76 Texas Department of Agkicultuee. 



may interfere with proper fermentation of the liquid, or the honey 

 used, it is previously heated to the temperature of 180 degrees Fah- 

 renheit, the proper precaution being taken not to scorch it. 



The sweetened water is placed in barrels, filling them about three- 

 fourths full and covering the bungs with a double thickness of cheese 

 cloth. The barrels are kept in a dry warm place, not below 70 de-- 

 grees, to undergo the first, or alcoholic fermentation. When this is 

 completed, and all the saccharine matter is used up, the acetic fer- 

 mentation begins which turns the liquid sour. This can easily be 

 detected by smell, and, if it has not begun within ten days, a small 

 quantity of good vinegar should be added, or if it can be obtained, 

 some clean "vinegar-mother" from an emptied vinegar barrel at a 

 grocery store, would be better. From now on, all that is necessary 

 is plenty of air, and a sufficient amount of warmth. The barrels 

 should not be placed outside, unprotected from the sun and weather, 

 as many beekeepers do. 



To hasten the process of vinegar making, after the acetic stage is 

 reached the barrels may be so arranged on an elevated scaffold that 

 the vinegar may be allowed to drip from them into, and slowly pass 

 down through, a trough filled with oak shavings, into another barrel 

 at its lower end. This must be repeated several times and in a warm 

 atmosphere. The acetic acid bacteria multiply very rapidly on the 

 shavings after the vinegar has passed through them, and if the work 

 is properly done, good vinegar can be obtained within three to four 

 weeks. After it is well matured it should be transferred, by drawing 

 it off carefully, from one barrel into another several times, for this 

 assures a much clearer product. When finished it should be bunged up. 



COMPARATIVE PROFIT IN COMB AND EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Since the market demands both comb and extracted honey, both 

 forms are produced. It is rather difficult to say just what the rela- 

 tive net profits would be in each ease. Granting that an average 

 yield of extracted honey is 100 pounds, at 8 cents per pound we would 

 have the sum of $8. In this case, after the extracting combs are 

 once constructed by the bees, they are used over and over again. 

 This saves the bees much labor and makes its production easier for 

 the beekeeper, besides reducing swarming to a minimum. Another 

 advantage is, that extracted honey can be kept over from one season 

 to another in case of low prices or other reasons, if desired, without 

 danger of deterioration. If it does granulate during cool weather, 

 it can be reliquified quite easily, and then sold as readily as if it 

 had always been fluid. This can not be done with comb honey, as 

 the combs would be spoiled by heating. 



Figuring that, under the same conditions, the average for comb 

 honey, in one pound section boxes, would be 50 pounds per colony, and 

 that it would sell for 16 cents per pound, we would also have $8. 

 However, the cost of preparing the comb honey supers every year 

 with new sections and foundation, and the extra labor of getting these 

 ready, and further labor and expense of putting the comb honey in 

 expensive shipping cases, and crating these before the honey can be 

 marketed, increases the expense and lessens the profits of section 



