WAX. 



460 



WAX. 



if old comb is simply melted in hot water or 

 steam, these cocoons will become saturated 

 with wax, making the loss very great, llie 

 following discussion, therefore, will have to 

 do especially with the difficulties encounter- 

 ed in rendering wax from old combs. 



There are many different methods prac- 

 ticed by bee-keepers all over the world to 

 obtain the wax from old brood-combs; and 

 it is needless to say that, in many of them, 



FIG. 1. — AIKIN'S mammoth SOLAR WaX- 



bxtractor; this will, handle the 

 combs and cappings from a 



large Al'TARY. 



the loss is considerable. One of the crudest 

 methods is to throw the combs into a large 

 iron kettle of water and then build a fire and 

 boil the c">ntents for several hoiu's, skimming 

 the wax off the top of the water meanwhile. 

 More comb is added from time to time, and 



PIG 



-A VERY CRUDE AND WASTEFUL 

 MKTHOD OF RENDERING. 



the process is continued perhaps all day. 

 Finally a piece of wire screen is weighted 

 down on the refuse to keep it out of the way 

 and facilitate dipping the wax. Careful ex- 

 periments have sliown that this method 

 wastes from 25 to 40 per cent of the total 

 amount of wax, while a great deal of time is 

 required to clean and refine what little wax 

 is secured. 



Another plan which has been advocated 

 to some extent is that shown in Fig. 2. A 

 sack of comb is held under the surface of 

 the water, and agitated or punched with a 

 stick for a long time until much of the wax 

 is released and floats to the surface, where 

 it may be dipped off. This metliod results 

 in somewhat cleaner wax; but there is apt 

 to be nearly equal waste to the plan before 

 mentioned. 



There is another method that is used more, 

 perhaps, than the two which have just been 

 described. It is a somewhat better i)lan, for 

 the amount of waste is not so great. It is 

 shown in Fig. 3. In order to get the best 



FIG. 3.— A POPULAR BUT WASTEFUL AND 

 SLOW METHOD OF OBTAINING W^AX. 



results tlie weights should be arranged that 

 they can be lifted up a few inches in order to 

 give the refuse in the sack a chance to be- 

 come saturated again with hot water. The 

 weights should then be lowered, and this 

 process kept up for several hours, the water 

 meanwhile boiling vigorously. The wax 

 should be dipped off almost as fast as it rises 

 to the surface, in oider to keep it from di- 

 coloring due to long continued heat. 



In 1904 Mr. T. J. Pennick, of Williston. 

 Tenn., suggested the use of centrifugal 

 force applied to hot shimgum just taken out 

 of boiling water. It was his opinion that 

 the free wax, when hot, would by this means 

 readily separate from the solid matter in a 

 very short time. Extensive experiments 

 have developed the fact that there would be 

 a great deal of wax which would not escape 

 from the refuse, no matter how fast it might 

 be whirled in an extractor, showing that 

 even great centrifugal force could not sepa- 

 rate the wax from the refuse. Wax nearest 

 the outside might be thrown out; but that 

 nearest the center would be held back and 

 not allowed to escape. 



Mr. A. C. Miller, of Providence, 11. I., 

 some time ago devised an agitator and ap- 

 plied it to the rendering of wax. The old 

 combs in such an agitator are thoroughly 

 stirred and rubbed under hot water so tliat 

 I the wax is liberated and rises to the surface, 



