756 



AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL 



Nov. 28, 1901. 



I The Buffalo Convention. | 



•^ ^• 



;^ Report of the Proceeding's of the Thirty-Second Annual ^ 



i^ Convention of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- ^ 



^ elation, held at Buffalo, New York, S^ 



|:5 Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 1901. ^ 



(Continued from pafje 743. j 



The Wednesday evening session was 

 "treated to an exhibition of stereopticon 

 views by Pres. Root and W. Z. Hutch- 

 inson. 



THIRD DAY— Morning Session. 



The convention was called to order 

 by Pres. Root, who called upon Dr. 

 Miller to oflfer prayer. 



The Canadian members present were 

 aslced to rise to their feet, and, on be- 

 ing- counted, there were found to be 12. 



F. A. Gemmill, of Ontario, Canada, 

 then spoke as follows on the subject of 



Wax-Presses and Their Use. 



In regard to the matter of wax- 

 presses, I might say that some years 

 ago my bees had foul brood. Of course, 

 that is a bad disease, but it is no dis- 

 g-race for a man's bees to have it, but 

 it is a disgrace to keep it; and in melt- 

 ing up many of the old combs I found 

 that I could not get all the wax out — 

 that is, those containing many cocoons 

 and pollen — without using pressure in 

 some form. I looked over the bee- 

 papers and bee-books, and, among 

 others, the "A B C of Bee-Culture," 

 and I saw some illustrations of old 

 presses, the Hatch press, and I com- 

 bined the two and made a press, the 

 Hatch-Gemmill press, which I think it 

 would pay any one to use. I wouldn't 

 say that press alone, but a press of 

 some kind where strong pressure is 

 used. 



I might say that I tried the Doolittle 

 -plan of melting the old combs in a 

 gunny-sack, using a large press, and 

 as the wax was boiling the lever was 

 brought to bear on the wax and the 

 wax squeezed out. I tried the plan of 

 putting them in gunny-sacks and sink- 

 ing them in water. It was very good; 

 ■of course, it requires quite a little boil- 

 ing in order to get all the wax out. It 

 is a better plan, maybe, than using the 

 steam wax-press where the refuse is 

 allowed to remain on the bottom, for 

 this reason, that if the gunny-sack is 

 sunk in the water at the bottom, the 

 wax will rise to the top; in the other 

 ■case, if you use the steam, the refuse 

 will go to the bottom and remain in 

 the cocoons and stay there unless 

 pressed out. 



Then I tried other machines, the 

 Ferris and one or two others, and I 

 have nothing to say against any ma- 

 chine, only that my experience proved 

 that where I used either boiling water 

 or steam I had to use the pressure in 

 order to get all the wax out of the 

 refuse. 



I also melted combs in the Board- 

 man, still I found that with old combs 

 with cocoons and a large pollen-mass 

 it was impossible to get all the wax out. 

 If left in the extractor for a week there 



would still be some there; the cocoons 

 acted as a sponge and retaitied it, so 

 that I think those that have been using 

 the solar wax-extractor for old combs 

 and throwing the refuse away have 

 lost quite a little bit of wax. I was 

 quite amused at Mr. Root's reference 

 to Mr. Mendleson buying up the slum- 

 gum in California and using a press 

 that paid him to get the wax out of it. 

 I don't know that there is much that I 

 can say. If there are any questions 

 that you wish to ask I would be happy 

 to answer them. I might say that my 

 first article in regard to this matter 

 appeared in the Review, and since that 

 time Mr. Root has been in California 

 and he has fallen in line with the same 

 ideas that I had in regard to the press. 

 We had some correspondence in regard 

 to it, and I believe he is now manu- 

 facturing a press that I believe is a 

 good thing. I hope to have the pleas- 

 ure of trying it shortly. 



F. A. Gbmmili,. 



Pres. Root — This question about be- 

 ing able to get all the wax out of slum- 

 gum is a very important matter, be- 

 cause bee-keepers for years have been 

 throwing away dollars, and now they 

 have come to know there is wax in that 

 slumgum. 



A Member — How do you avoid get- 

 ting propolis in the wax? 



Mr. Gemmill— The propolis will 

 come out with the old combs, to a cer- 

 tain extent. In our country [Canada], 

 however, we don't have a great quan- 

 tity of it. 



