38 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



February 



the wax but it is a waste for the api- 

 arist, and this waste is unnecessary. 



When the honey is all extracted 

 and the cappings well drained of their 

 honey, so that they seem entirely dry, 

 we put theui into a large boiler with 

 just enough vyater to soak them. This 

 water is heated a little below the melt- 

 ing point of beeswax — say 120°, or a 

 little above this — to a point where you 

 can just endure the fingers in it. 



The cappings are stirred in this 

 water, then the water is pressed out. 

 For this purpose we use a very small 

 cider press, but the same work may be 

 done almost as well with the hands 

 while the wax is soft. The press goes 

 faster and does the work more thor- 

 oughly. The water thus obtained 

 looks dark and dirty but if your cap- 

 pings have been well cared for the 

 only thing in them to cause any resi- 

 due is the propolis, and we all know 

 that there is nothing disgusting about 

 it. After the vinegar is made all this 

 will disappear, without leaving any 

 trace, as it settles in the dregs. The 

 honey water is now tested. We use 

 a must-scale, but as our readers do 

 not have such an instrument, we will 

 give them an easy test, viz : 



Take a fresh egg and drop it in the 

 liquid. If it floats, showing a portion 

 of its shell of the size of a dime, the 

 liquid is of proper strength. If it 

 sinks you must add more honey, dilut- 

 ing it well, till the egg comes up. If 

 the Qgg projects too much add more 

 water. 



To make the vinegar from honey 

 we use from 1^ to 2 pounds to the gal- 

 lon, according to the strength wanted. 

 The sweeter the liquid the stronger 

 the vinegar when made, but the weak- 

 er it is the quicker it is made. The 



reason of this is that a small percent- 

 age of sweet diluted, changes more 

 promptly into alcohol and into acid 

 than a large quantity. If you put in 

 too much honey some of it may re- 

 main unferraeuted For a long time and 

 a very heavy solution would probably 

 urver all change by fermentation. 

 The weaker the beverage the quicker 

 it sours. 



Bear in mind that the fermentation 

 of any sweet or any fruit juice is first 

 alcoholic then acetic. No acetic or 

 vinegar fermentation can occur till an 

 alcoholic fermentation has taken place 

 and the more thorough the alcoholic 

 fermentation is the more thorough the 

 acetic change will be. 



After our honey water has been 

 made we must induce the fermenta- 

 tion by some means. The temperature 

 must be right, about 90° or 100°, if it 

 has not already been heated as above 

 mentioned. A little of access is not 

 so injurious as a low temperature, 

 provided, however, that you do not 

 reach the germ killing point — 160° to 

 170°. If your liquid was heated to 

 this point it would have to stand till 

 it had absorbed more ferment germs 

 from the atmosphere and this would 

 be slow. 



Most honey contains plenty of fer- 

 ment germs and it needs but little in- 

 ducement to start the alcoholic fer- 

 mentation. If, however, there is any 

 delay a little fruit juice, fresh grape 

 juice, fi'esh cider, or even a little 

 yeast will soon give it a start. The 

 liquid is put into barrels in a warm, 

 sheltered place, the barrels being filled 

 only about two-thirds, as the boiling 

 of fermentation will cause it to rise 

 and a full barrel would spill part of 

 its contents. The bung-hole is cover- 



