262 DR. miller's 



Vinegar. — Q. I am told that good vinegar can be made from 

 honey or cappings. Will you give how much honey or cappings to 

 each gallon of water and how to proceed to make it? 



A. Use one to one and one-half pounds of honey to each gal- 

 lon of water. Dissolve the honey and place in a barrel with the 

 bung removed, so as to give as much air as possible. The warmer 

 the place it is stored the better, as this will hasten fermentation. 

 If you use capping washings for making vinegar, a good way to 

 test if the water is sweet enough is by the use of an egg. If the 

 egg comes to the surface of the liquid, then it is about right. To 

 hasten fermentation, you may also add a little vinegar mother, if 

 }Ou have it, to your sweetened water. Full instructions may be 

 found in most beebooks. 



When you test honey water with an egg the egg should show 

 only the size of a dime out of the water. 



Waste Places. — Q. Does anyone know of something that could 

 be sown in waste places where irrigating water runs, or where 

 Bermuda grass now grows that would produce honey and also be 

 good for the farmer? There are several places here where Ber- 

 muda grass grows, when it gets the waste water from the ranches. 



A. Sweet clover has been very successful in such cases. 



Water for Bees. — Q, What do the bees do with the water they 

 get in the mud-holes? 



A. The same as they do with water from any other source; 

 they use it for drink and to thin their honey, for feeding the 

 brood. 



Q. We have an apiary where an irrigating ditch runs right 

 along in front of the hives, but the bees go over to our neighbor's, 

 about 80 rods away and get water from their watering trough, 

 and they annoy them very much, as the stock can hardly get any 

 water to drink on account of the bees. What could we do to help 

 out our neighbor? 



A. When the bees have formed the habit of going to a certain 

 place for water, it is a very hard thing to get them to change to 

 some other place. If the trough is not too large, it may be cov- 

 ered up by boards, sheets, or otherwise, opening it only at certain 

 times in the day to let the stock drink. After a few days the bees 

 will give it up. Possibly you may be able to make the place 

 offensive for bees while still all right for the four-footers. Put 

 carbolic acid or kerosene on the edges of the trough where the 

 bees stand to get the water. Of course there is the danger that in 

 doing this you will get some of the stuff in the water, so the stock 



