THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



51 



Glucose Syrups and Honey. 



We liuve expressed the opinion 

 sevcr.al times, that it was an impossi- 

 bility to in;iniif;icture complete honey 

 combs by machineiy, then lill them 

 with Khicoseund cap them artificially ; 

 but wlien Dr. Xicliols asserts so posi- 

 tively (as he is charged below with 

 having done) that it can and is being 

 accomplished, it is time to investigate 

 the subject. With this object in view 

 we have instigated a series of in- 

 quiries, and will give our readers the 

 result when it shall be reached. Fol- 

 lowing is an article from the New 

 England Farmer on this subject. The 

 Ur. Nichols spoken of is, we suppose, 

 Prof. Ni('hols, of the Boston Journal 

 of Chemistri/, in whom we recognize 

 a stalwart and fearless opponent of 

 food adulterations, and an advocate of 

 honest goods under proper names : 



I)r. Nicliols, in his lecture on sweets, 

 delivered before the Massachuetts 

 Board of Agricidture at Bridgewater, 

 brought out some facts which are 

 probably not generally known by the j 

 public at large. The" syrups sold in 

 our stores, he said, are doubtless all 

 made up of mixtures, in which glu- 

 cose or grape sugar, made from I 

 western corn plays a [irominent part. 

 As from ten to twenty-live percent, 

 of grape sugar can be mixed with 

 cane sugar, and .seventy-five per cent, 

 of corn syrup can be added to sugar- 

 house syrup without being detected 

 by the taste, it is not to be wondered 

 at that glucose is largely used in this 

 age of adulteration. 



Tiie product of the western corn- 

 fields now finds a ready market in 

 New Orleans at the sugar and molasses 

 factories, and it is believed that Cuba 

 is becoming a good market for the 

 product. If this is the case, why not 

 take our glucose from first hand at a 

 fair price, instead of paying transpor- 

 tation to New Orleans, Ilavana or 

 Porto Rico and back, before we can 

 bring our appetites up, or down, to 

 the regulation standard of sweetness? 

 But perhaps the most startling 

 statement made by the doctor was, 

 that glucose is really taking away the 

 occupation of the honey-bee. It has 

 long been used for feeding bees, and 

 ail inferior quality of honey is made 

 from such feeding, but this is too slow 

 and uncertain a practice for this in- 

 genious race of Yankees. The glu- 

 cose sometimes affects the health of 

 the bees unfavorably, so a short cut is 

 made by the manufacturing of a per- 

 fect comb from beeswax, and filling 

 the cells with the glucose, direct from 

 the syrup mills. The comb is made 

 by machinery, and after filling is 

 sealed over like bees' comb, and then 

 sold in the markets of tlie world, per- 

 haps as California honey or such other 

 trade mark as the dealer may fancy. 

 Verily this is an age of inventions. 



It is undoubtedly true as the Far- 

 mer says, that much of our glucose 



finds a ready sale in New Orleans and 

 Cuba, wliere it is mixed with sugars 

 and syrups, and sent back to tlie 

 North and West and sold as a pure 

 cane product ; and why this is done, is 

 because the deception would not be 

 complete without the expensive trans- 

 portation, and Southern brand. The 

 time is not far distant, if it has 

 not already arrived, wlien glucose 

 will be shii)ped to foreign ports in 

 large quantities and returned to us as 

 a genuine article of cane sugar, and 

 this, too, after paying an import duty 

 at foreign ports and another at our 

 home ports, as was formerly said to be 

 the case with American wines and 

 liquors. 



