198 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Glucose— A Scrap of History. 



Mr. W. II. Graves, Duncan, 111., 

 has sent us the Peoria Jourmd, of Feb. 

 13, 1883, which contains some historic 

 items of interest on tlie glucose in- 

 dustry which has been so detrimental 

 to honey producers. It says : 



One of the curiosities of trade in 

 these latter days, is exhibited in the 

 rise, meridian and decline of the glu- 

 cose industry. Less than five years 

 ago the general attention of the com- 

 mercial world was directed to glucose. 

 Beginning in Germany it was first 

 manufactured from wheat. It was 

 carefully made by experienced chem- 

 ists, who personally superintended its 

 manufacture through every stage. An 

 excellent product was the result, 

 which, being placed on the market, 

 found a ready sale at prices which 

 yielded Immense profits. 



It was not long before the process 

 of manufacturing glucose was known 

 in the United States. Works were 

 erected in Buffalo, N. Y., at a time 

 when this country was in the throes 

 of a financial panic, and when every- 

 thing in the shape of labor and ma- 

 terial could be obtained at remarkably 

 low figures. Immense factories were 

 erected at a minimum cost, tons of 

 machinery were procured for about 

 the value of old iron, corn was away 

 down among the thirties, and labor 

 was begging for employment. Under 

 all these favorable conditions, the 

 glucose factories, that were first in 

 the field, made vast sums of money. 

 A profit of several hundred per cent, 

 per month, on the original invest- 

 ment, was only a circumstance. 



New uses for the manufactured 

 article was discovered daily. Its first 

 extensive use was in the manufac- 

 ture of confectionery. Then it be- 

 came an adulterant of molasses, for 

 which hundreds of thousands of bar- 

 rels were used annually. Solidified 

 and placed on the market as grape 

 sugar, it was used to mix with the 

 lower grades of cane sugars. It crept 

 into the pharmacist's laboratory, and 

 there made itself generally useful in 

 several ways. The brewer hailed it 

 joyfully, and it found a temporary 

 abiding place in his capacious vats 

 before lubricating many a parched 

 esophagus, in the shape of lager beer. 



Then did glucose find favor with 

 the capitalist. It had an almost uni- 

 versal demand ; it could be made 

 from corn, the cheapest of grain, and 

 the process of its manufacture was as 

 easy as eating cheese. All that was 

 necessary was to soak the grain in 

 water for so many hours, grind it be- 

 tween burrs while wet, run the slop 

 into tubs to allow the starch to settle, 

 drain off the water, dump the starch 

 into another vat with sulphuric acid 

 to convert it into sugar, neutralize 

 the acid by adding marble dust, strain 

 the product, boil it down to syrup in a 

 vacuum at a low temperature, strain 

 through bone charcoal, and finally 

 through felt presses, and the syrup 

 was ready for the barrel. 



Thus amazed at the apparent sim- 

 plicity of the process of manufacture, 



and dazzled by the tangible profits on 

 the investment, capitalists took kindly 

 to the new industry, and glucose fac- 

 tories sprung up all over the country. 



About the time that everything was 

 in readiness for turning out glucose 

 and coining money, the country began 

 to recover from the effects of financial 

 depression. The price of corn ad- 

 vanced from .30 cents to 80 cents, at 

 whiclijigure the manufacture of glu- 

 cose ceased to be gratifyingly profit- 

 able. Higher wages were demanded 

 and paid, and competition, which, by 

 this time had grown sharp, lowered 

 the market price for the finished 

 goods. To add still further to increas- 

 ing perplexities, it was found that the 

 process of making glucose was not so 

 simple as it seemed. An expert 

 chemist, at a princely salary, was a 

 necessary adjunct to every corn sugar 

 works, and even then not one in ten 

 of these alleged experts could turn 

 out a pure article at a profitable 

 figure. Other drawbacks arose. The 

 factories were extremely liable to de- 

 struction by fire, necessitating high 

 insurance rates ; the cane sugar .crop 

 for a year or two was abundant, and 

 consequently reduced in price, and a 

 new process was discovered for mak- 

 ing chea^) sugar from sorghum. 



All these forces have combined to 

 give glucose a discolored optic. Two 

 years ago the corn sugar factories in 

 Peoria consumed 10,000 bushels of 

 corn a day. Now but 2,000 bushels 

 are used daily. One of the factories 

 burned down, and was rebuilt with 

 only one-third of its former capacity. 

