THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



131 



lioney vinegar for the last four 

 years, and find a ready sale for it. 

 It eclipses the best A'ine vinegar 

 for all purposes for which vinegar 

 is used. Below I will give my 

 modus operandi. 



When making vinegar, one must 

 know that water will turn into 

 vinegar providing it contains the 

 necessary quantity of sugar stuff, 

 and is exposed to fresh air and a 

 warm temperature. The warmer 

 the temperature and the better the 

 circulation of air, the sooner vine- 

 gar forms. A barrel is laid down, 

 and an inch hole is bored in the 

 upper end of each head, near the 

 upper stave. This admits of a 

 good air-passage over the body of 

 the honey water. Tins with fine 

 perforations nailed over these 

 holes, with the rough side out- 

 ward, exclude flies and skippers. 

 Take about one pound of honey to 

 one gallon of water, thoroughly 

 mixed up, and nail a perforated tin 

 on the bung-hole. We take thir- 

 ty-five to forty pounds of honey 

 for a barrel containing fort}- to 

 forty-five gallons of water. The 

 warmest place in the yard is the 

 best place for the barrel. If the 

 sun shines on the barrel all day, it 

 requires from the beginning of 

 April to the end of October to 

 make vinegar satisfactory for all 

 purposes. If not sour enough ])y 

 fall, it will be all right by Christ- 

 mas or spring, if placed in tlie cel- 

 lar or a w^arm room. 



No vinegar should be exposed 

 to frost before the sour fermenta- 

 tion is complete, as such would 

 tui'n the sour into a foul fermenta- 

 tion, and the vinegar be lost. We 

 made last summer, on our bee-roof, 

 ten barrels of honey vinegar like 

 the sample I send you. The re- 

 tail price is thirty- three and one- 

 third cents per gallon, which gives 

 us a better profit than the produc- 

 tion of honey, as you w^ill see. 

 Chas. F. Mutii. 



Cinci7ivuti, O., Feb. 5, 1887. 



Gleavings, Mch. 1, 1887. 



In addition to the above Mi-. 

 Muth says : Water sweetened in 

 the projiortion of about one pound 

 of honey to one gallon of watci- 

 and standing in a warm [)la(;e will 

 turn into vinegar in a stone-j;ir as 

 well as in a l)arrel. A barrel with 

 one head out and standing in the 

 sun will answer the i)urpose. But 

 the transformation is hastened by 

 the larger surface being exposed 

 to the air, as is the case with a 

 barrel lying down and an air pas- 

 sage over the top of the liquid. 



We prefer, as a summer diink, a 

 mixture of honey-vinegai-, water 

 and honey or sugar, to the l)est of 

 lemonade. 



[Mr. Miitli mailed us a sami)l(' oI'Mic 

 lioncy-vinesiiir. It is very nice. Ilnncy- 

 viiieiiar will l)e one of the tliiiiijs iiiaii- 

 uracliired at llic Bay State Ajiiary in 

 the future.] 



NOTE>S FROM THE BAY 

 STATE APIARY. 



Henry Alley. 



Spring has come, or rather wo 

 have some warm days about this 

 time (April 4) when the bees can 

 take a flight, and we can now know 

 the true condition of each colony. 



As stated in the "•Api" last fall, 

 a part of our colonies were put in 

 the cellar and the balance packed 

 on the summer stands. Of the 

 two methods of wintering we much 

 prefer the out-door one. One or 

 two of the colonies in the cellar 

 died from the loss of queens, and 

 one by dysentery'. I cannot think 

 that it was pollen that caused dys- 

 entery as ail our colonies had nn 

 ef(ual chance to gather i)ollen and 

 the same kinds of honey. A vigor- 

 ous queen will produce vigorous 

 and hardy progeny. A weakly 



