12 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



everything about a hive and super, ex- 

 cept the sections and foundation. 



I am a believer in specialty bee- 

 keeping^, and I think a man to be a bee- 

 keeper, should keep bees enough to 

 pay him to get the necessary machin- 

 ery and employ his time in the winter 

 g'etting ready for business next season. 



THE COST OF SUPPI.IES TOO GREAT. 



I get lOc for for my extracted honey, 

 and from 12^ c to 15c for my comb, but 

 I could not stay in the bee business if I 



^=s-^>^Y^| 



had to buy my supplies from the sup- 

 ply-dealers. I don't say they charge 

 too much from their point of view, be- 

 cause I know labor, material, taxes, 

 rent, and all other expenses make the 

 prices what they are, but the bee- 

 keeper experiences some of those ex- 

 penses, and hone}' does not sell for one 

 price the year round, as does a bee- 

 hive. The bee-keeper must take what 

 he can get for his product. 



Palermo, Ont., Dec. 12, 1905. 



A. G. MILLER. 



ST the editor's request, I present to 

 the readers of the Review a de- 

 scription of a new wax extractor, one 

 embodying some principles not before 

 used for the purpose, and which, to- 

 gether with a scientific development of 

 the under-water plan of wax recovery, 

 has produced a machine which is win- 

 ning high praise. 



To properly understand the reasons 

 for the design of this extractor, it is 

 necessary to consider the peculiarities 

 of the substance it is to handle. Old 

 comb consists of a series of tubes com- 

 posed of successive layers of silken 

 cocootis, propolis, pollen grains, dirt, 

 etc. Many of these tubes are more or 

 less filled with pollen. Around about 

 these tubes is a thin layer of wax, the 

 original comb. In the tough rubber- 

 like substance of exceedingly old 

 combs, particularly along the lower 

 part, wax is mixed in with the layers 

 of cocoons, etc. When we proceed to 

 melt these combs, the instant the wax 

 becomes fluid, it soaks into the 

 cocoons, etc., which may be likened to 

 a sponge. It is known to be impossible 

 to press all the moisture even from a 

 sponge, and to squeeze it from such 

 material as I have described is mani- 



festly even more difficult, and the 

 greater the mass, the larger the per 

 cent, of wax retained. 

 A reasonable way of getting out 



THE wax. 



Evidently the rational course to pur- 

 sue in treating such a substance is to 

 break down and disintegrate these 

 tubes, reduce their fibres to as small 

 bits as possible, and subject these fine 

 particles to individual pressure. The 

 new machine does just these things. 

 It consists of two cans, one within the 

 other. The outer can has a conical 

 cover bearing a tube leading from the 

 apex of the cone for the escape of wax, 

 and a funnel for the introduction of 

 water. Through the apex of the cone 

 projects a shaft, which actuates the 

 inner mechanism. Near the bottom of 

 this can is a gate for drawing off the 

 water. The conical cover fastens to 

 the can and seals with a gasket. 



The inner can reaches nearly to the 

 upper edge of the outer can, is about 

 one inch less in diameter, has a per- 

 forated bottom, and a removable per- 

 forated top. It contains one-half of 

 the grinding or disintegrating sur- 

 faces; the other half is attached to 

 shaft before referred to. These disin- 



