Jan. y, 1902 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



25 



the "'Xiict iiiiKiiint,, 1m!C!Iusc till' aiiioiiMl of honoy in ra|)|p|ritf'< 

 (lepoiids upiiri till' iiianiior In wlilcli tli<! cytrai'tliiK iind iin(ii|j- 

 piriK w(^n( (loMc, upon tlic tciiipciiitiin'. iinil also ii|>oii tlici 

 lrii(ftli of time (liiriiiK wliii-h these cappltiKS havcHieen allowed 

 to drain in a iiroperiy-niade cappinK-ciin. Hut thore is no 

 doiihl that, to lli(^ M|)laiist who pxlrai-ts thonsaiids of pounds, 

 the anioniit of honey k'ft in tin,' eapphiRS. even after the most 

 thoroii;;h draining', represents a value whieh ho cannot afford 

 to lose. Whenever tho apiarist ships his heeswax, drippiri<; 

 with lioney, as I have so often s(^en it, he certainly does not 

 appreciate tlie amount that ho conid save with little exortion. 

 WluMi we extract lioney. we allow the cajipinKs to drain 

 for a lonf; time. When the tinw comes to render tlu! wax, we lirst 

 wash the entire mass iu hot water. Any kctth^ or iiollnr tluit 

 is used to render IxM^swax will do for this purpose An amount 

 of watc^r sullii'ient to soali the cappiufis is lirst put in. The 

 cappiiifis are then can'fuliy hrol<en up into frapnionts so 

 that tho water may thoroughly soa-U through, and tho mass is 

 h(^ated until it is about as hot as your linfror ean stand. \V(! 

 then remove the fire, and, with a large skimmer, made of a 

 wire frame, with a wire-chith sieve, we lift out the eappiiiffs. 

 Usually the thickest portion of thorn is taken out hy hand, 

 and tho sieve used only for skiminiugotr the lloating remnants. 

 In order to got the very smallest particles of heoswax, the 



C. p. DADANT. 



liquid may then be passed tluwuirh a flour-sack. The cappings 

 thus washed are put into a coarse sack and pressed in any 

 sort of small press. We use a diminutive cider-press screw 

 with a small, flat, wooden platform. A very light pressure on 

 these cappings will drain all the sweetened water out of them 

 and leave them about dry. They can be meltfed afterward by 

 the usual process, this operation being intended only to re- 

 move all the honey for mead or vinegar purposes. 



The liquid thus (.jbtained will not appear very clean, but 

 our apiarist will have to bear in mind that it is "clean dirt.'' 

 Of this he will have no doubt if tlie extracting has been prop- 

 erly and neatly done. All the contents of the capping-can 

 come from the surface of combs which the daintiest persons 

 would readily have eaten ; and when the liquid has undergone 

 fermentation, the dregs will settle to the bottom, and all the 

 froth and foam, and all the cloudiness, will disappear. 



Now as to the strength of the liiiuid : The reader under- 

 stands that it is impossible to judge of this by the cappings. 

 The honey-water, after it is made, must be tested. Those 

 who have saccharometers would not be at a loss, but not one in 

 live hundred of our apiarists, except in California, where wine 

 is largely made, would have such an instrumi-nt. Here is a 

 simple method : 



Put a gallon or so of the mixture in a pan. enough of it to 

 float an egg-. If the egg goes to the bottom and lies on its 

 side, the mixture is too w<'ak, and it must be evaporated down 



or more honey must be addi'd. If the egg floats about in the 

 lli|nld, or. when dropped In. turns its big otid u|i i|uli-kly and 

 remains In that position, ihiTe is enough honey to make agood, 

 ordinary grade of vinegar. If the i-gg Just slops at the lop, 

 it will make a very strong grade. If it shows more thati a 

 spot the si/.o of a dime, tho liquid Is too heavy, and moro 

 water must be added, at least till the egg almost sinks. 



