610 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



A Test for Honey. 



Prof. T. Maher, of this city, sent us 

 the following letter : 



In thepamphleton "Food Adultera- 

 tion," page 53, Prof. Kedzie observes 

 very truly : " Not only will sugar 

 thus combine witli lime, oxide of lead, 

 oxide of iron, etc., but it will associate 

 ■with itself sulphuric acid, and form a 

 compound acid wliicli comports itself 

 very differently from simple sulpiiuric 

 acid. This sucro-sulphuric acid forms 

 a pretty large class of salts whicli are 

 soluble in water, but especially solu- 

 ble in solutions of sugar. Re-agents 

 whicli will readily precipitate sul- 

 phuric acid and sulphates, e. g., chlo- 

 ride of barium, will not precipitate 

 the sucro-sulptiates. 



" Glucose has tiie same power as an 

 acid substance as sucrose, forming a 

 class of soluble glucosates. It will 

 also associate with itself sulphuric 

 acid, and form a class of gluco-sul- 

 pliates. Undoubtedly a large part of 

 the lime found in these starch-sugar 

 •syrups exists in the form of gluco- 

 sulphate of lime." 



I would only take exception to the 

 sentence " chloride of barium will not 

 precipitate thesucro-sulphates." For, 

 with a wiiite solution of cliloride of 

 barium added to and stirred witli a 

 diluted solution of (glucose) clear sy- 

 rup at 16c. a quart, obtained this 

 morning from the corner grocery, I 

 have just olitained a wliite precipitate 

 of sidphate of barium wliich suffi- 

 ciently accounts for the cheapness of 

 this syrup, wlien I had to pay 18c. for 

 a quart of dark New Orleans molasses, 

 a dilute solution of wliich gave do 

 precipitate when similarly tried witli 

 a dilute solution of cliloride of barium, 

 but remained perfectly clear, as did, 

 on another trial, a solution of ex- 

 tracted lioney from a 3-lb. can which 

 I bouglit at 161 S. Water St., and thus 

 branded on the outside : " Pure Honey 

 from the apiary of H. D. Burrill, Ban- 

 gor, Midi." 



I made a fourth trial with coffee 

 sugar from the same grocery store, 

 but the solution remained clear and 

 no precipitate took place. My wife 

 declares tliat she will keep tliis small 

 bottle of chloride of barium solution 

 and will not fail to try all the molas- 

 ses, sugar and honey wliich may come 

 into our liouse ; let alone the syrups 

 whicli will of coarse be severely kept 

 out ; and why cannot every well regu- 

 lated family thus be provided with 

 such a small bottle V 

 Chicago, 111 , Sept., 1882. 



As the determination of a simple 

 and practicable detective for adultera- 

 tion in sweets is a matter of the great- 

 est importance to bee-keepers, grocers 

 and families, we invited Prof. Maher 

 to conduct a few experiments at the 

 Bee Journal office, which took 

 place on the 20th inst. 



Tiie Professor produced a phial con- 

 taining about 4 ounces of chloride of 

 barium. " This," he remarked, " is a 

 good article. It is necessary in all 



experiments of this nature that the 

 agent used as a detective be a pure 

 article, else the result will often be 

 unsatisfactory ; therefore, in purchas- 

 ing, we must visit the druggist or 

 chemist wliose reputation is above 

 reproach." 



The tirst experiment was upon a so- 

 called pure article of "golden syrup," 

 about one ounce of which was poured 

 in a glass, to which was added about 

 two ounces of water. This was 

 tliorouglily mixed by stirring, after 

 which nearly two tablespoonfuls of 

 the liquid barium were poured in. 

 At first a small cloud or opaque dis- 

 coloration occurred, after which it re- 

 sumed its original color, while tlie 

 Professor remarked that it was a very 

 good article of syrup he was testing. 

 He said, however, that the impurities 

 (glucose) in the syrup would be pre- 

 cipitated to tlie bottoir^ of the glass, 

 and would be visible when the liquid 

 had become quiet, which proved to be 

 the case. 



