WAX. 



4-59 



WAX. 



to take pieces of bnrr-comb and other bits of 

 wax, etc., that accumulate in every-day 

 working of the apiary. These accumula- 

 tions can be thrown into the machine when- 

 ever one happens to pass by it; and instead 

 of having a lot of little pieces scattered here 

 and there through the apiary, to be melted 

 up at some future time, they may be con- 

 verted at once into a marketable product. 



These small machines are not suitable for 

 melting up combs. For that, something as 

 large as the Boardman (described further on) 

 should be used. 



THE RAUCHFUSS SUN WAX-EXTKACTUi:. 



Mr. Frank Rauchfuss, of Denver, Colo., 

 made an improvement. Instead of having 

 the wax run into a single pan as in the case 

 of the Doolittle, he arranged so the lip is 

 turned to deliver the wax in the right pan, 

 which catches the impurities, and is deeper , 

 It overflows into pan No. 2. When No. 2 is 

 full this overflows in turn into No. 3. There 

 the wax cools into neat marketable shape, 

 without further melting. Unless the wax is 

 dirty in the first place, that in pan No. 1 will 

 be fit for market; otherwise any dirt will be 

 on the bottom of the cake, and may be 

 scraped off, leaving the wax as clean, practi- 

 cally, as that in the other two. Bee-keepers 

 of Denver and vicinity have tried this ex- 

 tractor, and much prefer it to the other form 

 shown. 



THK BOAKD31AN SOLAR EXTRACTOR. 



This is built very much on the same general 

 plan as the one just described, but is larger. 

 The rockers, or runners, alford facility for 



transportation, and also for tilting the ma- 

 chine at the proper angle to the sun. Com- 

 mon greenliouse sash may be used ; but a 

 large glass, say 30x 60, is better, for the rea- 

 son that the sash cut off a good deal of 

 the sun's rays, making shade-lines along 

 which the wax fails to melt.* The size of 

 glass that one is able to buy will, of course, 

 regulate the size of the extractor ; the depth 

 of the box, or tray, may be anywhere from 

 (j to 8 inches, the bottom being made of 

 clieap lumber. This box or tray should be 

 lined with common black sheet iron. Tin 

 should not be used, because it reflects back 

 too misch of the sun's light. The whole tray, 

 including the frame for the glass, should be 

 l)ainted black; and the glass, while the ma- 

 chine is in use, kept scrupulously clean. 



SOLAR WAX-EXTRACTORS NOT SUITABLE 

 i FOR OLD COMBS. 



Solar wax -extractors have their use to 

 handle new combs, particles of fresh wax, 

 pieces of burr-combs, and the like, and can 

 be used to clarify and bleach to a certain ex- 

 tent wax already caked, but are not adapted 

 to the handling of old black combs that have 

 several generations of cocoons in them. 

 Large sim extractors like tlie Boardman will 

 get the bulk of the wax out of such combs, 

 but they do not get all of it. If sun heat is 

 used at all for melting, the slumgum (or ref- 

 use) should be further treated. 



RENDERING AVAX FROM OLD COMBS. 



For new combs the problem of rendering 

 wax is a comparatively simple one, since the 

 operation consists simply in melting them in 

 hot water and dipping the wax off the top. 

 This is true also of cappings where the 

 total amount of refuse or impurities is 

 so small that there is practically no diffi- 

 culty in getting all the wax. Here a solar 

 wax-extractor is satisfactory, although not 

 to be depended upon for speed nor great ca- 

 pacity unless very large, which would be ex- 

 pensive. However, one extensive bee-keep- 

 er, li. C. Aikin,of Loveland, Colorado, thinks 

 that it pays him to have made a large enough 

 solar extractor to handle all his cappings 

 and comb. See Fig. 1. When old comb is to 

 be rendered, on the other hand, the problem 

 becomes much more difficult, as the many 

 layers of cocoons found in the cells used for 

 biood-rearing, confine the wax and make it 

 hard to remove. It can be readily seen that, 



*If the larg-e glass can not be liad. better pur- 

 chase three sheets of 20x30, and put them in the 

 frame crosswise— the glass butting- tight up ac-ainst 

 each other. 



