BY-PRODUCTS OF AN APIARY

Grey River Argus, 20 December 1920, Page 5

BY-PRODUCTS OF AN APIARY

(By I. Hopkins in the Government Bulletin.)

HONEY-MEAD

Nearly ninety years ago I made Honey-mead from various recipes, with and without herbs and other ingredients, but in making both mead and vinegar at the State- npiares I adopted tlie most simple methods in order that they may be readiy followed by classes of beekeepers. The ingredients in both cases are simply honey a.id water in various When properly made, honey-mead at three years old is hardly distinguishable U'om first-class slieery, either in taste, oi colour, -or aromar. Those who have had *the opportunity of tasting the mead and vinegar at tlie Sates apiaries when on exhibit at the winter shows, will have appreciated these ■by-'pro-duets. itable casks should be procured: fin,d spirit (whisky aaid bra,ndy) casks the best, • procurable from wine and spirit merchants, but beware ol beer-casks for mead. One cask should have the head for fermenting puropses. Whatever quanity of mead is to be maUe the cask pr casks it is to be put n after should be of a size that thej will bo full, leaving uo space for air. In all cases, both for vinegar and mead, use rain-water if possible, at being freer from minerals than well or spring water. To eacn gallon of water there should be added 4ilb of honey; but as in the case of washings it would be impossible to estimate the amount, we can bring a hydrometer into use — costing 2/- or 2/6 each. The specific gravity >f the mixture is as near 1.115 as ifa required, so that when testing the liquid, if under that, add more honey, and if over add more crater. Put the nixtiire into the cask with the head jut, add a little blowers' yeast, and cover the top of the cask with » clean sack. Where yeast cannot be .eadily obtained I may state that the liquid will commence to ferment in ,'he course of a few days, but the yeast expedites it. If it is intended to fill, say, an IS-gallon cask, 20 or 21 galions of the liquid should be set *to ferment. I find January and February rhe best months for making mead and vinegar. . The mead is best made under .cover, but vinegar can be made outside. After fermentation commences, skim the liquid every day and then stir it .veil. It Avill be found that the skim gradually changes from a dirty brown to a snowy white colour. At this rime the ferment will be slight, and ihe liquid can then be transferred tc its cask. A small calico bag filled with sand should then be placed over rhe bungholc. This will allow the gas generated to escape from the cask .vithout allowing the air to cuter. If my instructions arc followed there will be more liquid than will fill the cask; the extra amount should be kept in a ,ar or bottles to, use for filling up the ::ask now and again — keep the cask .'ull. It should now remain until the following August, when the liquid hould be refined and transferred to an--Iher cask. Refining Mead. Cut into very fine shreds some isinglass in the proportion of about' ion !o 30 gallons of mead, and allow it ;o soak in some •mead fori two or hree days, adding two teaspoonfuls of tartartic acid. When in a jelly rub he isinglass through a fine sieve until the whole Is in liquid form: this is cry important. Draw off from the rask, or casks, sufficient to allow of he refining-mixturc being added to fill hem; bung up and leave the casks un.isturbed for from 14 to 17 days, wher he mead should be carefully siphoned rl: and put into a clean spirit-cask. t V rubber tube makes an efficient siihon, but great care should be taken hat the tube does not reach the bot om of the cask. Tie the tube to a -.tick, so that wheli the end of the lat or is lowered gently to the botton. he end of the former is 3in off the bottom. The mead can now remain tc nature, and if not quite clear it can )c further refined the following winder. Mead improves with age. From an analysis, the mead at the Ruakura Apiary, at three year old, j'ave: Specific gravity, 0.9800; absolute dcohol in Aveight, 13.15 per cent.; ditto in volume, 16.24 per cent.; proof spirit. 28.46 per cent. Honey- Vinegar. This is made and fermented in a similar manner to mead, but. the proportions of honey and water arc different. To each gallon of water l^lb if honey arc required, giving a specific gravity of 1.040 or about. Skim as fox mead, and when fermentation has nearly ceased transfer to casks. In the aso of mead we exclude the air, but in making vinegar we want a free circulation of air to oxidise the liquid and help the formation of acetic acid. A lin hole should be bored in each end of the cask on the upper edge, in a line with the bnnghole, these holes, and also the bungholc, should be covered with cheese cloth to exclude 'flics, b'u'i strong enough when properly made to be drawn off and put into whole casks to mature. Honey-vinegar has an excellent flavour^-quite different from the ordinary article, and has a ready sale. Caution. — If mead and vinegar arc both made, take care to use separate utensils for each. Patnt the hoops of the vinegar casks as a protection from tho acid, which somehow attacks them.