‘£ht RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
1453 
Honey for Automobile Radiators 
There is something of a controversy 
over the proposed use of honey as an 
anti-freezing mixture in automobiles. Bee¬ 
keepers favor the use of honey, which, 
they say, is quite equal to alcohol, while 
being much cheaper. The automobile ex¬ 
perts say that alcohol is to be preferred. 
We would naturally like to encourage the 
use of honey—a farm product—if such 
use is economical and desirable. In orde* 
to present the honey side fairly we print 
below an article from Gleanings in Bee 
Culture, which is regarded as one of the 
best statements of the case: 
Experiments show that for regions 
where the lowest Winter temperature is 
from zero to five below, a solution made 
of equal volumes of honey and water 
should be used. If the temperature is 
likely to fall to 10 or 15 below zero, the 
solution should be made of three volumes 
of honey to two volumes of water. For 
temperatures of 20 below zero and colder, 
the solution should be made of two vol¬ 
umes of honey to one volume of water. 
The original method of making the 
honey solution was simply to stir the 
honey into the water in about equal parts, 
stirring until all the honey was thorough¬ 
ly mixed. It was then ready to be 
poured into the radiator. Such a solution 
gave satisfaction in most cases. 
It was found, after some experimenta¬ 
tion, that the circulation of the solution 
under low temperatures is greatly im¬ 
proved if the dextrin in the honey is 
precipitated by adding alcohol during the 
process of making the solution. Further¬ 
more, the addition of the slight amount 
of alcohol necessary to remove the dextrin 
noticeably depressed the freezing point of 
the solution. Wood alcohol is preferable 
to denatured alcohol for this purpose. 
The proper method of making the so¬ 
lution, then, is as follows : After select¬ 
ing the formula which meets the require¬ 
ments for Winter temperatures of any 
given district, measure out the proper 
quantity of honey and water, adding a 
little extra water to make up for the loss 
in evaporation, and heat the water to 
boiling. Then stir in the honey, stirring 
until all honey is thoroughly mixed, and 
raise the temperature of the honey-water 
solution to the boiling point. This will 
require additional heat, since the boiling 
point of the honey-water solution is sev¬ 
eral degrees higher than the boiling point 
of water. When the honey-water solu¬ 
tion has begun to boil, stir in one quart 
of either wood or denatured alcohol to 
each three gallons of honey-water solu¬ 
tion, and allow the mixture to boil from 
three to five minutes. 
The solution should not be allowed to 
boil much longer than from three to live 
minutes or else it will become thicker 
than intended, and will not circulate 
properly. 'Some difficulty has been ex¬ 
perienced in this connection by those who 
allowed the solution to boil half an hour 
or more. 
The function of the alcohol, as ex¬ 
plained before, is to precipitate the dex¬ 
trin or gum present in the honey. Most 
of the alcohol will be used up in this man¬ 
ner, although .the finished product retains 
quite a strong odor of alcohol. The scum 
which rises to the surface after the alcohol 
has been boiled in the honey-water solu¬ 
tion should be removed and then the solu¬ 
tion is ready for the radiator. 
Unripe honey, honeydew honey and 
honey which has started to ferment are 
not satisfactory. Dark honey is appar¬ 
ently as satisfactory as light, and is pre¬ 
ferable on account of the difference in 
price. 
Honey solution made of honey and wa¬ 
ter only, is cloudy and translucent when 
placed in a glass container. The solu¬ 
tion prepared according to instructions 
just given, adding alcohol, appears as 
clear as crystal through a test tube or 
glass dish. On standing for some length 
of time, this specially prepared solution 
will show the collection of a brownish 
mass near the surface, which is largely 
pollen. Since the brownish mass has the 
same specific gravity as the remainder of 
the solution it is impossible to remove it 
by centrifuging. Furthermore, the pol¬ 
len is sufficiently fine to make it difficult 
to remove by filtering. However, the pol¬ 
len apparently does no harm and it is pos¬ 
sible that it may diminish the tendency 
for seepage. If the solution, in which the 
brownish mass has collected, is stirred 
vigorously, the solution again becomes as 
clear as crystal. 
