137^ 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Not. 1 



with extracted honey, which was then quoted 

 at 7 cts., un bottled, of course. When this 

 was bottled, and a neat label put on it, the 

 price took wings and went to 20 and 25 cents 

 a pound. In any event, the retailer actually 

 made a greater profit out of each pound of 

 honey than the bee-keeper got all together for 

 producing it. There seems to be an idea 

 among the retailers that honey is one of 

 those commodities like cofEee and tea which 

 are made to pay double profits. 



Bee-keepers, if they are to reap the fruits 

 of their labors which rightly belong to them, 

 may have to take some kind of action calcu- 

 lated to compel the grocers to adopt a more 

 reasonable course. w. k. m. 



INVERT SUGAK AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR HONEY. 



Some of the journals, both in this and oth- 

 er countries, have devoted considerable space 

 of late to the favorable consideration of an 

 address made at Breslau, Silesia (Prussia), 

 by Dr. A. Hprzfeld, a prominent authority 

 on the beet-sugar industry, wherein he claims 

 great things for invert sugar as an absolute 

 substitute for honey. Evidently the newspa- 

 pers think this is something new, and that a 

 great discovery has been made. Let us see. 



Invert sugar is not very new, for it has 

 been manufactured for a quarter of a cen- 

 tury, perhaps longer. Some of the German 

 bee-journals admit advertisements of invert 

 sugar as a bee-food, and have done so for 

 years. The sugar is "inverted" by means 

 of hydrochloric acid and water. This sugar 

 (we' have some of it here, and have had for 

 some time) solidifies after a rest, just as hon- 

 ey does. It, therefore, acts in some respec^ts 

 just like honey. To say that it is a substitute 

 for honey is to shoot very wide of the mark, 

 for it lac^ks the very ingredient which gives 

 honey its intrinsic value; namely, "flavor." 

 We know that fine flavor in any food is 

 worth money, and physiologists are now all 

 agreed that flavor has much to do with the 

 real value of any food to the human system. 

 Fine flavors induce the digestive system to 

 work in its best manner, and therefore the 

 exquisite flavor of honey has a real value as 

 a promoter of health. 



At first it was thought that invert sugar 

 would pass a chemical test for honey; but 

 this is not the case, however, and a method 

 of detecting this form of substitution was 

 soon discovered. The sense of taste is a 

 pretty good test, because it has no flavor of 

 flowers to recommend it to the palate. Only 

 a few weeks ago the German Austro-Hun- 

 garian bee-keepers condemned its use as a 

 feed for bees while they were storing honey; 

 and Professor Von Raumer, of the University 

 of Erlangen, who is an authority on pure 

 food, second to none, said at the same time 

 that honey so produced was, in the eyes of 

 the law, a clear case of adulteration, and 

 should be so dealt with. Dr. Herzfeld seems 

 to have gone further, and recommended the 

 addition of invert sugar to strongly flavored 

 honey, claiming this would be a benefit to 

 both the bee-keeping and the sugar making 



industries. He claimed that honeys from 

 chestnut, rye, asparagus, wild mustard, and 

 onion flowers have a disagreeable flavor, and 

 that the addition of invert sugar improved 

 them. This looks like the temptation of the 

 serpent in the garden of Eden. Luckily for 

 us in this country the pure- food laws are too 

 stringent to permit this, and the offender is 

 liable to severe penalties. It is very likely, 

 however, some one will try this ere long, no 

 doubt thinking ' ' there are millions in it. ' ' 



W. K. M. 

 SWEET CLOVER IN AUSTRALIA. 



The Australian journals are having a good 

 deal to say at present anent the subject of 

 yellow sweet clover. This is due to the re- 

 markable success attained by its use on King 

 Island, which lies a little to the south of Aus- 

 tralia, and which forms a part of Tasmania. 

 A Mr. W. C. Macdougall, of Sydney, has 

 succeeded in interesting the agricultural de- 

 partment with a view to the morn extended 

 trial of the sweet clover. He says in the 

 Journal oj Agriculture for West Australia 

 that the seed was sown in raw white sand, 

 and in five or six years this was changed to 

 an almost dark rich loam capable of main- 

 taining one steer to the acre from September 

 to January — 5 months. He further says the 

 growth is similar to alfalfa, and that, when 

 cut while it is in flower, it yields nearly two 

 tons of excellent hay, which horses, cattle, 

 and sht^ep are very fond of The ensilage 

 made from it is also excellent, and yields 

 from 5 to 7 tons per acre of green material. 

 For fattening and dairying purposes he says 

 it is excellent, and that 75 per cent of the 

 fodder on the island is from this source, and 

 that both the beef and butter command the 

 highest market prices Fed exclusively, it 

 taints the butter slightly, but not enough to 

 injure the sale in any way. Instead of cut- 

 ting it close with a mower, as is done in Kan- 

 sas and Colorado, the King Islanders hum 

 it off their pastures every year, and they 

 think this has something to do with the rapid 

 improvement of the land. 



In this way weeds are kept down, and a 

 fresh start made each year. They harrow 

 first and sow after, the rain and the wind be- 

 ing sufficient to cover the seed. Ten to 

 twenty pounds of seeds are allowed to the 

 acre. He says the animals acquire a taste 

 for it, and, after being used to it, like it very 

 much, it is claimed that uiillions of acres 

 of similar land on the continent of Australia 

 can be reclaimed in the same manner by the 

 yellow sweet clover. What is peculiarly in- 

 teresting about all this is that both the soil 

 and climate of King Island coriespond al- 

 most exactly to Florida, and, furthermore, 

 that cattle-raising is the prominent industry 

 as it is also in Florida. 



If the experience of the Australians can 

 be duplicated in Florida we uiay yet live to 

 see the "Land of Flowers" become the lead- 

 ing bee State of the Union. One thing in 

 favor of this view is that yellow sweet clover 

 grows admirably in Bermuda — a milder cli- 

 mate than that of Florida. w\ k. m. 



