SUGAR, MOLASSES, CONFECTIONS, AND HONEY. 807 



part of the formic acid has been washed out or expelled by heat does not keep as 

 well as the normal product. The latest researches show that this acid is deposited 

 by the bees themselves by means of their stings. From time to time the bees apply 

 to the walls of the cells of the comb the tiny drops of poison (formic acid), that 

 gather on the ends of their stings. Sooner or later this remarkable antiseptic is in- 

 corporated with the honey. The preservative power of this acid is said to be greater 

 even than that of phenol.* 



A careful study -of the results of these analyses shows the chief adulterants of 

 honey are the following : 



1. Commercial Glucose. 



This substance, an account of its honey-like appearance and low price, has been 

 one of the most common substitutes for honey. Mixed with enough of the genuine 

 article to give it a flavor, it is sold extensively as pure extracted honey. A very fre- 

 quent method of adulteration is to take a few ounces of genuine comb honey, place 

 in a can holding one or two pounds, and then filling up with glucose. The real honey 

 will gradually diffuse throughout the whole mass, giving the required flavor. 



This, the most frequent sophistication of honey, is also the most readily detected. 

 The high dextro rotatory power of commercial glucose renders its detection by opti- 

 cal methods extremely easy. Containing as it does a considerable percentage of dex- 

 trine and maltose, its percentage of reducing sugar is consequently small. In 10 

 samples purchased at random in the eastern markets three were adulterated in this 

 way. In 11 samples purchased in the western market only 1 was glucose. This per- 

 centage, however, does not represent the actual extent of the adulteration. In 

 making these purchases I endeavored to get a sample of each kind of honey on sale. 

 It will be found that the strained honeys of commerce are quite generally adulterated 

 with glucose. 



Detection of adulteration with glucose. I have never yet found a genuine honey 

 which is not levorotatory. Nevertheless, the turning of the polarized plane to the 

 right is not conclusive evidence of the presence of glucose, unless the amount of de- 

 flection is more than 100 of the cane sugar scale, when the amount of the substance 

 taken for examination is the same in weight as that required by pure sucrose to read 

 100 divisions. 



After treatment with 0.1 volume of hydrochloric acid and heating to 70 the solu- 

 tion is cooled and repolarized. If now it still reads to the right the presence of 

 starch sugar sirup is established. In such cases, after inversion the free acid is neu- 

 tralized and the reducing sugar determined by an alkaline copper solution. The per- 

 centage of this sugar will fall much below 70 unless a large part of the adulteration 

 has been due to cane sugar. 



2. Cane Sugar (Sucrose). 



A thick sirup made of cane sugar is also used to adulterate honey. There is only 

 one reason why it is not more extensively employed, viz, its tendency to crystallize. 

 On this account it can only be used in small quantities. There would be no difficulty 

 in detecting added cane sugar in honey were it not for the fact that we can not 

 definitely say how much of this substance is present in the genuine article. In the 

 analyses given by Siebent the mean of sucrose in the 60 samples was 1.08 per cent ; 

 in one case, however, it amounted to 8 per cent. In the analyses given in this paper 

 the mean percentage of sucrose in 8 samples of genuine honey was 2.87, and in 7 sam- 

 ples which appear to be genuine, 2.74 ; and in the samples contained in table No. 3, 16 

 in number, which may be genuine, 1.77 per cent. Judging from these analyses, I 

 would say that it is a rare thing to find a genuine honey which contains more than 4 



* Comptes rendus, Vol. LXI, p. 1179. 

 t Op. cit. 



