or 

 injuriously affect their quality or strength. The 

 findings of the Referee Board show that saccharin 

 in food Is such an added poisonous or other added 

 deleterious Ingredient as is contemplated by the 

 Act, and also that the substitution of the saccharin 

 for sugar in foods reduces and lowers their quality. 

 "The Secretary of Agriculture, therefore, will 

 regard as adulterated, under the Food and Drugs 

 Act, foods containing saccharin which, on and 

 after July 1, 1911, are manufactured or offered for 

 sale in the District of Columbia or the Territories, 

 or shipped in interstate or foreign commerce, or 

 offered for importation Into the United States." 



We regard this as one of the most impor- 

 tant and far-reaching decisions that have 

 been rendered by the general government 

 for a long time. Dr. Wiley, of the Bureau 

 of Chemistry, and the time-honored cham- 

 pion of pure food, has long opposed the use 

 of saccharin. The fact that he is now sup- 

 ported by his associates, and by those high- 

 er up, is a matter of no little importance. 

 It is going to mean a big boost to the bot- 

 tled-honey business that has heretofore 

 had to compete with saccharin-sweetened 

 jellies and jams, and some glucosed products 

 that could be sold for less money than hon- 

 ey. It will mean, too, that comb honey 

 will also have a larger sale, although it has 

 never belonged to the class of cheaper prod- 

 ucts. 



In spite of the corruption in high places, 

 in spite of the graft and wholesale bribery 

 in some of our legislatures that have been 

 revealed lately, the world is moving to high- 

 er and better things. It is moving, because 

 graft will be no longer tolerated. The leg- 

 islators who had a price for their votes will 

 be relegated to the past. When that day 

 comes, we shall expect that all the injurious 

 patent medicines, as well as all medicines 

 containing large percentages of alcohol, and 

 all injurious food products — injurious be- 

 cause they contain preservatives and inju- 

 rious flavorings — will be barred from the 

 stomachs of our American people. The 

 day is almost here now. 



Later. — The morning papers are telling 

 how a little 18-months-old baby was made 

 very sick by eating some patent medicine 

 thrown upon the porch. The police force 

 are after the dispensers of this medicine 

 thrown out so promiscuously for the pur- 

 pose of advertising. The law ought to be 

 so rigid that no headache medicine can be 

 sold or given away except on the prescrip- 

 tion of a regular physician. 



THE STEWART METHOD FOR TREATING 



AMERICAN FOUL BROOD WEIGHED IN 



THE BALANCE AND FOUND 



WANTING. 



In the July 1st and 15th issues of this 

 journal for last year, we published the Stew- 

 art method for treating American foul 

 brood. In brief, Mr. Henry Stewart in those 

 articles claimed that, by making diseased 

 colonies very strong in a honey-flow, he 



