242 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



loturn of scouts, it is necessary to hive them witliout 

 delay, and as soon as they are quiet remove them a 

 distance from that place so as to thwart the returning 

 scouts; and thinlly, the new colony will never llec 

 to the woods iinless the scouts conduct. I have kept 

 a regular account running up to one hundred and 

 eighty-tv, o colonies thus treated and never had one 

 to leave ihe hive. There are apparent exceptions; 

 lor instance, a colony clustering in the full rays of 

 tlie sun on a hot day, will be driven off by its scorch- 

 ing rays to seek a more congenial resting place. 

 Another exception is where bees in a dry sterile coun- 

 try, if they ever swarm at all, are almost sure to take 

 wing in order to find a more favored region where 

 their instinct suggests tlie pabulinn of bee life may 

 be more abundant. 



Geokge B. Pkteks, Council Bend, Ark. 

 We can readily endorse all that our friend 

 says in regard to the habits of bees, and espec- 

 ially that part of it relatioc; to their ditlereut 

 notes, when actuated by diftereut impulses. A 

 aieighbor, while at work in the woods, saw 

 bees going out and in at a hollow tree. The 

 next day, he, with his boys, repaired to the 

 Spot and cut it down, but not a bee nor a bit 

 of comb was to be found in the hollow. Care- 

 ful inspection showed that bees Tiad been at 

 work cleaning out the cavity, and while they 

 were talking about the strange phenomena, 

 behold a swarm in the air circling about the 

 very spot where the tree had stood. The 

 scouts, in this case, it seems had selected their 

 abode the day before swarming. Again, sev- 

 eral years ago our bees were all going to the 

 Tiorth-east, and on following them, we found 

 the most dense mass of white clover at about 

 :1}2 luiles from our apiar}^ that it has ever been 

 our fortune to meet. The thought occurred to 

 -us then, that they might save a 'deal of labor 

 by locating in one of the trees of the forest ad- 

 joining ; and sure enough a large swarm with 

 the largest queen in our apiary — "Giantess" of 

 the A. j5. J., Vol. Ill,— left their hive for that 

 precise location just a few days afterward. 

 This is the only swarm we ever had, that did 

 not cluster, and we have always thought it 

 was the clover that induced the move, for they 

 must have had it all arranged before swarming. 



5000 I.B8. EXTRACTED, AlVU 200 COITIB 

 HONEY, FROM 2G HIVES. 



-E are inclined to think friend Curry 

 must have covered all his hives with 

 "iHanure last spring from the report he gives, 

 although he says nothing about it. Listen 

 'to him : 



DEAR Novice :— our honey harvest is over and 

 We have some spare time to look around and compare 

 notes. In the spring we started with 26 hives, but ou 

 'examination founds without queens; an unusual fa- 

 tality owing to our keeping some old queens over that 

 ■should have been replaced. The season was so bad 

 ■luBtyeal* ahd We found it so diflicult to raise good 

 tjueens that we became discouraged and gave it up, 

 hence the result. However, we made the best of a 

 bad bargain and raised young ones as soon as possible 

 to fill thely plfices. The season closed about the 6th 

 of July and we found ov-vsplves in possession of over 

 5C00 lbs. extracted and 2C0 lbs, comb honey in small 

 frajnps. The extracted wc put in new half barrels; 

 ?rQ trjgd oUl maple syrup barrels at first, but came to 



the conclusion after spending' any amount of time 

 cooi)ering,that new barrels were the most ecoaomioal. 

 In regard to waxing, if the inside of the barrel is cold 

 when waxed, the rrax will scale off in time. To ob- 

 viate this we first took the head out, held it over a 

 charcoal furnace, and then after coating it with warm 

 wax, it was heated in again and left to cool. On ac- 

 count of the great quantity of fruit, sales liave been 

 ratlier slow but we shall have no trouble in disposing 

 of it all at 20 cts. in ten and twenty lb. lots. Have 

 sold over 200 lbs. in that way during the last week. 

 Some of our brother bee-keeijers feci discouraged be* 

 cause they haven't disposed of their crops, but they 

 will have to be patient and all will be well. We have 

 issued a small circular that we are sme has done 

 much good in the way of educating the peo))lc. We 

 meet so many that can't see how it is jjossible to sell 

 pure honey for less than is charged for comb and all, 

 besides the trouble of taking or squeezing it out. 

 This circular explains the whole process. 



I promised some time ago to give you the result ot 

 some experiments in detecting adulterations in honey 

 but have hesitated hoping that some more able pen 

 than mine would undertake a matter in which we are 

 all more or less interested. It would astonish not a 

 fp-w of us if we could see what doctoring processes 

 some of the most common articles used on o\ir table 

 liave to submit to.- It would be hard to mention a sin- 

 gle one that is not adulterated in some way; from the 

 tea and coffee we drink, to our daily bread. Is it any 

 wonder then that honey should have to bear its share ? 

 From our many experiments we think honey is per- 

 haps as little adulterated as any ; the most common 

 article added now is glucose or grape sugar. But I 

 have also found cane sugar, and wheat starch ; the 

 latter is put into old honey to improve its color and 

 also to correct that sharp acidulous taste. This is 

 very easily detected by the microscope ; dilute a little 

 in water and add a drop of tincture of iodine. On 

 placing it ou the stage of the microscoi)e the starch 

 grains will be seen colored dark purple. 



The cane sugar Is not so easily detected excepting 

 the taste, or if granul.ated the difference in tlie crys- 

 tals can be easily seen by means of the microscope, 

 the crystals of the cane sugar being much tliicker. 

 There are several chemical tests but they are too com- 

 plicated to be of use to the ordinary bee-keeper. 



We now come to the most common article of adul- 

 teration, glucose. As honey itself contains a large 

 per cent of this, some chemists say it is impossible to 

 detect it by any simple means ; and so it wouM be if it 

 could be made strictly pure. GIucdsb is made in this 

 country by allowing a mixture of starch and water at 

 a temperature of 130 degrees to Ilow into a vat con- 

 taining water acidulated with one per cent of suljihu- 

 ric acid, and kept at the boiiing point. In half an 

 hour or so the starch is converted into sugar, the liq- 

 uid is drawn oft" and the acid neutralized by the addi- 

 tion of lime. Before it is ready for the market it goes 

 through several other minor processes depending on 

 the particular use to which it is to be put. Those 

 beautiful corn syrups we sec at the groc^ers arc the 

 finest qualities. I have some samples as clear as crys- 

 tal. A commoner grade is used by brewers and is the 

 kind used to adulterate honey. It is very thick, due 

 to a considerable quantity of dextrine contained in it. 

 This can be seen by treating it with alcohol; the al- 

 cohol will dissolve the glucose but leaves the dex- 

 trine in the vessel in the shape of a white gum. By 

 pouring a little pure honey in alcohol it will be found 

 to dissolve completely; therefore if dextrine is found 

 in honey I should pronounce it adulterated without 



