THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
01 
almost entirely upon securing the right kind of 
bees for the purpose— a strain that will gather 
and store honey even in such a season as this has 
been. Of course a suitable locality is another 
great point ; and before extending his plant, the 
beekeeper who determines to increase his business 
should consider well whether he is in the right 
situation to warrant him in doing so. It is not 
simply a question of good honey flora, or of 
shelter for the apiary. A man may struggle on 
for years with his bees often too late for the first 
honey-flow of the district, finding out at last that 
there is a scarcity of pollen in his district. This 
item is of far more importance than is generally 
supposed, for unless a colony has its combs well 
stored with it. the spring will arrive with stocks 
dwindling away, while had they a good store of 
pollen young bees would have been hatching out 
by thousands. 
The bees which answer better than any other 
pure race are without doubt Carniolans, and 
when crossed with natives, we get workers com- 
bining the good qualities of both races with 
superior working capabilities. Unlike the hybrids 
produced by crossing blacks with Ligurians, the 
introduction of Carniolan blood into an apiary 
renders the disposition of the resulting crosses 
more amiable than that of the natives. 
We have repeatedly recommended the introduc- 
tion of these bees, judging from our own experi- 
ence that the few shillings expended upon a good 
queen is about the best investment a beekeeper 
can make. , 
Apart from the fact that ihere is a greater com- 
fort in handling them, we do not lose sight of 
their excellent wintering qualities, having known 
them to come out in spring stronger than when 
covered up before winter, while, when crossed 
with blacks or Syrians, we secure the bees which 
store while others may be starving. This is no 
bare statement, but the result of knowledge 
gained from a considerable experience is here 
presented to the honey-producer of the future. — 
Britiish Bee Journal . 
HONEY VINEGAR. 
VALUABLE HINTS ON MAKING. 
In the April first number of Gleanings. I8S7, 
page 267, there are two articles on making honey 
vinegar. I have made and sold honey vinegar 
for the last four or five years, but I have never 
used good saleable honey in its manufacture. I 
sell about 100 gallons per year to my neighbours, 
and the reputation of my vinegar is such that 
some of my customers have driven out to my 
apiary, three miles from Brandon, rather than 
buy vinegar at the stores. 
When I read the articles mentioned, I noticed 
that there was quite a difference of opinion be- 
tween the two authors. Since then I have been 
experimenting. I built what I call my vinegar 
factory. It is not a very large or pretentious 
building, hut it is able to turn out 200 gallons of 
No. t vinegar in a season. The size of the 
building is 5 x 7 ft. high on the south side, and 
fi ft. on the north, with shed roof sloping to the 
north. Roof and sides are all painted dark 
brown. There should be no shade to prevent the 
sun from shining on the building all day long. The 
sides are made of shiplap (weatherboards), which 
gives plenty of ventilation, and is bee-proof. There 
is a window 2 x 7 ft., extending across the south 
side 4 ft. from the bottom. The building cost 
about $6.00. On the inside there is a shelf 20 
inches wide. I foot high, on which to set three 
barrels so that their tops will be even with the 
bottom of the window, and to permit the vinegar 
being drawn through faucets near the bottom of 
the barrels. The shelf is supported on stakes 
driven in the ground. There is a door in the 
north side, wide enough to admit a barrel. The 
barrels are covered with a piece of cheese-cloth, 
and on that a cover is made of thin boards. 
For convenience in describing operations we 
will number the barrels in the vinegar-house 1, 2, 
and 3. I generally have about a barrel of partly 
made vinegar in the fall, which I keep in the 
cellar during the winter. In the spring, when 
the weather becomes warm. I put about half of 
this in barrel No. 3, one-third in No. 2, and the 
remainder in No. 1. When I have any waste 
honey or washings from honey-cans, or candied 
honey soaked from combs, it is put in No. 1. I 
test the sweetened water in No. 1 with the 35- 
cent. hydrometer. When it sinks to 1 1 on the 
scale it is about right when it is not soured, and 
contains about 2 lbs. of honey to the gallon. If 
the sweetened water is soured some, the hydro- 
meter should sink to 8 or 9. Good vinegar tests 
about 3 on the scale of the hydrometer. When 
that in No. 3 becomes good vinegar, it is drawn 
off and put in the cellar, and that from No. 2 is 
transferred to No. 3, with enough from No. I to 
fill the barrel about half full. No. 2 is filled half 
full from No. 1. To obtain the best results, the 
barrels should be kept about half full. If the 
vinegar in the cellar is kept cool, ami the barrels 
bunged tight, mother will not form on it, and it 
will keep almost any length of time. One pound 
of honey will make one gallon of vinegar, as good 
as most of the cider and white-wine vinegar that 
is sold ; luit to make strong No. 1 vinegar it 
requires 2 lbs. of honey to the gallon. Most of 
| the honey that I use for making vinegar is the 
thin honey which I skim from the top of my 
1 extracted honey directly after extracting. 
Friend Bingham. in his article, says : “ I have 
beautiful candied honey evaporated from such 
1 vinegar as I have made and used exclusively in 
my family for the past twelve years, so you can 
I get your honey out of such vinegar in case you 
should want honey more than vinegar.” 
I have evaporated honey vinegar, but I can get 
nothing but a very strong acid as the result. I 
1 think it is generally understood that the honey is 
changed to alcohol, and then the alcohol to 
vinegar. Now, is it a fact that the acid can he 
| changed back to honey? Will some of the 
I friends who understand chemistry enlighten us on 
this subject? 
Brandon, Iow^, 1 1 \ JL D. 13 LACK. 
' — Bools GA'tMin *s. J ) 
