100 



TQE BEJS-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



Unfortunately the masicianand the mnsi- 

 cal critic seldom embrace each other ( ex- 

 cept a-la-Bruin ) and the inventor and his 

 editorial critics are apt to be similarly at 

 outs. To a man behind a plank fence, and 

 cautiously peeking through a slender crack, 

 it looks as if both sides are talking some- 

 what about things they do not fully know as 

 yet. Until the deep foundation has been 

 publicly tried, and tried by persons not in- 

 terested in its favor, it's better to assume 

 that nobody knows the uttermost of the 

 matter as it ought to be yet. 'Spects that, 

 under those circumstances, W. Z. has as 

 good right to blow cold as Ernest has to blow 

 hot. In fact to have the hot blasts all blow- 

 ing, and the cold blasts all under bonds to 

 keep still would be a public misfortune per- 

 haps. And it appears just a little as if this 

 was going to be the hot blast line of argu- 

 ment. " A heedless and ill informed public 

 did not revolt when the introduction of sur- 

 plus foundation deteriorated comb honey 

 somewhat; therefore pile on some more of 

 the same sort— the camel's back won't 

 break. " It don't always come true— that 

 ar' last prophesy don't. 



Interesting to see that bees not yet in full 

 activity consider it comb, and fix it up a 

 little at the same time when they nibble at 

 ordinary foundation with more or less de- 

 sign of tearing it down. Gleanings 249. 

 That photo on page 249 makes things very 

 plain. Specimens 5 and 6 look remarkably 

 alike, except in weight. What if we should 

 consent to use r», and the article we unpack 

 from the box is more like G ? VVork-a-day 

 hands seldom do as delicate a job as the 

 trained expert. 



Good plan to have a subject well drum- 

 med when it gets into the foreground once — 

 and so in the American bee journal 210 C. P. 

 Dadant clears up the odd corners of the 

 vinegar question. Soft water probably 

 best; but no one need worry if well water 

 has to be used. Some of the superfine folks 

 want the details of clarifying. Dadant 

 thinks his vinegar clear enough without — 

 but gives the standard process. First, fer- 

 mentation must be finished, else the liq- 

 uid will get cloudy again after clarifying. 

 Second, draw it off without roiling it up. 

 Third, kill the vinegar eels and organic 

 matter contained by scalding ( say l.'i.'S F. ) 

 Fourth, the whites of four eggs beaten into a 

 quart of water and a little salt added must 



be very thoroughly mixed into each barrel 

 after cooling. Fifth, after 12 days of per- 

 fect quiet for settling purposes draw it off 

 again, and you have the clear sparkling 

 vinegar. The albumen of the egg and the 

 cooked animalculae form a coagulum to- 

 gether. This slowly settles to the bottom 

 carrying everything with it that is not in 

 perfect solution. An ounce of isinglass can 

 be made to serve the same purpose as the 

 eggs. 



The two fermentations often get jumbled 

 up together; but the vinegar is better to 

 have the alcoholic fermentation nearly 

 finished before the acetic fermentation gets 

 begun much. Low temperature (say:^° F.) 

 prevents the alcohol fermentation from get- 

 ting begun; and the high temperature of 

 140" F. also does the same thing. Dadant 

 recommends 120° as the best temperature 

 for making vinegar in winter; but much 

 lower for hot weather. I suppose the sum- 

 mer air is full of live germs ready to go in- 

 to business; and it isn't best to encourage 

 them too much. 



Gleanings. 



One describes the condition of the sun by 

 telling how many big black spots there are 

 on it. It doesn't seem necessary to say that 

 it is bright, or that it is warm, or that it is 

 punctual in getting up in the morning — 

 But, on the whole, why should I enumerate 

 the spots on Gleanings ? Not sure such an 

 attempted census would conduce to my own 

 pleasure or the general profit. Gleanings 

 as it lies before me to-day is a magazine of 

 40 pages and cover, 29 of which are reading 

 matter — index and market reports, and some 

 of the notices thrown in. First come Dr. 

 Miller's Straws — two pages now instead of 

 one — and the straws at the far end of the 

 patch show some inclination of late to evo- 

 lute into saw-logs. R. C. Aikin, looking 

 from the trap door in the roof of his cabin 

 holds second place. Skylark has disappear- 

 ed, presumably went up to meet the sun and 

 forgot his way down. Another nom-de- 

 plume writer who signs himself " Wood- 

 chopper " has a continued engagement now. 

 He solves the conundrum why bees bring in 

 pollen at early morn by saying that many 

 plants have such dry and powdery pollen 

 that bees cannot make it adhere in a pellet 

 except at early morn. Guess he's right, in 

 part. It requires between eight and ten 

 pages of coutributers' articles to take as 