Even though the honey solution is prop¬ 
erly made, to give complete satisfaction 
certain precautions must be taken. When 
filling the radiator, the level of the solu¬ 
tion should be left about 2 in. below the 
overflow pipe, since honey solution ex¬ 
pands with heat and will run over and 
waste if the radiator is filled full. It is 
not advisable to try to use honey solution 
in a leaky radiator. Sooner or later the 
motorist will find that the solution has 
seeped through the leak, and the sticki¬ 
ness and loss of solution is sure to cause 
dissatisfaction. All hose connections and 
the engine head gasket must be tight, 
since the honey solution may seep through 
apparently watertight connections. A 
slight leak around the hose connections is 
not serious except for the objectionable 
stickiness, but any considerable seepage 
through the engine head gasket will cause 
real difficulty. The solution which seeps 
through, burns down in the cylinders and 
leaves a gummy residue on the cylinder 
wall which will hold the piston fast once 
the motor stops. To start the engine it 
will be necessary to remove the engine 
head, wash the gum off the cylinder walls 
with water and possibly alcohol, and it 
may be necessary to use a wooden mallet 
to jar the pistons loose. All of which is, 
of course, objectionable. This danger can 
be eliminated, however, by shellacking or 
greasing the engine head gasket when it 
is put on. The same is true of the hose 
connections. 
The motorist should make sure that the 
radiator overflow pipe is kept open. 
Otherwise, the formation of steam may 
cause sufficient pressure to burst one of 
the hose connections. The result in this 
case is a spray of hot honey solution over 
the engine and car, which makes a very 
disagreeable mess. 
If unripe honey is used, the solution 
may foam sufficiently when near the boil¬ 
ing point to produce a froth at the out¬ 
let of the overflow pipe. In this case the 
fan scatters the froth over the engine and 
interior of the hood. 
During severe Winter weather it is ad¬ 
visable to protect the lower six inches of 
the raidator, especially in cars without 
water pumps. Otherwise the solution may 
become too cold in the bottom of the 
tubes to circulate properly, in which case 
the solution in the water jacket around 
the cylinder walls becomes hot enough to 
steam with a resulting loss of solution 
through the overflow pipe. If the solu¬ 
tion commences to steam for this reason, 
the motorist should stop the engine and 
let the car stand from two to five miuutes 
with a blanket over the radiator. The 
cold solution in the bottom of the tubes 
will then warm up sufficiently to circulate 
freely without steaming. Ford owners tn 
colder climates will find this “chest pro- 
tector” especially valuable, and by using 
this device will find that they can get 
perfect circulation in very severe temper¬ 
atures. 
The motorist should occasionally in¬ 
spect the level of the solution in the ra¬ 
diator, and if it is low, more water or 
alcohol should he added just previous to 
starting «the engine for a trip. If the 
solution loses enough water from evapo¬ 
ration it becomes too thick to circulate 
freely, the heavy solution in the water 
jacket next to the cylinder walls will 
commence to caramelize and will even¬ 
tually fry down into a charcoal-like mass 
of carbon. We know of but one case of 
this kind, which was a result of making a 
200-mile drive at an average speed of 
about 30 miles an hour, on a bitter cola 
day, in a car whose radiator holds but 
eight quarts. There was no protector used 
over the lower part of the radiator and 
the solution was not correctly made, be¬ 
ing too thick to begin with. 
In severe Winter weather, when the 
mercury drops to 15 below and more, 
especially when the two-to-one solution is 
being used, the addition of two quarts of 
denatured, or preferably wood alcohol, to 
the radiator full of solution improves the 
circulation under low temperatures great¬ 
ly and depresses the freezing point notice¬ 
ably. This is especially true of cars 
without water pumps or with small ca¬ 
pacity radiators with water pumps. One 
motorist, who was having considerable 
difficulty with an eight-quart radiator be¬ 
cause the honey solution would boll over 
if he drove fast in cold weather, had no 
further trouble after adding two quarts 
of alcohol. For some reason the alcohol 
does not disappear from the honey solu¬ 
tion as rapidly as it does from a wftter- 
alcohol solution. iWe know of one in¬ 
stance where two quarts of alcohol were 
added to a radiator full of solution, in 
which the car, driven back and forth to 
work, and around town, during five weeks 
of Winter weather, evaporated only one- 
half pint of alcohol from the radiator. 
The temperature at which the honey 
solution freezes, or, more correctly speak¬ 
ing, “slushes,” varies with the amount 
of honey present. However, since the ex¬ 
pansion of the solution at freezing is neg¬ 
ligible, no damage is done to the radia¬ 
tor tubes if the mercury suddenly drops 
to a low level. For instance, if one were 
using a solution made of equal volumes 
of honey and water, and the temperature 
should suddenly drop to 20 below, the 
cores in the radiator would not burst, as 
in the case of a weak alcohol-water solu¬ 
tion. 
Should the solution “slush” in the radi¬ 
ator, the proper course to follow is to 
throw a blanket over the radiator, and 
run the engine from two to five minutes, 
or until it is hot, then stop the engine for 
a few minutes to let the “slush” liquefy. 
Then one can drive without the radiator 
steaming as it would if the “slush” were 
not liquefied before starting. 
