346 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



October 



the egg is able to come to the surface 

 at all, for quantities of honey varying 

 from three-quarters to two and one- 

 half pounds are used to make a gallon 

 of vinegar of varying strength. 



When your cappings have been 

 washed in this way they will make 

 wax that will not be. sticky with 

 honey. It is a positive waste to send 

 to the foundation manufacturer wax 

 that contains a proportion of honey. 

 It has to be deducted and makes an 

 unsatisfactory transaction for both. 



Now, as to making vinegar. Re- 

 member that the first fermentation 

 will be alcoholic. The more thorough 

 it is, the better the vinegar that you 

 will obtain. First, to kill undesirable 

 germs, heat your sweetened water to 

 the boiling point. Next, secure the 

 proper fermentation, by the use of a 

 little grape juice or apple juice, or in 

 default of these, a little yeast. The 

 temperature must be right, not less 

 than 70 degrees. So the barrel con- 

 taining the liquid should be kept in a 

 warm room. In October an ordinary 

 house cellar will be warm enough, es- 

 pecially if you have poured the sweet 

 water into the barrel while it was 

 still warm. 



Do not bung the barrel, as fermen- 

 tation would push out the bung or 

 burst the hoops. A very good way 

 is to put a sand bag over the bung- 

 hole to keep away insects. 



In less than a week your liquid 

 should have passed through the ac- 

 tive alcoholic fermentation. Now put 

 into it some acetic acid, either vine- 

 gar or what is commonly called "vine- 

 gar-mother." Give it plenty of air, 

 for air is necessary to fermentation, 

 while wines require a closed vessel, 

 as soon as the alcoholic fermentation 

 is over. If you wish your vinegar to 

 be rapidly made, transfer it from one 

 barrel to another and leave a space 

 open at the top for the air. Manu- 

 facturers of the best vinegars of wine 

 or cider, who want to cause quick 

 acidity, allow the vinegar to trickle 

 from one receptacle into another, 

 through oak shavings. This causes 

 the oxydizing of the liquid in great 

 speed. 



The acetic fermentation may be 

 induced simultaneously with the al- 

 coholic. But this yields a sweetish- 

 sour vinegar which may be suitable 

 for sweet pickles but cannot be called 

 good vinegar. 



If you wish to make an excellent 

 vinegar, you should rack it — draw it 

 off its lees — as soon as the active 

 fermentation is ended. You may also 

 help its quality by straining it be- 

 fore allowing it to ferment. If you 

 wish to give it the taste of wine vine- 

 gar, add about 25 per cent of grape 

 juice when first making it. Or you 

 may give it the flavor of cider vine- 

 gar by adding apple juice in the^same 

 quantity. To merely start ferntenta- 

 tion a nominal quantity of either 

 grape juice or apple juice is all that 

 is required. 



Excellent vinegar, with a peculiar 

 flavor, is made by the addition to it, 

 at any time before using, of a bunch 

 of stems and leaves of tarragon (Ar- 

 temisia dracunculus). Although this 

 plant is not generally known, it is a 



fine plant for seasoning salads. It 

 grows well in our climate and stands 

 our winters well, for it is a native of 

 Siberia and of the Caspian sea shores. 

 We use it regularly in our salads and 

 pickles. Tarragon vinegar has an ex- 

 cellent reputation among the dealers 

 in fine food supplies. 



A Valuable Record 



By A. F. Bonney. 



IT is sometimes of value to know 

 meterological conditions in con- 

 nection with ascertained facts 

 about the bees, and for some years I 

 have kept an accurate record of 

 weather conditions. By referring to 

 last summer's record, I find that the 

 average morning temperature of June 

 was but SS.5 degrees, of July 61 de- 

 grees ; that June 9 there was a killing 

 frost, that the rainfall for the sum- 

 mer was very heavy, 7.2 in June, and 

 that the clover stand was something 

 tremendous. In connection with the 

 fact that I took oflf 180 pounds to the 

 colony, extracted honey, the record is 

 .interesting. 



