EDITORIAL 



HAVING learned through items published 

 in the newspapers that the Bureau of Olieiii 

 istry of the U. S. 



To Make Thick 



Syrup That Will 



Not Granulate. 



No Acid Needed 



Department of Ag- 

 riculture is work- 

 ing on the prob- 

 lem of making 

 heavier cane syrup 

 and maple syrup so treated that they will 

 not granulate, the Editor recently visited the 

 sugar laboratory of the Bureau of Chemistry 

 at Washington, to learn how this process 

 can be applied to the preparation of syrup 

 for fall feeding of bees. Some of the things 

 learned through this visit may prove to be 

 of great importance to beekeepers in the 

 North who are seeking a perfect winter food 

 for the bees. 



By adding a substance called iuvertase, 

 which is now being manufactured commer- 

 cially, the Bureau of Chemistry has dis- 

 covered that it is possible to make a sugar 

 syrup as thick as honey that will stand in- 

 definitely without granulation. The action 

 of this material on the sugar syrup in chang- 

 ing the cane sugar (sucrose) into levulose 

 and dextrose is similar to that which takes 

 place when tartaric acid is added and heat 

 applied; but the amount of material used 

 and the nature of the substance are such 

 that its use in making winter feed can not 

 be objectionable. 



But the great advantage of this method 

 of partially inverting the cane sugar is that 

 the inversion can be carried to the desired 

 extent and then stopped completely by heat- 

 ing. As explained by H. S. Paine, who is 

 in charge of this work, when the inversion 

 is not carried far enough, the sucrose will 

 crystallize out; and when the inversion is 

 carried too far, the dextrose will crystallize 

 out just as it does in honey in which inver- 

 sion is practically complete. When the in- 

 version is carried to a certain point and 

 tlien stopped by reheating the syrup to de- 

 stroy the invertase, there is a balance be- 

 tween the different kinds of sugar which 

 prevents crystallization. It is therefore pos- 

 sible to make a thick sugar syrup which will 

 stand without crystallization for long pe- 

 riods, whereas either ordinary sugar syrup 

 or honey Avill sooner or later granulate. After 

 the completion of certain experiments here, 

 further reports will be published in these 

 columns regarding this new process. 



LAST month we reported the action taken at 

 the meeting called at Washington on March 9 



by Dr. S. B. 

 U. S. Post Office De- Fracker, a c t- 

 partment Prohibits ing as chair- 

 Importation of Bees man of the 

 Through Mails. committee ap- 



pointed at the 

 Toronto meeting of tlic .Xmerican Associa- 



tion of Economic Entomologists, to devise 

 means for the protection of the United 

 States and Canada against the introduction 

 of the Isle of Wight disease. As a result of 

 this action the Post Office Department is- 

 sued an order, on March 21, proliibiting the 

 importation of honeybees through the mails 

 from all foreign countries except Canada. 



To prevent bees being sent into this coun- 

 try through other channels, a bill has been 

 drafted to make it unlawful for any person 

 to import or offer for entry into the United 

 States any honeybees, except for experimen- 

 tal or scientific purposes by the United 

 States Department of Agriculture. Provi- 

 sion is made by which the Secretary of Ag- 

 riculture and the Secretary of the Treasury 

 may make regulations admitting honeybees 

 from countries where no dangerous bee dis- 

 eases exist. Not only has the Isle of Wight 

 disease been found in the French Alps, as 

 reported in this journal last month, but it 

 has recently been found to exist in Switzer- 

 land. It certainly now appears that it is 

 high time to stop all importation of bees and 

 queens from Europe if this disease is to be 

 kept out of the United States and Canada; 

 for, as was demonstrated last summer when 

 bees containing some of the living mites 

 which cause the diseases were received at 

 the Bureau of Entomology at Washington, 

 the mites could easily be introduced by the 

 importation of queens and their attendants. 



Australia has already prohibited further 

 importations of bees from the United King- 

 dom and will, no doubt, now prohibit such 

 importations from other countries as well. 



Those who desire further information on 

 the Isle of Wight disease should write to 

 the Bureau of Entomology, Washington, 

 D. C, asking for Department Circular 218. 



LATER. Just as we go to press we learn 

 that the bill to prohibit all importation of 

 bees except under government supervision is 

 to be introduced in the Senate immediately. 

 Beekeepers should write to their Senators 

 and Representatives at once asking them to 

 support this bill. 



THE article on Brood Disease Variation by 

 A. P. Sturtevant, specialist in the Bacteri- 

 ology of Bee 



Confusing Symptoms 



of the Brood 



Diseases Explained. 



Diseases, Bu- 

 reau of Ento- 

 mology, U. S. 

 I) e p a r tnient 

 of Agriculture, published in this issue, 

 should clear up many of the puzzling ques- 

 tions which have been troubling those who 

 are struggling with both American foul 

 brood and European foul brood. This arti- 

 cle explains why the appearance of larvae 

 dead from European foul brood varies so 



