WAX. 



471 



WAX. 



heated press; for left for even a few minutes 

 the wax would chill and the press become 

 cold. Quite thorough work with the uuheat- 

 ed press is possible if rapidly done; but if 

 the combs are left they soon cool off, so that 

 it is necessary to heat thoroughly every thing 

 with boiling water before going on. 



If a lever is used, a very heavy construc- 

 tion is necessary unless one end is securely 

 anchored to a stump. It is seldom that a 

 wall or floor in a building can be found 

 heavy enough to withstand the pressure of a 

 12- foot lever without giving away. In most 

 places, therefore, a screw is much moie con- 

 venient and easier to manage. 



WHICH IS THE BEST METHOD TO RENDER 

 WAX V 



The answer to this question depends en- 

 tirely upon circumstances. If cappings or 

 new comb are to be rendered, and there is 

 no particular need of doing rapid work, a 

 solar extractor is the best by all means, as it 

 works for nothing and boards itself. For 

 rendering large quantities of cappings or 

 new comb we think the unheated press is 

 the best one to use, as the bulk of the wax 

 can be simply dipped off the top of the hot 

 water into molds to harden, leaving only a 

 comparatively small amount of refuse to 

 be run through the press. 



For general rendering of old combs we 

 believe the unheated press to be the most 

 practical for the average bee-keeper. It is 

 not possible to do quite as thorough work 

 with this press, but the relatively small 

 amount of loss of from two to three per 

 cent of the total amount of wax would not 

 warrant the average bee-keeper in going to 

 the expense of purchasing or making a 

 large hot-water press. It is our opinion 

 that the producer who makes less than 300 

 pounds of wax per year can do no better 

 than to follow the plan here described, us- 

 ing the unheated press. Some may want to 

 know why a very small hot-water press 

 would not be the best for the small bee- 

 keeper; but we have never found such eco- 

 nomical, if the time and fuel required are 

 taken into consideration. 



For the larger producer who makes more 

 than 300 pounds of wax a year we believe a 

 good-sized hot-water press is a real neces- 

 sity. By having the capacity very large, a 

 large amount of wax can be produced in a 

 day, leaving less than one per cent of the 

 wax in the refuse. 



THE AMOUNT OF WAX IN COMBS. 



We are often asked how much wax can be 

 rendered from comb holding a given amount 



of honey; but it is quite difficult to answer 

 such questions, as it makes considerable dif- 

 ference whether full sheets of foundation 

 were used, and also whether such foundation 

 was thick or thin. In general, however, we 

 might say that it requires about 4 lbs. of wax 

 in comb to hold 100 lbs. of honey; or, in other 

 words, that a pound of new comb will hold 

 about 25 lbs. of honey. 



A sixteen-ounce section of honey consists 

 approximately of Hi ounces of honey— a lit- 

 tle over one-half ounce of wax and about 

 one ounce of wood. Fig. 21 shows the re- 



Fig-. 21.— Honey pressed from a section; result — 



over 14 ounces honey, 54 ounce wax, 



and 1 ounce of wood. 



suits after separating the honey, wax, and 

 wood, in a sixteen-ounce section. Of course, 

 these results, as before mentioned, are not 

 always the same, and the different amounts 

 vary considerably. 



On one occasion we melted over 600 lbs. 

 of candied comb honey. Keeping careful 

 account of the weights, we found that the 

 percentages of honey, wax, and wood were 

 approximately 88, 5, and 7, respectively. 



HOW TO REFINE WAX WITH SULPHURIC 

 ACID. 



Wax cakes, as they are bought up, are 

 usually of all grades and colors. The differ- 

 ence in color is due largely to the amount of 

 impurities the wax contains. In all the 

 years that we have been in the business 

 we have found no practical or satisfacto- 

 ry way of bringing the wax to a yellow 

 color — that is, to its original state of purity, 

 except by treating it with acid. 



The method, in brief, is as follows: Fill a 

 wooden tank or barrel a quarter full of wa- 

 ter, and add cakes of wax until nearly full. 

 The water is then boiled until all the wax is 

 melted, when a quantity of commercial sul- 

 phuric acid is poured in, and the boiling con- 

 tinued until all is thoroughly mixed. The 

 heat is then removed and the impurities al- 

 lowed to settle. 



For a detailed account, it may be well to 

 describe our own system of refining wax. 