The Bee Journal has long urged 

 upon bee-keepers that the food adul- 

 teration question was one of vital im- 

 portance to them, as not only working 

 to their detriment in the home market, 

 but liable to lead to a damaging pre- 

 judice in markets abroad. By refer- 

 ence to the proceedings of the Aus- 

 tro-German Convention, on pages 59 

 and 60, this week, it will be seen our 

 fears were too well grounded. It was 

 resolved to petition tlieir government 

 to increase the duties on honey and 

 wax to such an extent as to virtually 

 exclude them from their markets, and, 

 moreover, the American proclivities 

 for indiscriminate adulteration are 

 also made the pretext for attributing 

 the propagation of foul-brood to our 

 exports. We liave too much confi- 

 dence in their intelligence to place 

 any great amount of confidence in the 

 latter bug-bear; but there may be 

 room for complaint in regard to mix- 

 ing glucose with the honey sent there, 

 and if, instead of increasing the duty 

 on honey and wax, they would make 

 it a civil and penal offeiise to import 

 or sell the adulterated article, we could 

 rejoice with them in their progressive 

 step. 



A late number of the Chicago West 

 End Advocate, says : " Recently three 

 prominent citizens of x\.tlanta, Ga., 

 died of paralysis, caused by the in- 

 gredients used to adulterate fancy 

 brands of sugar and syrups." And it 

 is insidiously working mischief all the 

 time. If bee-keepers, or dairymen, 

 or any other class of producers were 

 alone the sutferers, there would not be 

 so much cause for alarm ; but when a 

 whole nation, supposed to be com- 

 posed of intelligent, thinking, chari' 

 table people, can supinely and inertly 

 allow dishonesty and fraud, in the 

 guise of food adulterations, to usurp 

 the cliannels of honest trade, poison- 



ing our whole people and imposing 

 upon foreign confidence, it is time to 

 examine the ci iminal code of foreign 

 governments to find a remedy. We 

 are almost persuaded that semi-barbar- 

 ous China has taken a step in advance 

 of the United States in civilization, 

 in making death the penalty of food 

 adulteration. Here, if one person 

 kills another with firearms, or other 

 violent means, it is " murder," but if 

 whole conmiunities are slowly poi- 

 soned with adulterated food, it is a 

 matter of " business." There, if a 

 whole people be slowly poisoned or 

 diseased, it is as much a crime and pun- 

 ishable as if but a single victim 

 suffers a speedy and comparatively 

 happy death. 



Sew Bee Feeders.— We have one 

 from U. E. Dodge, Fredonia, N. Y., 

 one of his bee-feeders, reference to 

 which is made on page 61, this num- 

 ber. The feeder is made with two 

 wooden strips 10 inches long, nailed 

 on two others 6i^ inches long, making 

 an open box about 10x7 inches ; a IJ/^ 

 inch strip is nailed crosswise inside 

 II4 inches from one end, and a piece 

 of cheap cotton cloth is nailed over the 

 bottom from this strip to the furthest 

 end, leaving the narrow open space 

 for the bees to come up from below. 

 The top of the box is covered with a 

 7x9 pane of glass. A slanting ^j^ inch 

 hole through one of the ends, to the 

 inside, through which to pour liquid 

 feed, completes the feeder. When 

 more upward ventilation is wanted, 

 this feed liole is covered with wire- 

 cloth, instead of a tin slide. 



From Scovell & Anderson, Colum- 

 bus, Kan., we also have a new feeder. 

 This is 9 inches long by o'., wide and 

 2 inches deep. There are two outer 

 1-inch slots cut down into a block, 

 something like the Novice feeder, in 

 which to pour the feed, then two inner 

 1-inch slots, covered with wire- 

 cloth, from which the bees take the 

 feed, and between these a mortise is 

 cut clear through, to allow the bees to 

 come up. A %-uKh strip passes 

 around the edges underneath, whicli 

 bears up the feeder from the tops of 

 the frames. Tliis is for a top feeder, 

 over the frames, and underneath the 

 quilt. 



^° Several correspondents ask for 

 the best method of making paste for 

 putting labels on tin pails of honey. 

 Will some one please give a receipe 

 for making such as will stick well to 

 tin, and oblige many inquirers. 



