31(5 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



to the bottom at one end of the super, and then 

 lower the other end to the upper surface of the 

 sections. I consider It Important to have the 

 stick long. 



Much is said about the convenience of being 

 able to shift the outside sections to the center 

 of a super and vice versa. I don't think I ever 

 want to shift them thus. It takes time, for one 

 thing, but that's not the greatest objection. A 

 section moved to the outside row is not finished 

 so quickly and nicely as if left in the center. 

 Don't move a section in a super till the mass is 

 finished, then take off the whole thing, and re- 

 turn the unfinished ones in another super. 



HONEY VINEGAR. 



HOW TO make; by DADANT & SON. 



Friend Roof."— Mr. Louis C. Jessing wrote us 

 lately, '"Please tell us in Gleanings how to 

 make honey vinegar, taking us over the ground 

 step by step, as it were, from the time the honey- 

 water is made, to the time when it will be good 

 strong vinegar: also how long it will take, kind 

 of building used, etc." 



There are, in the formation of vinegar, two 

 kinds of fermentation. The first transforms 

 into alcohol the sugar, oi' saccharine matter of 

 the liquid used; the second changes into acetic 

 acid the alcohol produced. The germs that 

 cause alcoholic fermentation exist around ripe 

 fruits, and, to some extent, in honey, and devel- 

 op best at a temperature of about 7.5 to 80 de- 

 grees. The second fermentation, which develops 

 acetic acid, finds its germs in the atmosphere, 

 and may take place almost immediately after 

 the other has begun, and long before the sac- 

 charine matter has been all transformed into 

 alcohol, so that the, mixture may be sweet, 

 alcoholic, and sour, at the same time. It looks 

 rather contradictory to say that a liquid is 

 sweet and sour; but that is often a fact, never- 

 theless. The more prompt and thorough the 

 alcoholic fermentation, the more readily will 

 the liquid be transformed into vinegar when the 

 acetic fermentation begins. 



Honey does not contain the germs of fermen- 

 tation in sufficient quantity to make a thorough 

 alcoholic fermentation: and when mixed with 

 water and left to itself it will recjuire several 

 months to convert the mixture into an alcoholic 

 beverage, and several months more to change it 

 to vi negar. 



If we are not in a hurry, we may succeed in 

 making good vinegar by filling a barrel half 

 full of water, adding 2 lbs. of honey to the gal- 

 lon of water, and a few gallons of fermented or 

 unfermented cider, keeping it in a warm place, 

 and covering the bunghole with wire cloth or 

 with a piece of thin cloth, which may keep out 

 insects and dust. Ky this method half a bairel 

 of honey-water may be changed into good vin- 

 egar in two to six months, according to the 

 temperature. 



As we sell vinegar to our neighbors, but do 

 not care otherwise to keep it for sale, we have 

 been in the habit of keeping two barrels for 

 vinegar. One contains the oldest vinegar, from 

 which we draw for use; the other contains the 

 souring liquid. As we are growers of grapes, 

 and make wine, we are in the habit of ferment- 

 ing a certain amount of honey-water in our 

 wine-cellar, and this is used only when it has 

 already undergone the alcoholic fermentation, 

 and sometimes with the addition of a little 

 wine, which gives it color, and adds to the good 

 taste of the vinegar. This mixture is kept in 

 the second barrel, both barrels never being 

 more than half full; and as fast as we take 



vinegar from the first we add to it an equal 

 quantity from the other. 



When honey-water has been made in such a 

 way as to make it impossible to weigh the hon- 

 ey — for instance, by washing cappings or honey- 

 utensils, barrels, cans, etc., we test its strength 

 with a fresh egg, which should float, just show- 

 ing itS(^lf at the surface. 



The best method to induce a prompt and 

 thorough alcoholic fermentation in honey- 

 w'ater is to mix it with a large quantity, the 

 more the better, of crushed fruit, such as cher- 

 ries, berries, grapes, apple pumice, or even with 

 the pumiceof grapes, commonly called "cheese," 

 just after the fermentation of the grapes. The 

 more fruits are used, the more thorough the 

 fermentation. The mixture should be kept at 

 a high temperature in vats or open barrels cov- 

 ered only with muslin or some light cloth, and 

 the vessels should be filled only about two- 

 thirds, so as to avoid loss, as the mixture rises 

 like bread, during fermentaton. As soon as the 

 turbulent fermentation is over, the liquid 

 should be drawn into barrels. This is usually 

 after a week or so. if the temperature is right. 

 The barrels should not be filled more than half 

 full, as the liquid must be exposed to the air as 

 much as possible, in order to hasten the acetic 

 fermentation which is fed from the atmosphere, 

 as said before. The addition of a gallon or two 

 of strong vinegar will induce a more prompt 

 acetic fermentation. Good authorities also rec- 

 ommend the use of vinc^gar mother — a slick, 

 slimy substance found in vinegar, and which is 

 said to be decomposed vinegar. This vinegar 

 mother is taken from an old vinegar-barrel, 

 washed clean, cut into pieces, and these are 

 added to barrels of forming vinegar. 



After the vinegar has undergone the main 

 acetic fermentation, if it becomes necessary to 

 transport it or to put it into closed barrels, it 

 should be racked, or drawn from its lees. If 

 cloudy, it can be made clear by putting in each 

 barrel the white of an egg, and stirring it with 

 a stick. It will not become entirely clear until 

 the last fermentation is nearly all over. 



Honey vinegar is far superior to the best cider 

 vinegar, and can compete successfully with the 

 very best wine vinegar. 



There are only two drawbacks to the making 

 of vinegar. It takes a great deal of room, and 

 it spoils all the barrels that are used. The acid 

 eats up the iron hoops wherever it happens to 

 leak, and the wood is often bored full of holes 

 by worms, when not in use. 



There is a quicker method of making vinegar 

 on a large scale, but this requires a special 

 building and apparatus. We will give it to 

 your readers, however, if desired. In making 

 vinegar as above described, any ordinary shed, 

 such as is used for a cider-press, will do. if used 

 during warm weather; and to keep the vinegar, 

 any ordinary cellar is suitable; but, as we said 

 before, a temperature of about 80 degrees will 

 best aid the making of vinegar. 



Hamilton, 111., Apr. 1. Dadant & Son. 



EUGENE SECOR 



AS A BEE-KEEPER, BUSINESS MAN, OFFICE- 

 HOLDER, AND POET. 



The convention of the North American Asso- 

 ciation to meet in the city of Washington, in 

 the year 1893, is to be presided over by the Hon. 

 Eugene Secor. of Forest City. Iowa. The an- 

 cestors of the Secor family, refugees from the 

 religious persecutions of the Hugenots, came 

 from France in 1681, settling in New Rochelle, 

 N. Y. In 1841 Eugene was born in Putnam Co., 

 N. Y.. and it was his good fortune to be kept 