It must be borne in mind that the strongrT the wiri<? or 

 vinegar that Is sought to be made, the longer It will take to 

 mak(! It. Too great a r|uantlty of saccharine matter will fall 

 to go through the alcoholic and acetic fermentation, and will 

 always retain a strong percentagi' of swei'tness. From a. 

 p<junil and a ijuarU^r to a pound and a half of honey per gal- 

 lon will mak(( a very gooil grade of vinoKar, fully as strong as 

 the ordinary cider-vini^gar. and of a better flavor. A greater 

 iiuautity will make proportionately stronger vinc^gar, but will 

 roiiuire much more lime. Some advise the use of only a. 

 pound of honey lo a galhin of water. This, in my estimation. 

 is too small a i|uanlity, but the fermentation In such a propor- 

 tion will take place very rapidly. 



Now as to tho making of this vinegar : It must be borne 

 in mind that there are two very distinct processes which must, 

 follow each other in the inakitig of vinegar. The lirst is the 

 alcoholic formentalion, liy which the saccharine matter — 

 whether honey, graipo-juice or apple-juice — changes into alco- 

 hol. The second is tho acetic fermentation, by which this 

 alcohol changes to vinegar, so that without alcoholic fermen- 

 tation no acetic f<'rmentation is possible. It sometimes hap- 

 pens that both fermentations go through tog<'ther and contin- 

 ously, but they ar(: much less thorough, and occupy more 

 time. 



Although honey, like grapes and apples, contains most of 

 the elements that go towards fi'rmenlation. these elements 

 cannot develop fully unless the circumstances are favorable. 

 Too high a temperature, say above 170 degrees. Fahr., will 

 destroy the germs of fermentation. Too low a tcMnjjerature, 

 say below 6w degrees, will arrest or retard their development, 

 though it will not be destructive to them. A temperature of 

 75 degrees to 90 degrees is the most favorable. If at this de- 

 gree the lir|uid does not promptly begin to show signs of dis- 

 turbance by the production of gas bubbles and a slight noise 

 with a vinous smell, the fermentation must be hastened by 

 furnishing to the liquid the missing germs. This is done by 

 mixing. into the liquid, fresh grape-juice, apple-juice, or yeast 

 of some kind. It does not take a great deal of ferment to 

 start a fermentation, because those germs are self-reproducing 

 in any sweet liquid at the pro])er temperatures. This is the 

 most important point. As a matter of course, the contact of 

 the air is needed, but this is sure to be provided for, as the 

 vehemence of the fermentation, when once begun, will in- 

 crease the hulk of the liquid, producing carbonic-acid gas 

 which must escape or burst the vessel.' For this reason the 

 fermentation must always be in open vessels. 



When the vinous fermentation is well under way, the eon- 

 tact of the air will at once induce the secondary or acetic 

 fermentation, which, although less tumultuous, still gives rise 

 to the production of gases. 



If things are favorable — the temperature right — at the 

 end of one or two weeks the vinous fermentation will be over, 

 and the acetic work will begin. At this time the contact of 

 the air is most needed for every part of the liquid. To secure 

 this, the makers of vinegar allow the li(|uid to drip slowly over 

 a wide surface. Some use a barrel filled with coarse shavings 

 and soaked with vinegar already made. The barrel is open at 

 the head and set on end with a faucet at the bottom to allow 

 the liquid to pass down into another barrel. I am told that 

 some manufacturers of vinegar, here, use corn-cobs instead of 

 shavings, and this is perhaps even better. A 'barrel full of the 

 already fermented liquid is allowed to leak slowly out, passing 

 through the soaked coljs atid steadily changing by the contact 

 of the air and of the already acid vinegar which soaks the 

 cobs. If the temperature is right. I am told that in this man- 

 ner the most acetic fermentation will take place within a few 

 hours. I say, " I am told," because we have never taken the 

 trouble to do it in this way. After the vinous fermentation 

 has taken place we have always kept our vinegar in barrels 

 in a warm cellar, relying on the slow action of the atmosphere 

 to make our vinegar. 



There was a time when we thought it would pay to make 

 vinegar for sale on a large scale. We have given this up. Too 

 mucli cheap vinegar is sold at less than it would cost to make 

 good honey-vinegar. It is true that a limited riuantity can be 

 sold to judicious persons who prefer paying a trifle more — say 

 a couple dollars more per year — for their supply of vinegar 

 rather than endanger the life of the family by taking the risks 

 of the vile compounds that are sometimes retailed at 1(> to 12 

 cents or loss per gallon. But in the apple-growing district 



