764 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



teg or barrel with a good tight head, and leave 

 a hole not larger than one inch for ventilation. 

 Keep it in a warm place and put in some good 

 vinegar or yeast to start it. After it gets to 

 working, draw off a pailful now and then and 

 pour it back ; or if you have more than one 

 keg, pour from one to another. It helps new 

 vinegar to put old vinegar into it ; but it 

 spoils the keeping qualities of the old vinegar 

 to put fresh vinegar into it. 

 J^,We save all the washings from the extractor, 

 tank, strainers, and cappings, for vinegar. 

 We wash the cappings by pouring warm water 

 through them again and again, until about all 

 the honey is out of them. They are then 

 rinse \ by pouring a pail or two of cold water 

 through, when they are in fine shape for the 

 wax-extractor. The water is all put into the 



salable vinegar. Next spring the vinegar in 

 them will be drawn off and put into clean bar- 

 rels to keep until sold. When we get an order 

 for a barrel of vinegar we draw off again and 

 put into a clean barrel. By this time there is 

 but little " mother " forming, as the vinegar 

 is ripe and will keep indefinitely. 



We have a house specially for our vinegar.. 

 It is a double-wall frame with a ten-inch space 

 between walls, packed with sawdust. The 

 ceiling is covered with several inches of saw- 

 dust, and the vinegar keeps nicely all winter. 

 We put the barrels into the house in Novem- 

 ber, and take them out in April. They stand 

 in the sun all summer. 



When we take them out we find which bar- 

 rel has the best vinegar. The vinegar is drawn 

 off and put into a clean barrel. The head is 



H: 



MAKING HONEV VINfiCAR 



vinegar-barrels. It took us two years to get 

 really good vinegar from the start in new bar- 

 rels. Now that we have our old sour barrels 

 and good vinegar to start with we can get 

 good vinegar this season from last year's 

 washings. For the last four years wc have 

 made from four to twelve barrels each year. 

 We have twelve for market this year, and now 

 at the last of July four new ones coming on 

 for next year. We expect to make several 

 more before the season closes. Each barrel 

 should be cleaned every other year. Unless 

 this is done the " mother " will begin to decay 

 and break up, making the vinegar flat in taste 

 and muddy in color. The barrels that we 

 started vinegar in this spring had the sweet 

 water put in with the remnant of last year's 



then taken out of the one just emptied, and it 

 is well scruVjbed with water and a stiff broom. 

 When clean it is reheaded, and the contents 

 of the next best barrel drawn off and put into 

 it. Thus the barrels are cleaned and the vin- 

 egar put in shape for market. We have a long 

 low bench or platform for the barrels, where 

 they stand in two rows. The first barrel drawn 

 off is placed at the east end of the south row. 

 That is No. 1, as it is the first to be ready to 

 sell from. The next barrel drawn off being 

 next best is placed next to No. 1 on the row, 

 and is No. 2. So we go on till we get to No. 

 12. When we sell a lew gallons from No. 1 

 we draw from No. 2 and replenish it ; draw 

 from No. 3 and fill up No. 2 ; from No. 4 and 

 fill No 3, until we have gone through and left 



