WAX. 



464 



WAX. 



When rendering, the tanks are filled about half 

 full of water brought to a boil by the steam. The 

 larger compartment is then fllled with combs still in 

 the frames. About 50 frames of combs can be put 

 in at once. The cover is then shut down and the 

 steam turned on. From three to five minutes is 

 required to do the work, and when the contents are 



ste:a 



BROWN'S WAX-PRESS FOR WHOLESALE WORK. 



boiling thoroughly the cover is raised and the steam 

 partly turned off, so that the frames may be swished 

 about in the water and finally picked out with the 

 pitchfork. The steam is ihen turned off, and the 

 slumgum skimmed by means of the strainer into 

 the small division of the tank, when a new hatch of 

 frames containing combs may be put into the first 

 or larger compartment. 



While one man works at melting up the combs and 

 tending the fire under the boiler, the other is kept 

 busy working the press. Tlie i-oom is so hot and 

 full of steam that the operators can wear but few 

 clothes, and even then it is rather hot work. 



The slumgum which is kept boiling is dipped from 

 the small compartment of the tank into the bui lap 

 in the press, and the wax is run directly into square 

 cans or molds. The frames as they come from the 

 tank are washed cleaner than they could be scraped 

 with a knife, and from experiments which I have 

 made they are entirely free from any disease. We 

 have not been able to make it paj' to rerenderthe 

 refuse from the press; but with what wax and pro 

 polls are left in the clieeses they make good fuej 

 and furnish nearly enough fire to keep up steam. 

 The cheeses are dumped directly into the boiler- 

 room, and are burned as fast as pressed. 



Duiing the year 1907 we rendered about 1500 lbs. of 

 wax, and in 1908 nearly 1100 lbs., so we think we liave 

 had quite an opportunity for testing the apparatus 

 thoroughly. 



UNIIEATKD PRESSES. 



Mr. C. A. Ilatcli, of Wisconsin, was prob- 

 ably the first one to make 

 extensive use of this meth- 

 od of wax-rendering. lie 

 liad used for a short time 

 a press designed by W. W. 

 Cary, of Massachusetts, in 

 which the combs were 

 pressed while submerged 

 in hot water; but he 

 believed that he could 

 improve on this plan by 

 applying pressure in a dif- 

 ferent receptacle without 

 the use of so much hot 

 water. While there may be 

 hundreds who used a sim- 

 ilar plan before this, Mr. 

 Hatch is probably the tirst 

 one in this country to bring 

 it to the notice of the pub- 

 lic. Later Mr. F. A. Gem- 

 mil, of Ontario, Canada, 

 also used such a press, 

 which tinally came to be 

 l<;no\vn as the Ilatch-Gem- 

 niil wax - press. This is 

 shown in Fig. 9. 



Wax-presses very similar 

 to the Hatch-Gemmil have 

 been constructed and used 

 by various bee keepers all 

 over the country. Since 



Fig. 9.— The original Hatch-Gemmil wax-press. 



