1072 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



largest projects we know of undertaken by 

 capitalists under the Carey Act are in Idaho, 

 Wyoming, and Oregon. 



When the whole project is undertaken by 

 a private concern the situation is quite dif- 

 ferent, for there is always a danger of the 

 company's adding to the water-rent until it 

 l3e(!omes excessive and burdensome. Such 

 cases are not rare. 



As a rule, farming in the arid regions is 

 delightful work. The climate is fine, crops 

 are abundant, and excellent in quality. Ed- 

 ucational, religious, and social privileges are 

 of the best. 



For bee-keepers there will be many good 

 openings within the next few years; but it 

 will be evident, from what we have said, 

 that it is necessary in all cases to look over 

 the ground well before making a move; and 

 for obvious reasons government projects 

 should have the preference. 



Some of the raih'oad companies advertise 

 the government projects when the lands lie 

 adjacent to their tracks, as the increased 

 population brings business of a profitable 

 nature. 



The fifteenth National Irrigation Congress 

 meets in Sacramento, Cal., Sept. 2—7, and 

 anybody who is anxious to get posted on the 

 subject can not do better than to study the 

 proceedings or attend in pei'son. The irriga- 

 tion movement is one of the most important 

 in our time, as its consequences are far- 

 reaching and revolutionary; and it looks 

 now as though the future typical American 

 would be born on irrigated soil. 



THE CHEMISTRY OP WAX AND NECTAR. 



The Louisiana Experiment Station at Ba- 

 ton Rouge has recently published a bulletin 

 (No. 91) which is of considerable interest to 

 bee-keepers — if they understand a little of 

 chemistry. On page 4 it alludes to cane wax 

 in this wise: "The properties of cane wax 

 were first studied by Avequin, an apotheca- 

 ry of New Orleans, over sixty yeai's ago. He 

 named the substance " cerosin " (from the 

 Greek ceros, meaning wax), and gives the 

 following description of its properties: 'It is 

 yellowish, very hard, easily pulverized to a 

 white powder, and, when molded in the 

 foi'm of a candle, burns like wax or sperma- 

 ceti. It melts at 82 degrees Centigrade, so- 

 lidifying again.at S0° C. Its specific gi-av- 

 ity is 0.961 at 10 degrees. It is odorless, 

 unites with alkalies only with difficulty, and 

 does not change on exposure to the air.' 

 Avequin, by scraping, obtained more than 

 two grams of wax from a stalk of purple 

 cane. He also showed that an appreciable 

 quantity of wax escaped into the juice dur- 

 ing millings the amount of this, however, 

 being less than yijf of 1 per cent of the 

 weight of juice." 



Avequin's work has been confirmed by 

 Dumas and l^ewey. 



The actual amount of wax in Louisiana 

 .''Ugar can may be expressed thus: 



Pith. Bundles. Rind. 



Fat and wax, .41 .72 .y« 



In Louisiana the sugar cane seldom reaches 



perfection; but in tropical countries it does, 

 and, naturally, more wax will be present in 

 tropical sugar. Some varieties contain much 

 more wax than others produced under iden- 

 tical conditions. The sugar-cane plant also 

 contains a considerable percentage of gums, 

 xylan, and araban, which are probably use- 

 ful in wax-making, when cane juice is fed 

 to bees. 



There is a striking similarity between cane 

 juice and flower nectar, as the analysis given 

 in this bulletin shows, when compared with 

 an analysis of nectar, and there is not a 

 great deal of diffei'ence between cane juice 

 and honey except that the former contains 

 more water, of course. 



The three principal sugars of the cane are 

 — sucrose, dextrose, and levulose. 



Sucrose (Ci-H—O^^) is the constituent for 

 which the cane is most prized, and its phys- 

 ical properties are too well known to re- 

 quire mention. Its solutions rotate the plane 

 of polarized light to the right, the specific 

 rotation being -|-66.5. By means of invert- 

 ing agents, sucrose is split up into equal 

 parts of dextrose and levulose, hence the 

 name of the mi-KX,\xv&— invert sugar. 



Dextrose (C^Hi^o^), sometimes known as 

 grape sugar, occurs in all parts of the sugar- 

 cane. It is a white crystalline body, easily 

 soluble in water, the solution rotating to the 

 right — specific rotation -(-53. 



Levulose (CH^^qc)^ sometimes known as 

 fructose or fruit sugar, occurs associated 

 with dextrose in all parts of the sugar-cane. 

 It is easily soluble in water, and much less 

 easily crystallized than dextrose. Solutions 

 of levulose rotate strongly to the left, the 

 specific rotation at 20 degrees Centigrade be- 

 ing —89.2. 



It may be stated that the cane sugar 

 used on our tables is pure sucrose, whereas 

 honey contains dextrose and levulose in ad- 

 dition to sucrose. Honey also contains rare 

 sugars, gums, and acids, just as cane juice 

 does, all derived from the nectar of plants 

 exuded through the nectaries. 



It will be observed that the honey-bees ai'e 

 far better workmen than the sugar-manufac- 

 turers, who are compelled to throw away the 

 very best parts of the cane juice. The bee 

 retains these vmimpaired to tickle our pal- 

 ates. It will be noted, also, that the natural 

 juice of sweet plants is far better for wax- 

 making than granulated sugar, hence the ex- 

 periments made in this line have been use- 

 less. 



For wax-making, that tropical bee-keepers 

 have a feed far better than we of the North 

 possess, is evident. Those who believe the 

 transformation of nectar into honey is effect- 

 ed by the saliva of bees drawn from certain 

 glands would^ find this very instructive in- 

 deed, for it is evident that nothing of the 

 kind ever happens. The spontaneous inver- 

 sion of sucrose in nectar of flowers can be 

 easily explained by the action of certain en- 

 zymes present in the fluid, which transform 

 the sucrose into dextrose and levulose, the 

 principal constituents of honey, so that the 

 saliva theory fades completely out of sight. 



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