. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. .:\MERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 175. Report of tlic Xortli American Bee-Keepers' Convention. Written for the American Bee Journal BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. (Continued from page 142.) The Secretary then read an essay from Prof. A. J. Cook, of Agricultural College, Mich., on The Analyses of Honey. Without any question, the adultera- tion of honey is one of the most serious obstacles to success that now stands in the way of bee-keepers, but like any other thief it can be restrained if it can be caught. We now know that through the aid of chemical analyses we can de-
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. .:\MERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 175. Report of tlic Xortli American Bee-Keepers' Convention. Written for the American Bee Journal BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. (Continued from page 142.) The Secretary then read an essay from Prof. A. J. Cook, of Agricultural College, Mich., on The Analyses of Honey. Without any question, the adultera- tion of honey is one of the most serious obstacles to success that now stands in the way of bee-keepers, but like any other thief it can be restrained if it can be caught. We now know that through the aid of chemical analyses we can de- tect this arch enemy. And, of course, detection means capture. Heretofore there has been doubt re- garding the ability of chemical science to certainly distinguish the genuine from the spurious. The formulf© in use gave the maximum and minimum amounts of water. Every bee-keeper knows that since the advent of the ex- tractor, and the often under ripe pro- duct, which is surely genuine honey, though not of best quality, the above rule would not be reliable. Again, the amounts of cane and re- ducing sugars were to guide in making the determination. These vary largely in honey of undoubted purity, and the limits fixed upon were arbitrary. It is quite possible that these limits were not correctly fixed. We know that bees re- duce the sugar in transforming nectar to honey, and it stands to reason that this reduction may be much decreased if honey is stored rapidly. Again, honey comes from such varied sources, that a very large number of analyses must be made to fix upon the limits. It seems certain that the old rules are not entirely reliable. The third means to a correct determi- nation rests with the polariscope. It has been supposed that honey would always give a left-handed rotation. But when we find that this varies from 1^ to 25° direct, and from 6° to 30° indirect—in- deed some genuine honey gives a right- handed fotation—we may reasonably assume that arbitrary limits
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
