April, 1910. 



American l^ee Journal 



When either fermentation is incom- 

 plete, the result will be a vinegar, sweet, 

 alcoholic and sour at the same time. 

 Such vinegar might do for sweet pick- 

 les, but not for ordinary sale. 



If you follow the simple process 

 mentioned above, without the extra 

 work of passing it through shavings, 

 you may make good vinegar in 2 or 3 

 weeks. Much depends upon the com- 

 pletion of the first fermentation. Afte^ 

 that, the acetic change will push itself 

 forward without interruption, unless 

 you let the temperature fall, or exclude 

 the air. 



Transferring the vinegar, or what is 

 ordinarily called "racking;" in other 

 words, taking it from the dregs, will 

 increase its strength because it helps to 

 oxidize it. The oftener this is done 

 the clearer it will be, and the stronger 

 it will become. 



The vinegar should be fully matured 

 before winter, even if you wait till the 

 grapes are ripe to make it. To keep it 

 during winter, put it in a warm room. 

 The cellar will do. If you have a fur- 

 nace, a corner in the furnace-room is 

 quite satisfactory, even with the fea- 

 ture of a little coal-dust, which would 

 settle at the bottom. But if the vinegar 

 is sufficiently strong it may be bunged 

 and put away anywhere. If you have a 

 barrel of strong vinegar and one of 

 unfinished vinegar, add a little from 

 the latter barrel to the former every 

 time you draw some for your use. In 

 this way you will keep it active, and the 

 weak vinegar will gain strength. 



To draw vinegar from the barrel, as 

 faucets are apt to leak and get out of 

 order, we use a small hose about 6 feet 

 long and a half inch in diameter, and 

 draw the vinegar by syphon. This hose 

 is used for no other purpose, for it 

 would give the vinegar-germs to other 

 liquids. We keep it hung right by the 

 barrel. But before you attempt to use 

 such a device, be sure that you have 

 tried it with clear water first, and that 

 you fully understand the principle of 

 the syphon, otherwise you would risk 

 taking an unpleasant drink of vinegar 

 partly in your windpipe, and I should 

 want' to be out of your way then. After 

 a little practice one may draw a liquid 

 from a barrel with a syphon without 

 even tasting it. 



Housekeepers should be warned 

 against keeping open vinegar vessels 

 in apartments or cellars where open 

 jars or bottles of preserves, or marma- 

 lades, or cider, or claret, or even grape- 

 juice, are kept. The germs of vinegar 

 will pervade the air and act upon any- 

 thing which may have a tendency 

 to sour. 



A damp cellar will in no way injure 

 vinegar. A very dry cellar will cause 

 it to evaporate. In that case water 

 may be added. Our make of vinegar 

 by the above process is so strong that 

 our women use about half water in 

 making pickles. But be sure not to 

 allow any musty or moldy action. 

 When the vinegar is thoroughly made, 

 do not leave the barrel open unneces- 

 sarily. It needs no air then, and will 

 only gather impurities. 



Do not expect your vinegar to im- 

 prove with old age. After 3 or 4 years 

 in this hot and cold climate, vinegars 

 and wines have nothing to gain from 

 age. It is only in the deep cellars of 



mildly temperate Europe that great 

 age has good effect on wines or vine- 

 gar, and I doubt whether the latter is 

 improved by great age in any climate. 



When the vinegar has attained its 

 highest point of excellence, you may 

 best keep it by bottling it. Very few, 

 however, go to that trouble, owing to 

 the low value of even the best vinegar. 

 Its deterioration is evidenced by the 

 forming of the vinegar-mother, which 

 is nevertheless a very good adjunct to 

 use in new vinegar when the acetic ac- 

 tion is slow. But some authorities ob- 

 ject to it under the plea that it hastens 

 the deterioration of the fresh article. A 

 still better agent to hasten the fermen- 

 tation from alcohol to vinegar is what 

 is called the "flowers of vinegar," a 

 fungus which is the base, the real cause 

 of acetic fermentation. These flowers 

 appear on the surface of all good vin- 

 egar in small white particles resemb- 

 ing mold, and are scientifically named 

 "mycoderma aceti." Not only do they 

 form in the making of vinegar, but they 

 will often appear on ciders and wines 

 previous to acetification. In those 

 cases, the only prevention of vinegar 

 fermentation of those beverages is by 

 heating and sealing afterwards. 



Another so-called disease of vinegar 

 is the vinegar-eel — anguillula aceti — a 

 very small helminth, visible, however, 

 to the naked eye, if you place the vin- 

 egar in a very thin flat vial, and hold it 

 between your eye and the light. This 

 is never found in artificial vinegars 

 made of injurious acids. So the vin- 

 egar which contains them may very 

 positively be considered as pure, hon- 

 est goods. They are very easily de- 

 stroyed by heating to about 140 degrees, 

 Fahr. They will then settle to the bot- 

 tom of the vessel and may be taken off 

 with the dregs. 



