WAX. 



468 



WAX. 



of pressing will take about ten minutes in 

 all. While the pressure is still on the comb, 

 remove the wooden covers from the can, 

 and tip up the press as shown in Fig. 16, so 

 that the water and wax may run out into a 

 small tub or large pail on the floor luider it. 

 Leave the press turned over for a few mo- 

 ments until all of the water and wax drain 

 out, and then tip it back to its regular posi- 

 tion. An old sack or piece of carpet should 

 be thrown across the top of the small tuV) to 

 keep the wax from chilling until it is emp- 

 tied into the large can, as explained later. 



The screw should now be raised, the fol- 

 lower lifted out, and the burlap shaken into 

 a box near by. If the piece of burlap is rub- 



Fig-. IT.— Hatch's outdoor furnace for melting comb- 

 bed quickly with the hands, most of the 

 refuse can be shaken out. Now place this 

 burlap over the press-can again, and repeat 

 the process with another gallon of comb 

 just as soon as possible. There should be 

 no time wasted between the one pressing 

 and another, for the can, follower, etc., are 

 liable to become cold. 



When the screw is turned down the first 

 time on the next batch of melted combs, 

 empty the hot water and wax in the shallow 

 tub into the large can near by ready for it. 



For convenience this can should have a 

 faucet or gate at the bottom so^that hot 

 water may be drawn off when it gets too 

 full, th s hot water to be used over again 

 in the next boiler of ctanb. It does not 

 matter even if it is quite black and thick, 

 for experience has shown that this dark-col- 

 ored water does not discolor the wax. A 

 piece of carpet should be kept over the top 

 of this large can in order that the wax may 

 not become chilled. At the end of the day, 

 or whenever the work is over, the hot water 

 may be drawn out until just before the wax 

 begins to come. The wax may then be run 

 out into suitable molds, which, if made of 

 metal, should be well moistened on the in- 

 side with soapsuds to prevent the wax from 

 sticking. 



The refuse from the press, which has bten 

 shaken out in a large box, is vot yet free 

 from loax^ and this point should be plainly 

 understood. We have found that one treat- 

 ment as above described will remove only 

 90 per cent of the total amount of wax. The 

 refuse will look perfectly clean and dry, and 

 many will be deceived and throw it away, 

 thinking it not worth a second melting; but 

 from quite a good many samples that we 

 have tested from different lots of refuse 

 that have been sent in from other produc- 

 ers, we are very sure that there is a waste of 

 from eight to ten per cent of the wax unless 

 this refuse is run through the press again. 

 For this reason, when a sufficient amount is 

 accumulated it is well to put it back in one 

 of the boilers and boil it again in water. 

 The second treatment will take a little over 

 half the time the first did, since rather more 

 can be pressed at a time; but the average 

 bee-keeper can well alTord to do it. Wax 

 from very old combs can be extracted in this 

 unhealed press, even though it is gone over 

 twice, at the rate of about seven or eight 

 pounds an hour, and the final waste need 

 not be over three per cent. 



An important tact that must not be over- 

 looked is that the quality of wax from this 

 press is the very best. The cakes need only 

 a little scraping on the bottom, to be ready 

 for market. The color is good, so that thei e 

 is no need of refining the wax afterward. If 

 the combs were melted up without water, 

 liowever, the wax would very probably be 

 discolored from too high a temperature. 



The above plan sounds somewhat compli- 

 cated, but it lias been found to be no more 

 so than most methods of rendering wax. Of 

 course it is not possible to do work of this 

 kind without making some muss, and it is 



