i887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



267 



course they would have to be hoed by hand, 

 for we coiihl not cultivate them among the 

 hives. With \our small apiary, however, 

 that pait could be got along with easily. — 

 We have heard about your bee-keepers' as- 

 sociation before. I think you have got a 

 good start. 



MAKING HONEY VINEGAH. 



Can it be made to compete in price with gt<u- 

 cose vinegar? 



«BOUT September last I received a gift from 

 friend C. F. Muth, of a large jar of his honey 

 vinegar. It was very fine, and I put it on ex- 

 hibition at the State Fair here, where many 

 tasted it, and would have purchased if I had 

 had a supply. Some years ago, when 1 was engaged 

 in the manufacture and sale of glucose, I sold tons 

 of it to the vinegar-manufacturers; and from inter- 

 course with them, as also from the study of books 

 treating on vinegar-making, J became pretty well 

 posted in the practical working of a vinegar-facto- 

 ry. At that time it suggested itself to me to use 

 honey; but a glance at the value of honey versus 

 glucose soon showed the folly of that thought, for I 

 could sell highly converted grape sugar at 'Z^i cts. 

 per lb., delivered, and honey was away up far be- 

 yond that. I lately began to think there was some- 

 thing in honey for vinegar, if it kept on going down 

 in value, so I decided to look it up; and friend 

 France's statement, on page M, Gleanings for Jan. 

 15, gave me a basis of value. He sa.vs it takes two 

 lbs. of honey to make one gallon of vinegar. 



I called upon one of my old vinegar - making 

 friends, and asked him to buy some honey. After 

 quoting him prices that friend France would not 

 like to deliver at, he chuckled and rather laughed. 



"Ah, Todd, things have rather changed since you 

 sold me glucose," said he. He then explained to me 

 what I already knew, that by using corn, and mash- 

 ing it with hot water in a peculiarly scientific man- 

 ner, he gets, for less money, the equivalent of the 

 pound of glucose that he used to pay '2^ cts. for. 



" Why," said he, " I can buy raw cane sugar at 4 to 

 .5 cts. per lb., and even that is not as cheap as mak- 

 ing from corn." 



In a short time I found that the cost of the raw 

 material required to produce one gallon of vinegar 

 from corn was ;5 cts. ; and from cane sugar nearly .5 

 cts. Now, taking honey at 'i cts.. and say that 2 lbs. 

 are rc(]uii'ed to make one gallon, that is 6 cts. as 

 against cane sugar .5 cts., and corn 'i cts. Taking 

 the percentage of water, waxy matter, etc., in hon- 

 ey into account, which reduce its effective saccha- 

 rine value to not more than 8.5 to 88 per cent, I 

 came to the conclusion that, to sell honey to vine- 

 gar-manfacturers, it will have to be offered to them 

 at IV2 cts. per lb. Now, who will be first to ship me 

 a carload to dispose of to vinegar - makers? My 

 friend tested Mr. Mulh's honey vinegar, and said it 

 stood "27, soda test." 



"At what price can you supply me a quantity of 

 vinegar of that strength?" I asked. 



" Six cents per gallon," was the reply. 



Thanking my t<-iend, 1 declined to sell him any 

 honey just that day. and decided to give your read- 

 ers the benefit of getting down to actual facts. 



Although 1'2 cts. per lb. may be the value to a reg- 

 ular vinegar-manufacturer who would buy honey 

 as a source of " saccharine," yet to those who econ- 



omize as friend France does, every drain of the 

 cappings or washing of the barrels should be util- 

 ized. It takes only a little reasoning to see that, if 

 they turn them into vinegar with a minimum of la- 

 bor and expense, and can sell all their product at 

 only 2.5 cts. per gallon, they are in reality obtainihg 

 the very nice profit of 1.5 Cts. On each 3 lbs. of honey 

 it took to make the gallon of vinegar. In other 

 words, the.V sell their refuse honey to themselves at 

 .5 cts. per lb., and receive a gross profit of "% cts. 

 thereon. I think you will join me in advising them' 

 to continue their manufacture of vinegar, and even 

 to try to extend it; 



The French bee-men have always been very care- 

 ful to let nothing go to waste; and out of the wash- 

 ings of the combs taken by the old ways, wine and 

 vinegar have bfetin made for ages. Yes, even the 

 very water in which combs are melted up are util- 

 ized for vinegar. Having, turned to page :W9 of Ha- 

 met's Cour.s iV Apimlture, I find a singular corrobo- 

 ration of friend France's statements. Here is the 

 paragraph translated: "The strength of the vine- 

 gar is in proportion to the quantity of honey to the 

 solution. One-half kilogramme (one pound) can 

 give two litres (quarts) of strong vinegar." 



Philadelphia, March, 1887. Arthur Todd. 



It seems to me, however, friend T., that 

 the vinegar made from glucose would be 

 hardly equal to that made from honey, in 

 the same way tliat we get a poor quabty of 

 almost every thing else when glucose is sub- 

 stituted for sugar or honey. The vinegar 

 manufactured directly from corn, I suppose 

 is equivalent to, or is exactly what we buy 

 for white-wine vinegar. There are two kinds 

 of vinegar generally in the market— cider 

 and white-wine vinegar. The latter is sup- 

 posed to be made from wine, hence its name. 

 But of late, I believe it is made from corn or 

 corn whisky. Now, we sell both kinds of 

 vinegar. The white-wine vinegar has the 

 whitest and nicest look, especially for bot- 

 tling pickles; but almost everybody clam- 

 ors for pure cider vinegar, especially where it 

 is wanted for table use— to eat on pork and 

 beans, lettuce, and the like. Good cider 

 vinegar is generally worth 10 or 12 cts. per 

 gallon at wholesale, and perhaps twice as 

 much at retail. Now, if honey vinegar 

 should get a reputation and name, it would 

 be preferred to the white-wine or glucose 

 vinegar, no matter how low the latter might 

 be offered. The article on page 212 of our 

 last issue thn>ws some light on the subject. 



HONEY VINEGAR. 



FRIEND niNGHAM GIVES nS A FEW .MORE ITEMS. 



fAGE tH, Jan. 15, exhibits a plan of ascertain- 

 ing the amount of honey per gallon of wa- 

 ter, and gives an egg as the means. If de- 

 sirable to use honey in making marketable 

 vinegar, no one can fail to see that 2 lbs. of 

 honey will put an embargo on the business at 

 once. If so much Is required to produce an arti- 

 cle retailing at 25 cts. per gallon, merchants and 

 others will be slow to introduce it to their custom- 

 ers, provided, of course, the manufacturer must 

 get pay for his 2 lbs. per gallon, and trouble and 

 other expense in its shipment. 

 That two years is required to make such a com- 