Mr. Betsinger — How long do you 

 think it would take to pay for such a 

 machine? How much does this ma- 

 chine cost? 



Mr. Gemmill — About S3. 50 to S4. 

 But Mr. Root's machine is an improve- 

 ment, in some ways. Of course, it will 

 cost more. 



Dr. Jliller— Suppose that you have 

 combs enough from which you get 

 about 100 pounds of wax in the ordi- 

 nary way. Now the slumgum from 

 that contains yet how much wax? 



Mr. Gemmill— That depends upon 

 the method yott employ. If you use 

 the plan of sinking the gunny-sacks in 

 the bottom of the boiling water you 

 will get more if you boil long enough, 

 than you will get out of a steam or 

 solar extractor where you allow the 

 refuse to remain in the bottom of the 

 steamer, for the simple reason that it 

 is retained there the same as a sponge 

 retains water. I found that I could 

 get more wax out by boiling according 

 to the Dadant plan. I would get about 

 ^/i. I can get a third more, easily, 

 than with the steam process, and 

 a third more "oy using the press. 



Dr. Miller— That is, a third of the 

 wax is still left in the slumgum? | 



Mr. Gemmill— That is, it would be 

 left in Mr. Root's steamer provided he 

 didn't use the pressure. 



;\lr. McEvoy — No bee-keeper, in your 

 experience, can afford to do without a 

 press? 



Mr. Gemmill — I say any man that 

 has any colonies at all, and has any 

 old combs to melt up. Where one has 

 any old combs that have been used for 

 some years, and that contain pollen 

 and cocoons. I think that that man 

 should use a press. 



Dr. Miller — How many colonies? 

 Mr. Gemmill — 25 colonies, anyway. 

 Dr. Miller — How long should the wax 

 be boiled when the pressure is used 

 on it? 



Mr. Gemmill — I allow it to come just 

 to a boil, and boil smartly for a short 

 time. Just get it to flow freely. After 

 you apply the pressure it doesn't require 

 boiling very long. 



Mr. Betsinger — Five minutes, prob- 

 ably? 



Mr. Gemmill— About that. 

 Dr. Miller — I see the instructions are, 

 in making the pressure, to turn down a 

 certain amount, then wait awhile and 

 tttrn again. Does any harm come from 

 pressing too rapidly? 



Mr. Gemmill — I find that you have 

 got to give the wax a little time to 

 ooze out through the cocoons. Now, 

 there is just one point there. After 

 you have pressed all you think you can 

 out of it, if you use the steam, you can 

 take a kettle of boiling water and pour 

 on the refuse that will still remain, and 

 that will help to free any wax that it 

 may still contain. Then you can ap- 

 ply pressure again, or you can turn 

 over the refuse two or three times and 

 then apply it, but it will do no harm to 

 try the hot water. 



Mr. Betsinger — By using old combs 

 and putting it through this pressure 

 would there be any color in the wax? 



Mr. Gemmill — Oh, no, it would be 

 perfectly yellow. It is squeezed right 

 through the combs. It is forced right 

 through, and the dirt is retained. Of 

 course, you will understand, in the 

 press it is confined in a small sack that 

 acts as a filter or strainer. 



Mr. Betsinger — Will the propolis go 

 through that, too? 



Mr. Gemmill — O yes, it will go 

 through. 



Mr. Davidson — Do you think such 

 wax is as good for making foundation 

 as other wax? 



Mr. Gemmill — I couldn't see any dif- 

 ference. I don't see why it should not 

 be. There is nothing in it but pure 

 wax. 



Mr. Davidson — I find that with sev- 

 eral grades of wax used in sections, 

 some grades are not accepted as readily 

 as others, and I had the idea that sec- 

 tion foundation made with old wax, 

 that is, wax from old combs, would not 

 be accepted as readily as foundation 

 made from newer wax, that is, from 

 newer combs. 



Mr. Gemmill — I must confess that I 

 haven't had any experience in that line. 

 Dr. Miller — In getting out wax from 

 combs, we are directed, or have been in 

 the past, to break them up carefully, 

 and to soak them beforehand. Now, 

 is anything of that kind desirable or 

 advisable in this method? 



Mr. Gemmill — It is not required 

 where you use pressure. 



Mr. McEvoy — In regard to wax be- 

 ing hard and soft — the lighter color 