Test No. 2 consisted of a table- 

 spoonful of Davenport " grape sugar " 

 (glucose), dissolved in four ounces of 

 water. Into tliis the liquid barium 

 was poured, wlien the wliole mass im- 

 mediately assumed a clouded appear- 

 ance, and upon becoming quieted a 

 sediment settled in the bottom of tlie 

 glass, apparently as much in volume 

 as there was originally of the glucose, 

 and which would indicate that tlie 

 majority of the glucose was insoluble 

 in simple water. 



For test No. 3 a sample of honey 

 was used that was sent to the Bee 

 JouKNAL Museum by Mr. VVm. Iloge. 

 about two years ago, which he claimed 

 would not granulate, owing to some 

 peculiar process by which it was 

 treated. In this a slight effervescence 

 took place, as though there was an 

 acid in its composition being acted 

 upon by soda. 



Prof. Mahler was quite positive as 

 to the efficacy of his test, and thinks 

 chloride of barium will prove the 

 simplest, cheapest and most delicate 

 detective that can be used, and per- 

 fectly within the province of every 

 man or family for all practicable pur- 

 poses. Should it so prove, the Pro- 

 fessor has well earned tlie gratitude 

 of every honey producer in the coun- 

 try, and his experiments will result in 

 much good. 



A couple of years ago our attention 

 was called to tincture of iron, as a 

 ready agent for detecting adultera- 

 tions in syrups and honey ; but we 



found its use impracticable, for, whil& 

 it would discolor and sometimes 

 blacken liquid honey, it could not be 

 relied on to give a positive indication 

 of the presence of glucose, nor, in- 

 deed, could the proportion of honey 

 used in a mixture of any kind be de- 

 termined. Hence, we have failed ta 

 appreciate any advantage to be de- 

 rived from its use, but rather misap- 

 prehension and uncertainty. 



Bee and Honey Show in Florida. 



Mr. W. S. Hart, New Smyrna, Fla., 

 wrote to the State Park Association, 

 in reference to offering Premiums for 

 a display of honey at the State Fair, 

 and secured an offer of a premium of 

 $25.00 for the best display of honey in 

 all departments of its production, 

 and $10.00 for the second best, to- 

 gether with a diploma for the first 

 prize. The following extract from Mr. 

 Hart's letter shows his line of argu- 

 ment : 



Our industry is well wortli fostering. 

 Here in this little hamlet of New 

 Smyrna, we have produced over forty 

 thousand poimds of honey of the best 

 quality this year. Most of it pro- 

 duced in three apiaries. I tliink this 

 amount will be nearly or quite doubled 

 next year. Tliis amount collected, 

 wliereafewyears ago all this delicious 

 sweet was allowed to waste, shows 

 plainly that tlie summer breezes 

 sweeping over our fair State, bear 

 away thousands of dollars' worth daily 

 of the purest and liealthiest sweet 

 known to man. By offering liberal 

 lueniiums at our State Fair, for the 

 products of the apiary, your Aasocia- 

 tion will exert an immense influence 

 toward saving this wealth to the State 

 and at the same time help to bring 

 within its border an intelligent and 

 industrious class of people. 



Wintering Bees. — The Canadian 

 Farmer offers a prize of $10 for the 

 best essay on " Wintering Bees in 

 Canada. The Canadian Bee-Keepers' 

 Association awarded it to Mr. H. 

 Clouse, of Beelon, Out. We shall 

 give it in the Bee Journal soon. 



The committee appointed to award 

 tlie prize remarked as follows : " Re- 

 garding the essay we do not think it 

 went sufficiently into details, but as 

 far as it goes it shows evident care in 

 preparing, and that the writer is a 

 practical man." 



Tlie Bural Canadian adds : " It is 

 a prize hard to award, for only the 

 test of time can sliow who is the suc- 

 cessful competitor. Many individual 

 bee-keepers would gladly give $!(>■ 

 each for a sure method of wintering 

 bees." 