To facilitate work, I use a lot of 

 arbitrary signs. The temperature is 

 preceded by the plus or minus mark, 

 I use a small circle for clear weather, 

 the same with a dot in center for 

 fair, a cross in the ring marks cloudy, 

 and the circle filled black means rain, 

 while the amount of precipitation is 

 recorded decimally, the air moisture 

 (humidity) by the % mark and the 

 direction of the wind in initials with 

 the estimated speed in figures. Lastly, 

 the amount of rainfall. Today's rec- 

 ord would read like cut alongside. 



I use a small book, 4x5.5 inches, 

 and as there is more space than is 

 needed for the record, I use it to note 

 interesting things about my work. In 

 this way I keep track of things which 

 might escape my memory. Needless 

 to say, a small blank book which may 

 be bought for a dime will serve, and 

 last the year out. 



Buck Grove, Iowa. 



Plant Lice and Honeydew 



By Dr. Burton N. Gates, A-ssociate 

 Professor of Beekeeping, Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural College. 

 THE current year, speaking for 

 Massachusetts in particular but 

 possibly for several of the 

 other New England States, is a year 

 of an unusual abundance of plant lice 

 or aphids. Spring conditions, with 

 cold and damp weather, were favora- 

 ble to their propagation. Entomolo- 

 gists predicted a heavy aphis infesta- 

 tion. At the present writing, the 

 middle of August, aphids for several 

 weeks have been especially evident 

 upon the potato. Entomologists have 

 seldom noticed them so prevalent. 

 This occurs widely throughout the 

 State and also in Connecticut. So 

 numerous is the pest that consider- 

 able damage is reported locally from 

 the infestation. Numerous as it is, 

 the writer has not observed any per- 

 ceptible amount of honeydew pro- 

 duced by this species. Bees have not 



been seen working the aphis on the 

 potato. 



In fact, bees have not been ob- 

 served generally collecting honeydew 

 as might be supposed, and yet, peri- 

 odically, the combs show the presence 

 of a dark honey which is presumably 

 of a honeydew source. The writer's 

 observation is limited to the bees 

 working on witch-hazel galls and on 

 elms. Today, however, honeydew 

 was found on the common milkweed, 

 Asclepias syriaca ; it occurs in great 

 abundance, yet but one bee was ob- 

 served working it. In some places 

 the elms, it is reported, have dripped 

 honeydew, affording abundant ma- 

 terial for bees to collect. For the 

 last few days, however, apparently 

 honeydew has ceased in the combs, 

 or perhaps the bees are too busy on 

 smartweed, which has just come into 

 bloom. 



Besides the potato, other market 

 garden crops have suffered severely 

 from the aphis infestation. Celery is 

 one plant on which the aphis are 



-h32 



e 



N.W. I. 

 70/o 



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It 



CAREFUL RECORDS HELP IN DETER- 

 MINING CAUSES FOR WINTER 

 LOSSES, ETC. 



numerous; on the apple aphis is prev- 

 alent. Generally speaking, the mar- 

 ket garden crops are all more or less 

 attacked, yet aphids ar.3 specific in 

 their foods and are not generally 

 given to working various kinds of 

 plants. A 



In total, this season, for Massachu-^ 

 setts and Connecticut, through infor- 

 mation gained from entomologists, 

 may be regarded as an aphis or plant 

 louse year. Hence the beekeepers 

 should determine whether the dark 

 honey procured is of plant louse or- 

 igin and hence honeydew. Some colo- 

 nies will be found to work this ma- 

 terial to the exclusion of floral nec- 

 tar, while other colonies may skip the 

 honeydew. Moreover, honeydew may 

 be procured in one restricted locality 

 and not in the adjacent district. No 

 definite rule can be set down. The 

 writer has just observed bees in a 

 large elm, yet adjacent elms appear 

 to have no attractive force for the 

 bees. 



Numerous inquiries have been re- 

 ceived concerning the source of dark 

 honey. From these scattered in- 

 quiries, apparently this year bees 

 have procured honeydew in widely 

 isolated districts of New England. 



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