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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1 



he may be in the habit of buying both. Corn 

 syrup most Americans know to be glucose 

 made from starch — that in the United States 

 being made from hydro-chloric acid (or 

 sulphuric) and corn starch. Strictly speak- 

 ing it is not ''corn syrup," as a syrup can 

 be made from the juice of the corn. Sor- 

 ghum syrup, with a good deal of justice, 

 might be termed " corn syrup." It is because 

 glucose has acquired such a bad reputation 

 that the makers of it now wish to fool the 

 public by giving it a name that would sug- 

 gest sorghum. The U. S. Pure Food Commis- 

 sion ought to make a ruling on this point. It 

 would make a difference to consumers if glu- 

 cose were labeled glucose— exactly what it is. 

 Most people are aware what maple sugar 

 looks and tastes like — at least they will have 

 the chance this year. But many are not so 

 well aware that a syrup almost as gopd is 

 made from the sugar-cane plant. This in- 

 dustry is almost confined to Florida, Porto 

 Rico, and Georgia, where the cane-farmers 

 make a nice syrup by a simple process. 

 Lately they could not resist the temptation to 

 adulterate their product by adding glucose 

 in large proportions, chiefly with a view to 

 lightening its color. They probably did this 

 to please the dealers who imagined that, the 

 lighter the color, the better it would sell. A 

 good many are using lime and sulphur to 

 clarify and lighten the color of the syrup; 

 but Dr. Wiley condemns this practice, for 

 neither agent is wanted in a product intend- 

 ed for human consumption. 



Probably most of the cane-farmers will re- 

 turn to the old method of simple evaporation. 

 This leaves the flavor of the sugar cane un- 

 impaired. A sugar similar to maple sugar 

 is made in this way. A fine syrup can also 

 be made by taking yellow cane sugar and 

 reducing it by the addition of water. 



Molasses, on the other hand, is a by-prod- 

 uct of sugar manufacture. The old-fashion- 

 ed way of getting it was to store the wet 

 dripping sugar into bags and allow these to 

 drain out the molasses into a vat. In fact, 

 the process was not very nice for spectators 

 to look , at; but as a rule the consumers did 

 not kjQow how it was made; and "where ig- 

 norance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise." But 

 the newer processes prodvice a much worse 

 article, not fit for human consumption, and 

 even of doubtful value for domestic animals, 

 since it contains large quantities of powerful 

 chemicals used in refining the sugar. It can 

 be made into alcohol, and that is all it is fit for. 

 At present the American market is bare of 

 both syrup and molasses — at least none is 

 actually quoted. This is probably due to the 

 action of the pure-food laws, as retailers and 

 dealers are afraid of being caught by food- 

 inspectors. There is a considerable amount 

 of genuine syrup now used by the glucose- 

 factories who are obliged to add from 10 to 

 35 per cent of cane sugar to their starch syr- 

 up to make it palatable. The more cane 

 syrup it contains, the better it tastes. 



The American people are extremely fond 

 "f liquid sweets, and would consume enor- 

 U.OUS amounts of a really good article if they 



could get it. At present many make their 

 own syrup by adding water to sugar. In the 

 next few years the makers of genuine cane 

 syrup will reap a harvest, as there is not 

 nearly enough made to supply the demand. 



ALSIKE CLOVER AND ITS INTRODUCTION IN 

 THIS COUNTRY. 



The following significant passage occurs 

 in the American Bee Journal for December, 

 1866. Notice the date. 



"We claim credit for having first brought 

 to notice, in this country, the Italian bee and 

 the Swedish (or alsike) clover, and urged 

 the introduction of each as likely to prove a 

 'valuable acquisition." 



It is not generally known that we owe the 

 successful introduction of alsike to the found- 

 er of the American Bee Journal, Samuel 

 Wagner. 



We mention this to show what bee-keepers 

 can do to improve the honey resources of the 

 country. Nowadays Wagner is forgotten; 

 but alsike clover is now considered a very 

 important crop in many parts of the country, 

 and a combination of timothy and alsike is 

 considered by many the best for hay this 

 country produces. 



Sweet clover came later, and the prejudice 

 against it has not yet been ovei'come. Had 

 it not been for bee-keepers it might have 

 been outlawed as a noxious weed. But it is 

 steadily winning its way as a soil-renovator. 

 We can easily remember when alfalfa was 

 pi'actically unknown east of the Rockies. 

 Now it is known in every State. Sainfoin 

 would probably do bee-keepers more good 

 than any of these plants, but the problem is 

 to get the farmers to give it a fair trial and 

 study its nature and requirements. With 

 these four plants growing in more or less 

 profusion we need not fear the bee industry 

 will cease to pay. 



As this form goes to press, June 22, the 

 weather throughout the United States is ide- 

 al for honey, and has been for about a week. 

 In many places this good weather came too 

 late to do any good; out in the great major- 

 ity of northern localities it comes just in the 

 nick of time. The ground is saturated; and 

 where the clovers were not killed out by 

 previous bad weather there will be ^ good 

 flow of honey. Basswoods promise well 

 everywhere. Some unofficial reports from 

 California would seem to indicate that we 

 may yet get a crop from that State. Many 

 colonies of bees over the country have 

 starved, and others are in a greatly weak- 

 ened condition; but the bee-keeper who is 

 progressive, and looks ahead, will have had 

 his bees in fine condition; and if this favor- 

 able weather should continue he is going to 

 get a fine crop of honey. There will be few- 

 er bees and bee-keepers to produce honey 

 this year. There will be no glucose concoc- 

 tions masquerading under the name of honey 

 as before. The result will be good prices 

 for those bee-keepers who have had faith in 

 their bees. 



