68 



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Bogus Bnttei' in England.— The 



following cable dispatch will show how 

 Englishmen view the adulteration of food 

 products : 



London, Jan. 23.— The law passed at the 

 lastst-ssion of Parliament, relating to the 

 fraudulent sale of oleomargarine, went into 

 effect to-day. 



For the tirst offense the minimum fine is 

 $100, second conviction a fine of $350, and 

 third conviction $500. The law provides 

 that every package of oleomargarine shall 

 be branded with the word upon the top, 

 bottom and sides. 



Retail dealers selling small quantities are 

 required to deliver it to the purchaser in 

 paper wrappers, on which the word "mar- 

 garine" shall be printed in capital letters 

 not less than a quarter of an inch square. 



In case of doubt, where adulterated butter 

 Is exposed or sold, the act prescribes that 

 the presumption of fraud shall be against 

 the seller, unless he can prove that he 

 bought the substance as butter, and holds a 

 written warranty or invoice to that effect. 



Similar restrictions should be enforced by 

 law upon all adulteration of food products 

 In America. We are glad to see that the 

 United States Congress are wrestling with 

 this subject now. 



Foul Brood is very prevalent in Aus- 

 tralia, as will be seen from the following 

 from the Australasian Bee Journal for 

 December, which has just come to hand : 



In almost every district, from one end of 

 the Australasian Colonies to the other, that 

 scourge of the bee-keeping industry, foul 

 brood, exists. Eight years ago it was only 

 known to be in a very few widely-separated 

 districts, and clean, healthy colonies were 

 then the rule. The disease has spread to an 

 alarming extent during the past few years, 

 thousands of colonies have perished, and 

 some districts have become so infected with 

 it that it is only with the greatest vigilance 

 and perseverance that bee-keeping, even on 

 a small scale, can be carried on at all in 

 them. Very few apiaries, indeed, can boast 

 of being entirely free from the disease at 

 the present time. It is now a matter of so 

 serious a nature, in fact, that unless some 

 thorough-going steps are taken very shortly 

 to stamp out the pest, the bee-keeping in- 

 dustry in tliese colonies will soon become a 

 matter of history. Hundreds of people have 

 been compelled to give up keeping bees at 

 considerable loss to themselves, owing to 

 their inability to conquer the enemy, and 

 many who looked to honey-production as a 

 means of livelihood, or to augment their 

 small means, have been sadly disappointed 

 by their bees dying off. 



Honcy-l>eT>- for 'Winler Stores. 



—In the Michigan Farmer we find the fol- 

 lowing item which explains itself : 



As illustrating the vicissitudes of bee- 

 keeping, Mr. S. Cornell, of Lindsay, Ont, 

 had 212 colonies of bees which he put into 

 winter quarters in the fall of 1886. Unhap- 

 pily, the bees had stored honey-dew, and all 

 that had laid in winter stores of this, largely 

 snccumed " to the inevitable." In June of 

 of the following year, he had but .58 colo- 

 nies remaining. Mr. Cornell now strongly 

 advises extracting honey-dew, and feeding 

 sugar syrup. 



Alfiila or LiHCeme. — A correspond- 

 ent wants us to answer the following ques- 

 tions about alfalfa or lucerne clover : 



What is the best time of the year for sow- 

 ing it ? How much seed is required to the 

 acre ? What soil does it require ? How 

 many pounds are there in a bushel ? 



In reply we would say that lucerne or 

 alfalfa {Medlcago satima) was introduced 

 into the Pacific States from Chili, many 

 years ago. It resists the driest weather, 

 and it is said that when every blade of grass 

 droops for want of moisture, it holds up 

 fresh and green. 



The hay is valuable for cattle, but as it is 

 cut for this purpose early, that lessens its 

 value for honey. 



The seed should be scattered plentifully 

 in the winter months, so that it ;may settle 



Alfalfa or Lucerne. 



nto the soil with the spring rains and 

 germinate. It will grow on any soil ; there 

 are 60 pounds to the bushel, and 2.5 pounds 

 to the acre will be sufficient. It is said that 

 this valuable grass was brought into Greece 

 from Persia nearly five hundred years be- 

 fore the Christian era. It came to Califor- 

 nia from Chili, but it is now largely culti- 

 vated in England, France, and other parts of 

 Europe, and gives satisfaction as a forage 

 plant. 



