24 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. L 



[The idea of soaking the combs before render- 

 ing the wax is no doubt good. We have never 

 tried it. but will do so at the earliest opportuni- 

 ty. We set the last sentence as above in italics, 

 because it is very important. We have given 

 the same caution once or twice before, but it 

 will bear repeating again. Our readers will 

 remember the writer as the one who first suc- 

 cessfully used a heated plate for fastening 

 foundation to sections.] 



o. R. coe's method of rendering wax with 



AN OLD EXTKACTOR-CAN. 



Friend Boot:— My method of rendering wax 

 from old combs is so much easier, simpler, and 

 better (in my estimation) than any other I have 

 seen described in any of the bee-journals that I 

 can not forbear giving it, for the benefit of 

 others. 



I take an old honey-extractor can that had a 

 home-made reel in it, and, taking out the reel, 

 I fill the can % full of water and heat to the 

 boiling-point. I now throw in a lot of old comb 

 and stir it up well. I now take the perforated 

 tin pail or basket that I had mode to use in a 

 Swiss steam wax-extractor, and susp.^nd it from 

 a screw-hook in the ceiling overhead, so as to 

 hang just over the surface of the hot water. I 

 now dip the refuse from the hot watei into the 

 suspended basket; and as the water and melted 

 wax run back into the can I draw hot water 

 from the faucet of the large can and pour it in- 

 to the refuse in the suspended basket, and thus 

 rinse out the wax from the mass of slumgum. 

 I now take the basket by the two handles and 

 give it a shaking motion, causing the mass to 

 roll over and over in the basket until it is quite 

 dry. It will drain when treated in that way, 

 when it would not if stirred with a stick. If 

 there is yet wax remaining in the mass of slum- 

 gum I pour on more hot water, and repeat the 

 process until I get every particle of the wax out. 

 When the refuse is thrown out I till up the bas- 

 ket with a new lot, treat as before, and continue 

 to add more comb from time to time, until the 

 can gets pretty well filled up with wax. I now 

 lower the basket, empty it into the mass of 

 melted wax on top of the water in the can, and, 

 as fast as the wax strains into the basket 

 through its perforated sides, I dip it off into the 

 pails or buckets I wish to cake it in, and thus 

 get it in nice condition. If one wishes to keep a 

 brisk fire and rush business, keep a bucket of 

 cold water, with a dipper in it, handy by, else it 

 may get so hot as to boil over and make trouble. 

 If one has a large kettle he wishes to use in 

 rendering wax, it can be used in the same man- 

 ner, if he has water kept hot in a tea-kettle, to 

 use in rinsing the mass of slumgum in the bas- 

 ket; but some large can, like an extractor-can, 

 with a faucet, is much better. O. R. Coe. 



Windham, N. Y., Dec. 8. 



Heads of Grain 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



THE COLD PROCESS OP MAKING SYRUP FOR 

 FEEDING; HOW TO MAKE A PER- 

 COLATOR. 



I notice in Gleanings you speaH of the ex- 

 pense that would be incurred in making syrup 

 by the cold process. Surely you do not under- 

 stand the process, else you would know it is 

 really cheaper than the boiling process, as it is 

 no trouble, and requires no fuel. Take a half- 

 gallon or a gallon bottle, and break out the 

 bottom; then in the neck of the bottle insert a 

 moist sponge — not too tight. Fill the bottle 



with granulated sugar, then keep the sugar 

 covered with water. You will find a first-class 

 syrup, dripping from the sponge — one that will 

 not sour nor granulate; is ho trouble, and not 

 expensive; one unusually heavy. This can be 

 made on a larger scale, and kept for months. 

 When once started you can continually fill up 

 with sugar and water, and keep up a continual 

 percolation. Chas. F. Haas. 



Canal Dover, O., Dec. 18. ~ 



[We are very glad of the information, friend 

 H., and at the first opportunity will give the 

 matter a careful test. The plan is so simple, if 

 syrup will not granulate, that it will commend 

 itself to bee-keepers, because it would save 

 soiling the " gude wife's " stove, getting up a 

 hot fire, running the risk of scorching, etc. But 

 bee-keepers want to make syrup on a more ex- 

 tensive scale than could be made in a gallon 

 bottle. A tub or half-barrel could be made to 

 answer, providing there was a hole cut in the 

 bottom, say three inches in diameter, with a 

 wooden tube inserted, two or three inches long, 

 having an inside diameter of two inches. This 

 tube would answer for the neck of the bottle, 

 and a sponge could be inserted therein in the 

 same way. Such a device would make the syr- 

 up on a larger scale, and would probably meet 

 the requirements of most bee-keepers. The 

 only question that remains is, whether the feed 

 would granulate without something in the way 

 of an acid or honey to prevent it. There may 

 be a chemical reason why syrup percolating 

 through a sponge would not granulate; and if 

 so, perhaps our correspondent can enlighten us 

 a little further.] 



world's fair ; important for Wisconsin 



bee-keepers. 

 I desire, through your paper, to ask your Wis- 

 consin readers who contemplate making a hon- 

 ey exhibit at the World's Fair to write to the 

 corresponding secretary, notifying him of the 

 fact, and to do it at once, as it is important to 

 the managers to know the probable amount of 

 hotjey that will be offered for exhibit. The 

 State Society, which meets in February next, 

 will have control of the matter. By notifying 

 the secretary they will receive full instructions. 

 J. W. Vance, Cor. Sec. 

 Madison, Wis., Dec. 8. 



PERFORATED ZINC WITH ROUND HOLES IM- 

 PRACTICABLE. 



I see in the price list that the zinc honey- 

 board is being used for a burr-comb excluder 

 as well as a queen-excluder. Now, I want it to 

 be a pollen-excluder, and I think it can be 

 made that also. Just make the perforations 

 round instead of oblong, and just the distance 

 across they now are. Of course, there will be 

 more of them. C.Stephenson. 



Conyers, Ga., Dec. 0. 



[The ordinary zinc honey-boards do excluae 

 pollen to some extent. If the perforations were 

 round, it would no doubt scrape off the pollen, 

 but would make it very difficult for the bees to 

 get through. It would practically exclude not 

 only the queen and drones, but the bees also.] 



PRIORITY OF location; BEES THAT WILI- 

 LOOK OVER THE FENCE. 



I am " monarch of all I (need to) survey." I 

 believe Dr. Miller owns every thing that is pro- 

 duced on the piece of land- he mentions on page 

 888, including the nectar produced by the 

 flowers, just as much as he owns any other crop 

 raised on it, and it is his privilege to harvest it 

 if he can; and if he keeps bees he can get at 

 least a portion of it; but while his bees are go- 



