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104 



SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



while I put some more hot water under- 

 neath, and dip it again into another boiler 

 of clear water and let it stand on the floor 

 until it settles; I dip it when the settlings 

 are at the bottom; in about three times I 

 have about as nice clean wax as you can 

 find. 



Mr. Bull — I can get it clean by once 

 melting; heat your wax good and hot, 

 thoroughly melt and pour it into a can; 

 I use a sixty pound can with the top cut 

 out with a spout a little ways from the 

 bottom; draw your wax into another can 

 and blanket that can and you can keep 

 that cake of wax hot for 48 hours and when 

 you get through the dirt will all be at the 

 bottom and your wax will be perfectly 

 clean; you want to keep it quiet; don't 

 touch it. In an ordinary sixty pound can 

 a cake of wax will keep so hot you cannot 

 hold it in your hand after you take your 

 blankets off from it. 



Mr. Wheeler — I find the Root press is a 

 good thing for getting wax out of slum 

 gum. 



Mr. Stewart — Mr. Bull, did you ever 

 mix any straw in your slum gum when 

 you go to press it? 



Mr. Bull— Don't need it. 



Mr. Stewart — I do. 



Mr. Dadant — I would like to say a word 

 in regard to saving honey that is in the 

 cappings. We get wax from people who 

 do not like to render it themselves and 

 you have no idea the amount of honey that 

 is wasted in the cappings. Their wax is 

 stickey with honey. Honey is valuable 

 now. I think it is worth while for people 

 to take care of it. I thought I would 

 mention it because so many bee-keepers 

 are careless about this. When we extract 

 honey we use the capping can; we have 

 two of those. One we run right along; 

 sometimes at the end of the second day 

 there is no honey in the cappings; we put 

 those cappings in barrels; we take the top 

 off and wash them with water; put your 

 cappings in warm water and stir them and 

 get the wax out. 



We had one man ship us 1,800 pounds 

 of cappings. We have large lots coming 

 from different parts of the country. We 

 found so much honey in one lot, that had 

 we known it was honey he was shipping 

 and not cappings, we would not have 

 treated it as bees wax; it was probably 

 half honey. I think it is a good point to 

 make sure your cappings are clean of honey 

 before you render it. 



The President — The amount of honey 

 left in the cappings depends upon the tem- 

 perature of the atmosphere. In October 

 there is more honey than wax even after 



it has stood and drained as much as it 

 will. I wash the cappings but instead of 

 making vinegar, as Mr. Dadant does, I 

 use the washings to feed the bees; put it 

 into sixty pound cans and feed it in the 

 spring. 



Mr. Dadant — It is useful and I do dis- 

 like to see honey wasted. The only trouble 

 about feeding it to the bees is if there is 

 any disease in that honey there is a chance 

 of passing it through to the bees; when you 

 ship cappings with honey in it the bees 

 get to it and if there is any disease you 

 are increasing your chances of trouble. 



The President — It is a question with 

 me whether it^is profitable to make vine- 

 gar. 



Mr. Dadant — You get fifteen or twenty 

 cents a gallon wholesale for that vinegar. 

 Vinegar making is very close to wine mak- 

 ing. You have alcoholic fermentation; 

 there must be enough sweet in your liquid 

 to make alcoholic fermentation. With the 

 washings of the cappings, we judge of it 

 by putting an egg in it; the egg must come 

 to the top and show the size of a dime at 

 the top; do not expect it to stick up out 

 the liquid, but if you can just see your 

 egg floating it is strong enough, one and 

 one-half pounds of honey to a gallon of 

 vinegar. Vinegar is made by fermenta- 

 tion. The ferment in honey is very irregu- 

 lar and we prefer to kill that ferment and 

 put in good ferment. Fermentation of 

 flowers is of all kinds. We have seen 

 germs that would spoil vinegar so we heat 

 the honey to kill fermentation and then 

 put in the proper germs of fermentation. 

 Grape juice or apple juice is about right; 

 the sweet juices of apples or grapes. 



The alcoholic fermentation is first; you 

 put in your ferment, grape or apple juice; 

 10 per cent proportion, less will do; a 

 bucket full of grape juice or apple juice in 

 a barrel will be ample, and keep it warm. 

 Alcoholic fermentation will only take place 

 at 70 degrees, better up to eighty or ninety 

 degrees. 



If you have cider made late in the fall, 

 at this time, for instance, and leave it in 

 a cold place, it will remain sweet cider 

 until it has a chance to warm up. 



Now when the alcoholic fermentation is 

 over, you can start the acetic fermentation, 

 by putting a little vinegar into it. This 

 fermentation needs plenty of air, and if 

 you want to stop it you will want to 

 bung your barrel. 



I am told that the vinegar makers who 

 make wine and cider vinegar, in a hurry, 

 make it in forty eight hours, by letting it 

 drip through a barrel filled with chips; 



