Aug-. IS, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



517 



partly above the water-line, and partly below, something 

 like this : 



Pure Wax. 



Refuse aud Wax. 



Water Line. 



Refuse and Water. 



I said that below the water-line there would not be any 

 wax. That is true only when by sufficient stirring and 

 boiling- the wax has had the chance, or rather the time, to 

 disentangle itself entirely from the refuse. Now when the 

 quantity of wax is considerably larger than the amount of 

 refuse, all that needs be done is to take the cake out and 

 scrape off the under part composed of wax and refuse mixed. 

 The scrapings can be added to the next melting. 



But when the amount of refuse is considerable, there is 

 not enough wax to rise over the refuse, and the cake you 

 take up is a mixture of refuse and wax. The problem was 

 how to keep all the refuse under the water-line. I first 

 melted the combs in the tin bucket with water enough to 

 fill it about two-thirds, stirring and boiling long enough to 

 disaggregate the combs entirely. I then put in the sieve 

 made of wire-netting re-enforced by bands of galvanized 

 iron, and fastened it there. Then 1 added enough boiling 

 water to bring the wax entirely above the sieve, and let the 

 whole boil long enough to give all the wax time to come 

 through the netting. When cold it is something like this : 



Wax. 



Water Line. 



Water. 



Netting or 8ieve. 



Refuse and Water. 



Some of the finest refuse came through the netting, 

 but not enough to be objectionable. 



One difficulty I met. I had to boil the whole thing 

 quite a time in order to get all the wax to rise. After think- 

 ing about it, I concluded that by adding a considerable 

 quantity of salt to the water the wax would rise much 

 quicker. And it did. 



Somebody may want to know how that can be. Why 

 does the wax come on the top of the water ? It is because 

 the wax is comparatively lighter than water. That differ- 

 ence of weight is the force that pushes the wax above the 

 water. That force amounts to about 3-100 of the actual 

 weight. That is, if a vessel full of water contains 100 

 ounces of it, the same full of wax will contain about 97 

 ounces of wax. And as I said, that slight difference of 

 weights — three otic-hiuidreths only — is the force that pushes 

 the wax above the water. 



Now let us add, say one pound of salt to the gallon of 

 water. The volume of the water will not be increased, but 

 its weight will be increased by about 12 percent. That is, 

 the same vessel which contained 100 ounces of pure water 

 will now contain 112 ounces of salted water. The differ- 

 ence between the comparative weight of the water and the 

 wax will now be 15-100 of its weight, instead of 3-100, that 

 is, five times greater. 



And the force that pushes the wax above the water will 

 also increase in proportion, and be five times greater with 

 the salted water. 



Do you wonder now if the wax does actually rise faster 

 when melted in salt water ? Knox Co., Tenn. 



The Premiums offered this week are well worth work- 

 ing for. Look at them. 



Cheap Packages for Extracted Honey. 



BY C. DAVEXl'liKT. 



IN a previous article I mentioned that I expected to be 

 able to use for retail trade, a package for extracted 

 honey that, aside from the, work of preparing it. would 

 cost only about half a cent for a package holding a few 

 pounds. At that time I did not intend to say anything 

 more in regard to the matter until I had experimented 

 with, or tried, the package in a larger way, for as yet the 

 whole matter is in the experimental stage with me, as it 

 was too late in the season, or rather, my extracted honey 

 was nearly all sold last season before I thought about 

 using these packages. Upon reflection, I have, however, 

 decided to tell what I know in regard to the matter in the 

 hope that it will lead others to experiment in this line. 



Possibly I have already solved the most important part 

 of the problem, or perhaps upon further trial in a larger 

 way some serio\is defects may be found about it. As the 

 reader has probably surmised, these packages are paper 

 sacks, and probably many who read this know that a heavy 

 grade of tough glazed manilla paper will hold, or resist the 

 action of, honey almost as well as tin will, for how long a 

 time I am unable to say, though the grade or kind of paper 

 used would have much to do with this, for there are a good 

 many kinds of paper called " manilla," many of which are 

 entirely worthless for this purpose, and if the paper of 

 which the sacks are made will not itself hold honey, I have 

 found that these poor grades of glazed manilla paper are 

 inferior for being waxed, to hold honey, to other grades or 

 kinds of paper that are not glazed. 



So far as I have gone at present I believe that if the 

 sacks are to be waxed they are better if made out of tough, 

 unglazed paper that is slightly porous. Such paper will, 

 when waxed, resist the action of honey for some time ; 

 again, I am unable to say how long, but certainly long 

 enough to serve for a retail package to the producer who 

 delivers direct to the consumer. 



Whether it can ever be perfected so that it will answer 

 for the retail grocery trade, I am unable to say, but I have 

 hopes that it will ; but whether this occurs or not, these 

 packages will, in the near future, in my opinion, be used 

 largely, and answer a most useful purpose to producers who 

 retail in small amounts, and have, as I have, a large class 

 of customers who are so frugal and ei'onomical that they 

 will not buy a glass or tin package, and seldom return one 

 lent them. 



Whether paraffine would answer in place of wax is 

 another thing I do not know, for I had none on hand last 

 fall. If it would, besides being cheaper its color would 

 make a more attractive and inviting looking package, 

 though a waxed sack is not defective in this respect, and it 

 is a clean sanitary package. Perhaps a mixture of, or 

 preparation of, both wax and paraffine might answer bet- 

 ter than either alone. A small amount of rosin might also 

 be a benefit. There is room for much experiment in this 

 respect, and I hope that all others who experiment in this 

 or any other way in regard to the matter will report results, 

 whether favorable or otherwise, for it would no doubt be of 

 interest to many besides myself. I do not have the time to 

 do but a very small amount of the experiment work about 

 many things in regard to our pursuit that I should very 

 much like to do, but I shall this season try these sacks in a 

 larger way than I did last year. I have little doubt but 

 what they will, with me, solve a perplexing problem. 



When using them, if the honey is delivered, all that 

 would be necessary to insure their safe carrying would be 

 to pack, or lay, the filled sacks in a large tin can or case, 

 that has a tight cover to exclude dust. The sacks can be 

 tied up and then wrapped and tied up in another piece of 

 paper, on which has been written the number of pounds, 

 and who the package is for. A large number of these 

 sacks could be laid in one large can, and handed out as 

 handily as any package. But with customers that come to 

 the apiary it would not do simply to tie a sack up in paper 

 this way, for in many cases, unless care was used, it would 

 be torn, or get a hole in it, and allow the honey to escape. 

 This, besides raising a howl of disgust and protest from 

 customers, would not answer, for we would surely lose 

 trade if we furnished a package that failed to carry safely. 

 To overcome this would be quite easy. I have not tried 

 it except in a limited way, but I have no fears whatever 

 that this part of the system will work all right in every 

 way. All that is necessary is to make an outer package or 

 covering from strong cardboard, or what is called " build- 

 ing paper " is what I used ; this is about like cardboard or 

 pasteboard, but instead of being stiff or brittle like the 