Alfalfa will be a prominent crop in all 

 places where the winters are not too severe. 

 The power to withstand great heatjand dry- 

 ness comes from the long, searching tap- 

 roots, which are sent deeply down into the 

 soil and find moisture which is inaccessible 

 to other less energetic vegetation. 



Pear Honey and pearciderin Switzer- 

 land are often found, and a Swiss corres- 

 pondent from Parkville, Mo., has sent us the 

 following concerning its manufacture : 



I was born in Switzerland in 1837, and was 

 partly raised there. I have no doubt what- 

 ever about honey in my native land being 

 just (IS pure as we have it here. But " pear 

 honey "is just as pure as such, and that it 

 is frequently (though not extensively) made 

 is a fact to which 1 can certify, for 1 have 

 made it myself. 



Pear cider is much more frequenth' made 

 in Switzerland than apple cider. That, at 

 least, was the case when I lived there. This 

 eider is boiled down with fine sugar until it 

 is of the consistency of honey, and put away 

 in jars for special occasions. It has the full 

 flavor of the f ruit,and is a delicious "honey." 



If there is any wrong in calling it 

 "honey," it is a wrong without malice, and 

 therefore not to be likened unto the " Wiley 

 lie." 



It is a misnomer to call it " honey," but 

 no worse than to call apple butter, " butter," 

 when it is in no wise butter. What we said 

 about "Swiss honey," on page 819 of last 

 year's Bee Jouknai,, only had reference 

 to the real article or an adulteration of it. 



Xlie Scandalous '%Viley lAe in 



New Zealand. The Australasian Bee 

 Journal copied an article on glucose from 

 Harper's Monthly, in which the author 

 says that it is " much used by confectioners 

 and brewers, as food for bees, in making 

 artificial honey, but most of all for the pro- 

 duction of table syrups. It then adds : 



The passage which I have put in italics 

 smacks very strongly of the famous 

 " Wiley " scandal, and owes its origin no 

 doubt to the same source, as the writer, in 

 a note at the end of his paper,acknowledges 

 his indebtedness for some of the materials, 

 to " Prof. H. W. Wiley, of the Agricultural 

 Department." The defense of the quality 

 of glucose is not a very convincing one. To 

 say that it is probably not unhealthy is cer- 

 tainly a mild way of putting it. It may not 

 follow that it must be poisonous on ac- 

 count of the quantity of sulphuric acid used 

 in its formation, but the process is not a 

 very appetizing one, especially when we 

 know that the glucose can be extracted in 

 this way not only from corn and potatoes, 

 but even from old linen or cotton rags, or 

 any refuse containing starch of vegetable 

 origin. Those wlio prefer such stuff to pure 

 honey, even though the latter should cost 

 many times as much, are scarcely to be con- 

 gratulated on their taste. 



Fi-iglitening- Bees M'itli Car1>oIic 

 Acid Vapor is more effective if properly 

 applied than smoke ; in the case of straw- 

 skeps it is the same. I have frequently ad- 

 vised bee-keepers not to pump the fumes 

 into the hives ; but many do not seem satis- 

 fied unless they can " go at " their smokers 

 or fumigators as though they were pumpers 

 on a fire engine when the word is passed, 

 "Down with her." You simply want to 

 breathe, if 1 may use the expression, with 

 the fumigator at about the rate that 

 you breathe yourself, shifting it about to 

 drive the bees back. The air passed out of 

 the fumigator must be thoroughly impreg- 

 nated with carbolic acid vapor, and must 

 pass over the sponge at least twice to be 

 thoroughly effective. I have driven hun- 

 dreds of straw-skeps with the fumigator 

 both in private and in the bee-tent, and 

 have not used smoke in my apiary for two 

 seasons.— Sritish. Bee Jowmal. 



Wc Club the American Bee JotTRNAi. 

 and the "Bee-Keepers' Magazine " for one 

 year for $1.40 ; or with " Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture" for $1.75 ; or with the "Apicul- 

 turist " for $1.80 ; or the " Canadian Honey- 

 Producer " for $1.30 ; with the Bee-Keepers' 

 Review, $1.40 ; or all six for $4.00, 



I\'e-»v Subscribers can obtain tlie full 

 numbers for 1887 and 1888, for $1.75, while 

 there are any sets of 1887 left. 