If the motorist observes the precau¬ 
tions mentioned, he should be well pleased 
with honey solution as an anti-freeze. The 
fact that the radiator cannot be damaged 
by freezing alone, is a strong argument 
in its favor. The fact that the honey so¬ 
lution becomes more resistant to freezing, 
with use, instead of becoming less resis¬ 
tant, as in the case of alcohol-water solu¬ 
tion, is a desirable feature. 
Since the boiling point of the honey so¬ 
lution is several degrees higher than the 
boiling point of water, the engine receives 
better radiation from honey solution than 
from alcohol-water solution, whose boil¬ 
ing point is increasingly lower than that 
of water, depending on the percentage of 
alcohol present. And since the honey so¬ 
lution will allow the engine to become 
warmer without steaming than will an 
alcohol-water solution, the motorist can 
expect to get more miles per gallon when 
using the honey solution. 
Because honey holds heat for a consid¬ 
erable length of time, it is possible to 
leave one’s car standing quite a while on 
a cold day, and find the engine still warm 
enough to start readily on returning. 
Probably the strongest argument for 
honey solution, however, is its perma¬ 
nency. If the solution is properly made 
and if the motorist uses ordinary judg¬ 
ment in observing the precautions noted, 
he can put honey solution in the radia¬ 
tor and forget it except for the occa¬ 
sional addition of a little water or alcohol 
to care for ordinary evaporation. One 
batch of solution is good for all Winter, 
and for that matter can be saved over 
Summer by adding a little more alcohol 
to prevent fermentation, to be used again 
the next Winter. 
Gasolene Engine on the 
Farm 
This is the title of Extension Bulle¬ 
tin No. S5, issued by Cornell University 
at Ithaca, N. Y. It is, without question, 
the simplest and most practical discussion 
of the gas engine that we have ever seen. 
It is fully illustrated, and describes in 
detail just how the gas engine works-- 
from the introduction of the gas to the 
application of the power to the belt. We 
have rarely seen a more practically use¬ 
ful discussion of such a subject. It is 
quite safe to say that most people, even 
though they have had experience in op¬ 
erating a gas engine, do not know how 
the explosion operates to put the shoulder 
of its power to the load. This pamphlet 
explains the operation fully, and we ad¬ 
vise all of our readers who are interested 
in power machinery to send for it. 
CONTENTS 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. NOV. 22, 1924 
FARM TOPICS 
Parsnip Cold Storage... 1451 
Mixers for Chemicals and Chicken Feed... 1451 
Lime with Manure . 1451 
Storing Carrots and Parsnips... 1454 
Hope Farm Notes ...1458, 1459 
New Jersey Potato on Trial.1461 
Farmers and City Winter Work. 1461 
Traps Put on Posted Land. 1461 
LIVE STOCK AND DAIRY 
More About November Milk Prices. 1461 
Cowpox . 1464 
Bog Spavins; Urinary Disorders. 1464 
THE HENYARD 
Decombing the Poultry......1450, 1451 
Connecticut Hen Ration . 1460 
Roup Prevention. 1466 
Care of Laying Flock . 1466 
HORTICULTURE 
Apples, Strawberries and Strangers. 1450 
Garden Notes from Ohio. 1455 
Chemistry of Autumn Coloring. 1457 
Forest Tree Planting in New York. 1461 
Does It Pay to Grate Apples Closely?. 1461 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day..,. 1462 
Accommodations for the Tourist Trade. 1462 
A Community Club Repairs, a Country 
Church.1462, 1463 
The Rural Patterns .1463 
MISCELLANEOUS 
Water System from Well. 1452 
Siphon from Well . 1452 
Stone or Cement Wall for Barn. 1452 
Preventing Oil Leakage. 1452 
Oil-burning Engine Without Electrical Igni¬ 
tion . 1452 
Concrete Floor in Cellar. 1452 
Country-wide Produce Situation . 1454 
Editorials. 1460 
Against the Child Labor Amendment.. 1461 
Publisher’s Desk . 1470 
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HAVE SEVERAL HUNDRED BUSHELS 
Yellow Variety 1923 SEED COHN For Sale 
Large ear, long grain, grown on Susquehanna black 
soil. Order quick as it looks now as though tho 1924 
crop is not developed for seed. Price, $4.50 per bu. 
H. W. BURG - East Prospect, Pa. 
GRAPE VINES at B PR1CES N 
One of the largest stock of vines in the coun¬ 
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Don’t fail to ask for our price list if interested 
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POTATOES AND HAY 
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and interest in full on the due date. 
Write nou) for information to 
New York and New Jersey Joint Stock Land Bank 
31 Clinton Street, Newark, N. J. 
