376 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



EXTRACTED DEPARTMENT. 



HONEY VINEGAR. 



Some Complete and Specific Instructions 

 for Its Making. 



Honey from cappin>-s, either from 

 washing tliem or from rendering- them 

 into wax, may be made into vinegar. 

 Oflf-grades of honey may also be made 

 into vinegar at a profit; but it may not 

 be generally known that odd bits of 

 honey can not be thrown into a general 

 receptacle, at intervals, as the house- 

 wife puts odds and ends into the rag 

 bag. In the making of vinegar there 

 are two processes of fermentation; 

 first the alcoholic then the acetic. The 

 putting of sweet into a solution that 

 has pissed the alcoholic fermentation 

 upsets the whole business. But let me 

 quote a most excellent article on this 

 subject, from the pen of Jas. A. Green, 

 and published in Gleanings. Mr. 

 Green says: 



I believe that a great many bee-keep- 

 ers might very profitably engage in 

 the manufacture of honey vinegar, at 

 least to the extent of working up their 

 waste and oft-grades of honey. I 

 know that many have tried it without 

 satisfactory results, and have given it 

 up in disgust in consequence. Indeed, 

 it is not so long since I made a failure 

 myself of my attempts to make honey 

 viuegar. I think it is quite possible 

 that a knowledge of what not to do is 

 of quite as much importance to many 

 as any further instruction in processes. 

 If you have decided to make vinegar, 

 the first step is to get something to 

 make it in. Usually the best and most 

 convenient receptacle for this purpose 

 is a barrel, and here is where the first 

 mistake is usually made. Nine out of 

 ten people in getting a barrel to make 

 vinegar in will select an old vinegar 

 barrel, with the idea that something is 

 necessary to start the vinegar-making- 



process. To understand why this is 

 wrong we must glance briefly at the 

 chemistry of vinegar-making. 



Ordinarily the process of vinegar- 

 making consists of two distinct steps. 

 In the first, sugar in some form is by 

 fermentation changed into alcohol. In 

 the second, this alcofiol is by a some- 

 what similar fermentation changed in- 

 to acetic acid. The alcoholic fermenta- 

 tion must always precede the acetic, 

 and should be allowed to become com- 

 plete before the acetic fermentation be- 

 gins. They may be carried on to- 

 gether, but it is usually at the expense 

 of both time and quality, as the pres- 

 ence of acetic acid in even a small 

 quantity greatly retards the alcoholic 

 fermentation, and sometimes a degen- 

 erative fermentation sets in and spoils 

 the entire product. 



Accordingly, your barrel should be 

 one that has never contained vinegar. 

 A whisky or wine barrel is good If 

 it is necessary to use a vinegar barrel 

 it should be scalded out very thorough- 

 ly before it is used. For a small quan- 

 tity of vinegar a jug or jar is all right. 



Next comes the question of the proper 

 strength of the mixture to be made into 

 vinegar. While this may vary consid- 

 erably I think the best results will be 

 obtained when there is not less than a 

 pound and a quarter or more than a 

 pound and a half to the gallonof water. 

 If you have the honey in bulk, simply 

 measure your water and add the pro- 

 per amount of honey or vice versa. 

 Usually, though, the bee-keeper will 

 want to use the rinsings of cans or the 

 honey soaked from cappings, etc., and 

 for this some means of testing the 

 strength of the solution must be used. 

 A hydrometer is best and most conven- 

 ient for this. One made for the pur- 

 pose can be bought for about fifty cents. 

 A photographic hydrometer can be had 

 for half this. Any hydrometer will do, 

 but you may need to test it by a solu- 

 tion of known strength, as they are 

 graduated differently for different pur- 

 poses. Mine was made for testing sil- 

 ver solutions, and on it a pound of 

 honey to the gallon registers 20 degrees 

 on the scale; and a pound and a half, 

 which is the strength I prefer, 30 de- 



