838 



American Hee Journal 



Oct. 4, 1906 



iron is shown, it rusts and darkens the honey. But with good 

 tin after 5 years the honey will come out just as bright as the 

 first clay. 



On motion of Dr. Miller the convention adjourned. 



The President called on Mr. H. M. Arnd to read a paper 

 entitled, 



SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCE IN THE MAKING 

 OF HONEY-VINEGAR 



As an introduction to this paper on successful vinegar- 

 making, I wish to say that if it is of any value to the bee- 

 keepers at large, a part of the thanks is due to George W. 

 York, although he personally did none of the experiment- 

 ing. He and I, under the firm name of "The York Honey 

 Co.," expended hundreds of dollars on my instruction, ex- 

 periments, and the manufacture of honey-vinegar. 



Vinegar is produced by the action of oxygen on alcoholic 

 fluids, under the influence of ferments of which the active 

 constituent is acetic acid. 



Honey-vinegar is usually made by the old, long process, 

 which takes about one year ; but it can also be made in about 

 5 weeks, by the quick process by means of generators. In 

 cither process, honey-water must ferment, to produce alco- 

 holic fluid, which can be converted into vinegar only In- 

 powerful oxidizing agents. 



I will speak briefly on the -old way. as it is familiar to 

 most of you. You can utilize the washings of honey-cap- 

 pings, the rinsing of cans, barrels, or waste honey iii any 

 form, for the sweetened water. This is put into barrels, with 

 one head out, the wider the barrel the better, as the more 

 air-space the better chance the bacteria have to work, as they 

 need air. You can hasten .the fermentation by adding yeast 

 or by acetic-acid bacteria, commonly called "mother of vine- 

 gar," and let it go through about the same process as you 

 would for cider-vinegar. Always keep it in a warm place, 

 and covered with a thin cloth to exclude the dust. In about 

 a year the alcohol will be almost worked out, and the oxida- 

 tion will stop. You will then have' honey-vinegar, of grain 

 strength in comparison with the strength of the sweetened 

 water. It is then ready to be barreled and put into the cellar 

 for future use. 



The quick process, with which I am more familiar, is 

 one that is hard to explain, on account of the many details 

 and chemical changes that one must understand in order to 

 use the process successfully. 



To be a first-class, practical vinegar-maker, one should 

 be somewhat of a chemist. My ability as a chemist being 

 very limited, I will try to tell you in plain terms how The 

 York Honey Co. proceeded. 



\\ hat first induced us to make honey vinegar was to 

 utilize all waste honey, such as inferior honey, the washings 

 of barrels, tanks and empty cans — in fact, all honey that 

 would otherwise be wasted in the warerooms of an up-to- 

 date bottler and dealer in honey. 



In the first place, I took a course of instruction in vine- 

 gar-making, under a first-class instructor, standing at the 

 head of my class, also at the foot, as I was the only pupil. 



We secured two generators, casks for fermentation, a 

 complete cooper's outfit ; a saccharometer, a vinegar-tester — 

 in short, everything necessary to carry on vinegar-making 

 successfully. 



A generator such as we used, is a large, open-top, round 

 tank, carefully filled and packed with long, curly beechwood 

 shavings, to within a foot of the top. On top of these shav- 

 ings is a close-fitting, round distributing-board, filled with 

 many small holes equal distances apart. There are several 

 vent-holes about 18 inches from the bottom, and also a large 

 faucet within a few inches of the bottom. There is a hole 

 about 2 inches below the distributing-board, so the tempera- 

 ture in the generator can at all times be observed. In addi- 

 tion to this, there is a close-fitting cover on top of the tank 

 to prevent the aldehyde from escaping too freely. 



The fermenting casks are nothing more than large, open- 

 it. p, wine-casks. 



It takes about 50 pounds of honey to run a generator 

 properly for 12 hours, so we decided to start only one. It 

 takes \Yi pounds of honey to each gallon of water to make 

 a 40-grain vinegar. The proper proportion can be had either 

 by measure or by testing the mixture with a saccharometer. 



Forty-grain vinegar means 4 percent of pure acetic acid 

 in the vinegar, or 40 grains of acetic acid to every 1,000 grains 

 of vinegar. Stock tested by the saccharometer, for every per- 



cent shown by this instrument you will get a 4 or 5 grain 

 vinegar. It varies according to the completeness of the oxida- 

 tion. Stock testing 10 percent should give at least a 40- 

 grain. 



Having everything in shape, we will proceed to turn 

 the sweetest of sweets into vinegar. 



To make stock, the fermenting tanks are nearly filled 

 with water and honey, in the porportion of I gallon of 

 water to I'/t pounds of honey. Add to this mixture a 

 specially prepared malt yeast to start a rapid fermentation. 

 (The temperature of the room should be at all times about 

 70 degrees.) In about a week this will be almost worked 

 out, and fermentation nearly stopped. To hasten the oxi- 

 dation, the shavings in the generator are soured with vinegar, 

 so when the stock is poured in at the top it trickles over the 

 soured shavings. 



Charge the generator every V/2 hours with 6 gallons 

 of stock, having all the vent holes open, and soon the oxida- 

 tion will start. 



The oxidation in a generator creates a damp heat, but 

 it is as true a fire as there is in a stove, and if you keep 

 a stove as a model, and think of the alcohol as your fuel, 

 and the vents or air-holes as the dampers, you will not go 

 far wrong. 



Keep charging from the stock in the fermenting tanks 

 every 90 minutes until the shavings are well saturated, and 

 the fluid runs out of the faucet at the bottom. Then let it 

 stand until the generator draws, and warms up. You can 

 tell whether or not it is drawing by putting a candle in front 

 of an air-hole ; if it blows out, it shows that the temperature 

 is greater outside than in the generator ; if the light is sta- 



H. 51. ABND 



tionary, it shows that the bacteria have begun to propagate 

 and have raised the temperature equal to the outside, and in 

 a few hours you will find that the light is drawn in. Then 

 the oxidation is in full operation, and the temperature inside 

 exceeds that outside. You must then begin to watch at the 

 thermometer hole, near the top of the generator, and when 

 the temperature gets above 85, charge with 6 gallons taken 

 out of the bottom. If there is not that amount, add enough 

 stock to make up the full 6 gallons. In about 2 hours ex- 

 amine the drafts and insert in the air-holes plugs having 

 }4-inch holes, to decrease the size of the air-holes. 



During the day take 6 gallons from the bottom and put 

 in the top every 90 minutes. If the charge is short of 6 

 gallons add enough stock to make up the shortage. Charge 

 12 gallons at night ; and close the drafts ; in short, "bank 

 your fire" for the night. 



The large vinegar-makers have automatic chargers, and 

 keep it up all night. 



Aldehyde is the intermediate composition between alco- 

 hol and vinegar ; it is a very volatile liquid, and if you are 

 not careful, it will nearly all escape. The weak alcohol is 

 converted into aldehyde by the bacteria, before it becomes 

 vinegar. If you give the generator too much draft, the 

 aldehyde will be lost, so you can see the drafts are as im- 

 portant in a generator as in a stove. 



The charging from bottom to top is continued until the 

 vinegar does not gain any in strength ; then every other 

 time 6 gallons of vinegar are taken from the generator, and 

 stored in casks for the market. 



For every gallon you take from the generator an equal 

 amount must be added at the top, from the stock. 



The most profitable and best way is to run the genera- 

 tors in sets of 3, one above another. Start the stock • 



