1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1295 



HONEY VINEGAR. 



I believe that a great many bee-keepers 

 might very protitably engage in the manu- 

 facture of' honey vinegar, at least to the ex- 

 tent of working'up their waste and off grades 

 of honey. I know that many have tried it 

 without' satisfactory results, and .have given 

 it up in disgust in consequence. Indeed, it 

 is not so long since I made a failure myself 

 of my attempts to make honey vinegar. I 

 think" it is quite possible that a "knowledge of 

 what not to do is of quite as much impor- 

 tance to many as any further instruction in 

 processes. If you have decided to make 

 vinegar, the first step is to get something to 

 make it in. Usually the best and most con- 

 venient receptacle for this purpose is a bar- 

 rel, and here is where the first mistake is 

 usually made. Nine out of ten people in 

 getting a barrel to make vinegar in will se- 

 lect an old viuegar-lmrrel, with the idea that 

 something is necessary to start the vinegar- 

 making process. To understand why this is 

 wrong we ulust glance lirietly at the chemis- 

 try of vinegar-making. 



"Ordinarily the process of vinegar-making 

 consists of two distinct steps. In the first, 

 sugar in some form is liy fermentation chang- 

 ed into alcohol. In the second, this alcohol 

 is by a somewhat similar fermentation chaug- 

 etl into acetic acid. The alcoholic fermenta- 

 tion must always precede the acetic, ami 

 should be allowed to become complete liefore 

 the acetic fermentation begins. They may 

 be carried on together, but it is usually at 

 the expense of both time and quality, as the 

 presence of acetic acid in even a small ({uan- 

 tity greatly retards the alcoholic fermentation, 

 and sometimes a degenerative fei'mentation 

 sets in and spoils the entire product. 



Accordingly," your liarrel should be ^ne 

 that has never contained vinegar. A whisky 

 or wine l^arrel is good. If it is necessary to 

 use a vinegar-barrel it shovild be scaldeil out 

 very thoroughly before it is used. For a 

 small quantity of vinegar a jug or jar is all 

 right. 



Next comes the question of the proper 

 strength of the mixture to be made into vin- 

 egar. While this may vary considerably I 

 think the best results will be obtained when 

 there is not less than a pound and a quarter 

 or more than a pound and a half to the gal- 

 lon of water. If you have the honey in l)ulk, 

 simply measure your water and atld the 

 proper amount of honey or vice versa. Usu- 

 ally, though, the bee-keeper will want to use 

 the rinsings of cans or the honey soaked from 

 cappings, etc., and for this some means of 

 testing the strength of the solution must l)e 

 used. A hydrometer is best and most (hjh- 

 venient for this. One made for the purpose 

 can be bought for about fifty cents. A photo- 

 graphic, liydrometer can l>e had for half this. 

 Any hydro;neter will do. but you may need 

 to test" it by a .solution of known strength, as 

 they are graduated differently for different 

 purposes. Mine was made for testing silver 

 solutions, and on it a pound of honey to the 

 gallon registers 20 degrees on the scale; and 

 a pound and a half, which is the strength I 



prefer. 30 degrees, which makes it easy to 

 judge of the amount of iioney <n- water that 

 must be added to make the solution the right 

 strength. You can make a hydrometer of a 

 homeopathic vial, or any tall" bottle, corked 

 and weighted so that it will stand upright in 

 the solution. Mark Avith a file where it 

 stands in a solution of known strength. Or 

 make a ball of beeswax with a small piece of 

 lead imbedded, so that it will just float in a 

 solution of the right strength. Or you can 

 use a fresh egg, which should float, or show 

 a spot not larger than a dime above the sur- 

 face. I have always used rain water, and 

 this is usually recommended. 



Put your barrel in a place where a temper- 

 ature "of as near 80 degrees as possible will 

 be maintained. If the place is too hot, alco- 

 hol is wasted;, but if too cool, fermentation 

 is retarded. 



Never add fresh solution to vinegar partly 

 made. I think this is a very common cause 

 of poor success. If you want to made addi- 

 tions to your vinegar stock, keep them by 

 theinselves until they have passed through 

 the alcoholic fermentation. 



For the alcoholii^ fermentation a barrel 

 with one head out is best; if a closed barrel is 

 used, there should be a hole in each end. and 

 the barrel should not be ([uite full. All open- 

 ings, of course, must he covered with cheese- 

 cloth or very line screen, to keep out insects 

 and yet admit as much air as possible. If 

 fermentation does not begin promptly, add 

 about a quarter of a cake of yeast, softened 

 in warm Avater, to a barrel of stock. When 

 the aU'oholic fermentation is finished, which 

 should he in from two to six weeks, you can 

 use your old vinegar-- Itarrel to good advan- 

 tage". Or it will be \a ell to add a few gallons 

 of good vinegar, containing a little mother 

 if you have it. Usually this is not necessary, 

 Im't it hastens matters' and insures good re- 

 sults. Give it plenty of air, keep it as near- 

 ly as possil:)le at the" right temperature, and 

 you should have good vinegar inside of a 

 year. When the vinegar is strong enough, 

 pour it off from the mother and l)ung it up 

 tightly, otherwise a degenerative fermenta- 

 tion iuay set in that will spoil the vinegar 

 entirely. 



I have just received from the Arizona ex- 

 periment station a luiUetin on the subject of 

 honey vinegar, in Avhich some ideas that are 

 new to me are advocated. The writer. Prof. 

 A. E. Vinson, considers hard water prefer- 

 able to soft, if not too salty. He likewise 

 thinks that fermentation is greatly aided anil 

 hastened l)y the addition of small amounts 

 of ammonium chloride and potassium phos- 

 phate. In place of the latter, which is rath- 

 er hard to procure, as well as somewhat 

 expensive, we may use soi<lium phosphate 

 and potassium sulphate. As the latter is 

 likewise sometimes hard to get, we may use 

 potassium bicarbonate in its place with near- 

 ly as good results. The formula he recom- 

 mends is as follows: Honey, 40 to 45 lbs.; 

 water, 30 gals.: ammonium chloride, 4 oz.: 

 potassium "bicarbonate. 2 oz. ; sodium phos- 

 phate. 2 oz.: yeast. ^ cake. 