 The other factory has been closed for 

 nearly six months, and now stands 

 deserted. Of 20 glucose works in the 

 United States that were running at 

 full capacity a year ago, only six are 

 running to-day, and five of them are 

 running at reduced capacities. For- 

 tunes, instead of being made, have 

 been swallowed up in glucose slop. 

 Hamlin, of Buffalo, and Chaffee, of 

 Tippecanoe, Ind , are the only men 

 who have made fortunes at the busi- 

 ness, and they were the first in the 

 Held. 



This is the history of the glucose 

 industry ; bright at its dawn, cloudy 

 at its noonday, and gloomy in its 

 night — mighty but ephemeral, so does 

 it pass before us as one of the com- 

 mercial curiosities of the nineteenth 

 century. 



Seasonable Hints. — The Indiana 

 Farmer gives the following hints to 

 beginners about handling bees : 



Gentleness and firmness are neces- 

 sary qualities in the handling of bees. 

 Sudden jars and quick active motions 

 should be avoided as much as possi- 

 ble. During a good honey flow there 

 is little if any danger of being stung, 

 with anything like fair treatment 

 for the bees. With little honey coming 

 in, they are much more liable to resist 

 interference. By the judicious use of 

 smoke tliey may be controlled with 

 but little trouble, and while it is not 

 necessary to resort to this under all 

 circumstances, it is best to have the 

 smoker ready so that it can be used if 



the occasion requires it. The con- 

 struction of hives, too, has much to do 

 with the handling of bees. The frames 

 should hang so thatthev maybe taken 

 out without first having to pry them 

 loose, for there is nothing that will 

 arouse their anger sooner, tlian the 

 sudden snapping and breaking loose 

 of a frame. Where the frames must 

 be pried loose, one should be pro- 

 vided with a strong-bladed knife, or 

 small screw driver; pry the frames 

 loose, one at a time very gently, loos- 

 ening all of them before removing 

 any. In fact anything about a hive 

 that must be pried loose should be 

 manipulated carefully. 



It is the instinct of the bees to fill 

 themselves with honey when dis- 

 turbed. Smoke seems to do this more 

 effectually, with less danger of anger- 

 ing them, than anything else. But 

 the smoke has no effect on the bees 

 only as it causes them to fill with 

 honey. Tliis is the object of its use 

 and it is beneficial in no other man- 

 ner, unless it be simply to drive them 

 out of the way. They seem to fear 

 the smoke and offer less resistance to 

 it, although, if given too much, it may 

 make them very angry. Preparatory 

 to opening a hive, smoke should be 

 blown into the entrance, not too much 

 at once ; better two light applications 

 at short intervals. 



After the bees have had time to fill 

 themselves, remove the cover, raise 

 gently one corner of the cloth over the 

 frames, or what ever they may be 

 covered with. If they still show re- 

 sistance, give a little " smoke at this 

 place, and with very few exceptions 

 they will submit to anything in reason; 

 but bear in mind, the mashing of a 

 bee, the dropping of a comb, or acci- 

 dent^ of like kind may cause them to 

 strike for liberty or death. 



Bee Notes for April.— The American 

 Agriculturist gives the following on 

 the results of the past winter among 

 the bees : 



Although bees should be set on the 

 summer stands in April, even in the 

 more Northern regions, still they 

 should be closely covered with warm 

 packing. For two years we have put 

 into our cellar chaff hives and hives 

 wjth single walls, all containing bees. 

 These were set out at the same time. 

 The bees in single hives were closely 

 covered with a sack containing fine 

 sawdust. This was so long that it not 

 only covered the hives, but reached 

 over at each end, and hugged the 

 division-boards that confined the 

 brood-chamber. So far as we could 

 discover, the bees in these hives suf- 

 fered no worse from " spring dwind- 

 ling " than did those kept in chaff 

 hives. If future experience sustains 

 this point, then the argument that 

 chaff hives are desirable, because they 

 are safer in spring, is of no impor- 

 tance. The past severe winter will 

 enlighten us on this subject. We 

 shall be mistaken if it does not raise 

 cellar wintering to a premium. Such 

 long confinement, with severe cold, is 

 very hard on bees. If chaff hives 

 prove equal to the situation, this win- 

 ter, then their value is assured. 