If you want very clear vinegar, you 

 may clarify it, after heating, by using 

 the white of eggs. For a barrel of 

 vinegar it would take a half-dozen. 

 Pour them into the barrel and stir vig- 

 orously with a stick or a wooden spat- 

 ula. The white of eggs well mixed 

 with the liquid makes a sort of net- 

 work which in settling takes with it all 

 the floating impurities. Drawing the 

 liquid off carefully, without stirring, 

 after 4 or .5 days will secure a very 

 limpid article. But this trouble should 

 be taken only with thoroughly finished 

 vinegar. 



Cider or wine vinegar may be treated 

 in exactly the same way as honey. 

 Good cider and honey-water mixed 

 make excellent vinegar if air exposure 

 and temperature are right. In general, 

 those who fail to make good vinegar 

 have been at fault in providing insuffi- 

 cient heat or warmth at the inception. 

 Summer or fall is the proper time. 

 Late fall or winter is a poor time to 

 make good vinegar. 



Do not forget that you need never 

 lose any honey from cappings, or from 

 the washing of honey-soaked utensils. 

 The first water used need not be of 

 great- amount. Water from cappings 

 washing will look very dirty. Just 

 heat it and get it to ferment, and after 

 the fermentation is stopped you will 

 find that all impurities have settled to 

 the bottom. As those impurities are 

 entirely composed of particles that 

 you would eat without second thought, 



when sealed comb honey is served up- 

 on the table, I cannot see why you 

 should object to them in your vinegar, 

 especially if they are left in the dregs 

 when the liquid is racked. Many a bee- 

 keeper wastes a lot of good honey by 

 failing to wash the cappings before 

 rendering them into wax. We usually 

 let them drain for several weeks pre- 

 vious to rendering them, but there is 

 always enough sweet left in them to 

 make a quantity of first-class vinegar, ^t 

 which is all net profit to the apiarist. " 

 Economy is the mother of thrift. 



I have often received beeswax (ship- 

 ped to me by good apiarists) that fairly 

 leaked honey, even after it had been 

 rendered and boxed for shipment. 

 This is an unnecessary waste. We never 

 allow a drop of good honey to be 

 wasted. 



Hamilton, 111. 



Plague of Ignorance— Hornets 



BY ALLEN LATHAM. 



The title of this article is chosen be- 

 cause of the title found on page 371 of 

 the American Bee Journal for 1909. 

 Ignorance is a plague which affects us 

 all from earliest childhood, and one in 

 which none of us ever becomes better 

 than convalescent. Therefore, W. A. 

 Pryal is very human in his ignorance, 

 though he may not be wholly human in 

 his method of vindicating his ignor- 

 ance in his destruction of the hornets. 



Possibly hornets in California are of 

 a different breed from what they are in 

 Connecticut, and their destruction there 

 may be justifiable. I feel rather confi- 

 dent, however, that their habits there 

 are much the same as they are here ; 

 and it is likely that the country over, 

 these insects, though usually considered 

 a pest, are among man's best friends. 

 Last summer a farmer told with great 

 glee about getting into a yellow-jack- 

 ets' nest while haying. The gleeful 

 part was that in which he " stomped it 

 into the ground." Possibly some of 

 my readers wear the same astonish- 

 ment on their faces now that he wore 

 when I told him that he had killed one 

 of his best friends. 



It was 2.5 years ago that I first learned 

 of the habits of the yellow-jacket. I 

 had taken up a war against the tomato 

 worm, and being then a boy I hanged 

 14 fat fellows on the rail fence with 

 bits of twine. The next day disclosed 

 the fact that all the worms were not 

 all there. Pausing to note the fact I 

 observed a yellow-jacket cutting off a 

 piece of tomato-worm steak to carry 

 home to the children. Within 3 days 

 only the heads of the culprits remained 

 on the gallows. The lesson was in- 

 structive. It set me to thinking and to 

 watching. 1 learned little by little that 

 these striped pests (the yellow-jack- 

 ets) made a regular diet upon the larvse 

 of moths and butterflies. 1 gradually 

 came to know what these hornets were 

 searching for when I saw them poking 

 about the foliage of a tree or bush. It 

 is a common sight for one who looks 

 for it to see a yellow-jacket flying along 

 with a caterpillar hanging from its jaws. 

 And the busy chaps that are steadily 

 returning to their beautiful nest are 

 carrying the chewed remains of one of 

 our enemies. 



