314 



September. 101.'. 



American Hee Journal 



burst open, like a bivalve, and liberate 

 a small, flat, heart-shaped seed. The 

 bunch of seed vessels repeat the dispo- 

 sition of the florets, and this is appar- 

 ent in the illustration. 



The honey eaters mentioned above, 

 are like the " silky oak," peculiar to 

 Australia. These handsome birds be- 

 long to the order Meliphagidre, a very 

 appropriate name They are provided 

 with a brush-like tongue, beautifully 

 adapted for sweeping the nectar from 

 the flowers of the indigenous flora; 

 for example, eucalyptus (gum trees), 

 Banksias (native honeysuckle), Epacris 

 (native heath), etc. 



The long, slender, curved bill per- 

 mits a thorough exploration of the 

 nectaries, while the strongly developed 

 feet allow the birds to hang in amus- 

 ing acrobatic positions to reach the 

 honey and pollen that forms the chief 

 items in the birds' dietary. In sum- 

 mery weather, the loud musical note, 

 " tink chink," of the honey-eaters is 

 nearly always associated with the ad- 

 vent of " silky oak " blossom. However, 

 in forests of this valuable tree there is 

 rich, golden nectar for all ; none need 

 go short. (The writer has closely ob- 

 served bees on " silky oak " bloom, but 

 has never succeeded in securing any 

 pollen.) 



The bird in the picture is the 

 spinebill honey-eater, though some- 

 times called "the cobblers' awl" in 

 allusion to the long, curved beak. The 

 timber of the British oak is historical, 

 but its beauty is surpassed by the 

 "satiny" figuring of the Australian 

 "silky oak." Californians " get busy" 

 and add a new beauty to the landscape 

 of the Pacific Slope. 



Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. 



Honey Vinegar 



BY THE EDITOR. 



"^OME years ago there was an ex- 

 ^ tensive article on the making of 

 " honey vinegar in the American 

 Bee Journal. I have lost all those 

 copies and cannot refer to them. I 

 would like to know how to make it. It 

 seems to me that in the quick process 

 the vinegar had to drip through beech 

 shavings. We have no beech now, but 

 we have post-oak and hickory. I be- 

 lieve, as I remember the process, it is 

 like this : 



" Put honey in good barrels until a 

 fresh egg will float, then put in some 

 mother of vinegar and let it work; 

 skim it as often as necessary and keep 

 in a warm place. Then if this process 

 is right, after the vinegar is made, I 

 would like to know how to keep it in- 

 definitely so it will remain clear and 

 not become cloudy and form new 

 mother ? Can it be put in bottles and 

 brought to a boil and sealed so it will 

 keep ?— E. B. N." 



The articles to which our corres- 

 pondent refers were published in 

 March and April, 11)10. Those who re- 

 tain the Bee Journal files may readily 

 refer to them. But as the majority of 

 readers fail to keep the back numbers 

 of the .American Bee Journal in a 

 shape that will allow them to find 

 promptly the matters desired, and as 

 we have had several enquiries similar 

 to the above, we will give the principal 



requirements for the making of good 

 vinegar from honey. 



When honey sells readily and apples 

 are plentiful, it is a mistake to make 

 good honey into vinegar, for apple 

 cider is exceedingly cheap and makes 

 good vinegar. However, we often find 

 ourselves with a supply of water which 

 has been sweetened with honey, in 

 washing cappings preparatory to melt- 

 ing them into wax or in cleansing 

 large vessels which have contained 

 honey. Throwing away this sweetened 

 water is a waste, for it may readily be 

 used to make excellent vinegar. 



If we make our vinegar by diluting 

 a known quantity of honey, we should 

 use about l}i pounds of honey for each 

 gallon of vinegar. We may use as 

 much as 2 pounds or as little as one 

 pound and the result will be stronger 

 or weaker vinegar, the strongest vine- 

 gar requiring the longest time to make. 



If we use sweetened water of which 

 the strength in water is unknown, we 

 must test it by allowing a fresh egg to 

 float in it. The egg must come to the 

 surface, showing a spot out of the 

 water about the size of a dime. If the 

 egg does not show, add more honey, if 

 it rises too much, add water until the 

 proportion is right. 



Honey which has fermented slightly 

 because unripe or because it has been 

 exposed too long to the air is unfit for 

 use except in vinegar. 



But there are other germs of fermen- 

 tation than alioholic and acetic fer- 

 mentation germs, in honey. The flow- 

 ers from which the honey was taken 

 may have contained many diff^erent 

 germs. It is advisable to kill all of 

 them by heating our honey water to 

 say 180 degrees. After that we will 

 supply the proper germs. Our method 

 is to use a little fruit juice put into the 

 sweetened water after it has cooled 

 down to 70 or 80 degrees. If the air is 

 allowed to reach the preparation and 

 the temperature is sufficiently warm, 

 the alcoholic fermentation will begin 

 at once and will be very active for a 

 week or so. 



We are then readv for the acetic 



or vinegar fermentation. If plenty of 

 air is supplied and the insects are kept 

 away it may begin before we are aware 

 of it, for those who are in the habit of 

 making wine know how readily an 

 alcoholic fermentation will turn to 

 acetic when plenty of air is supplied. 

 But if the acid fermentation does not 

 take place it is easy to supply it by add- 

 ing to the liquid a small quantity of 

 good vinegar or a little lump of vine- 

 gar mother. We understand, however, 

 that the so-called vinegar mother is 

 only a deterioration of vinegar, which 

 will not be found in quickly made vine- 

 gar. This is the place where the 

 beech shavings have come into play, 

 with manufacturers of vinegar on a 

 large scale. Acting on the principle 

 that plenty of air is needed, they allow 

 their vinegar to drip through a barrel 

 which is open at both top and bottom 

 and is filled loosely with beech shav- 

 ings. The vinegar dripping through is 

 so easily oxidized that it becomes 

 strong in a very short time. A very 

 important requirement is to keep in- 

 sects away from it. The vinegar-fly I 

 (Di-osopln'la) would soon reproduce in ' 

 it. I believe that other hard-wood \ 

 shavings, such as oak or hickory | 

 would be as good as beech shavings to 

 allow the dripping of the vinegar. 



When the vinegar is in the process ] 

 of making you will notice a small [ 

 white substance floating upon it. This j 

 is the fermenting bacterium (Myco- 

 derma acfti), which is always present | 

 in good vinegar in the process of mak- 

 ing. If you have managed to supply it, I 

 or if it has been supplied from the air,] 

 where it is usually found, your vine- 

 gar will make readily. 



When good vinegar is made it often] 

 contains a small eel-like worm, An^nal- 

 lula accli, which may be seen with the I 

 naked eye if a little of the vinegar, in a I 

 thin vial, is placed between your eye I 

 and the light. This is never found in! 

 artificial vinegars made of injurious! 

 acids, and is perfectly harmless. Itj 

 may be readily killed and drained out! 

 by heating the vinegar to 180 degrees! 

 and allowing it to settle. Both this! 



NKATLY KV.VV APIARY OP W.M WKSTON, AT KSSINGTON. PA. 



