Pkbruaky, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



77 



fining is to take the head out of an old 

 barrel and strain the hot wax into it, liaviiiij 

 abont two inches of hot clear water in the 

 bottom. After you have the whole batch 

 in, or the barrel full, pour in a teacupful of 

 sulphuric acid, or less, in proportion to the 

 amount of wax or the color of it. Wax 

 from cappings is generally much lighter, 

 and is better if very little or no acid is 

 used. Wax taken from old combs is 

 much more difficult to cleanse, owing to the 

 presence of so much pollen. The wax should 

 be as hot as possible when put into the bar- 

 rel; and after pouring in the acid it should 

 be stirred with a stick long enough to agi- 

 tate it clear to the bottom. In half a minute 

 you will see the wax change to a lighter 

 color. Now cover the barrel so as to keep 

 the wax hot as long as possible. Use old 

 sacks, burlap, or even straw around the out- 

 side, so as to rettain the heat. When cold, 

 remove all the hoops except the bottom one 

 and turn the whole thing over on a clean 

 board. By using a little care the barrel 

 may be lifted off the cake and the hoops 

 driven back on again without allowing it to 

 collapse. By keeping the barrel covered up 



with a little water in it, it will always be 

 in a condition to use again when needed 

 again. 



A great percentage of the refuse on the 

 bottom of the cakes is wax; but it is so mix- 

 ed with pollen and other matter that it is 

 not practicable to render it over more than 

 once, unless one has a large quantity. By 

 keeping it hot for several days without boil- 

 ing, or other agitation, it will gradually 

 separate and leave another cake of wax on 

 top. 



Shipping. 



In shipping wax it sliould be double sack- 

 ed, the tags numbered on the back, and a 

 •record kept showing the gross and net 

 weight of each sack. Then if one sack is 

 lost in transit it is possible to tell the trans- 

 portation people exactly how many pounds 

 is gone. A copy of this record should be 

 sent on to the buyer with bill of lading. 

 Never wrap wax ih paper, as the paper 

 sticks to the cakes and makes trouble. 



[The prices considered in this article are 

 not war prices but based on normal condi- 

 tions. — G. L. E.] 



INTENSIVE WAX RENDERING 



How to Do '^ptd and Efficient Work 



iivith Only Half a Barrel of Water 



and a Very Simple Equipment 



By H.^H. Root 



THEKE being 

 on hand last 

 season an ac- 

 cumulation of 

 nearly 2000 old 

 combs I decided 

 to carry on 

 some further ex- 

 periments in 

 wax - rendering. 



I have often wanted to try laying a comb 

 on a piece of burlap stretched over a screen, 

 pouring a stream of boiling water on to it 

 until '' mushy," then constantly rubbing 

 the refuse with a wooden paddle. My idea 

 was that the stream of boiling water would 

 wash the wax "from the refuse down thru 

 the burlap into the can beneath. The boil- 

 ing water could be pumped in a continuous 

 stream from the bottom of the can up on to 

 the refuse. I tried it; and, while the plan 

 possessed many advantages, it had one fatal 

 disadvantage. " Even tho the stream of boib 

 ing water was kept running for nearly 15 

 minutes, nearly 20 per cent of the wax re- 

 mained in the cocoons; in fact, I could not 

 succeed in washing out the last particle of 

 wax, even with much vigorous rubbing. The 

 last 10 per cent refused to separate. 



I next turned my attention to the centrif- 

 ugal scheme for rendering wax — a plan 

 that I tried on a small scale about ten years 

 ago. I rigged up a cylindrical basket made 

 of wire screen to take the place of a reel 

 in a small honey-extractor. The bottom of 

 this basket, which was smaller than the to]), 

 was made of a galvanized iron wash-dish. 

 When everything was ready I broke up 



several combs, 

 pMced them in 

 the screened bas- 

 ket, and poured 

 boiling water 

 over them until 

 they were reduc- 

 ed to a thin 

 mush in the 

 wash - basin 

 forming the bottom of the basket. Then, 

 seizing the handle of the machine, I 

 gave it a few rapid turns and found 

 that the refuse had left the wash-basin 

 and was climbing up the sides of the 

 screen where it was deposited in a thin 

 layer all the way round. I whirled it about 

 half a minute, then poked this back into the 

 wash-basin and again poured in boiling 

 water. After repeating this four or five 

 times I expected to find the refuse compara- 

 tively clean of wax, but was very much dis- 

 appointed to find that, when I picked up a 

 handful of it and squeezed it. the yellow wax 

 would show all too plainly in the ridges be- 

 tween my fingers. I worked with one lot a 

 full half-hour, the extractor meanwhile be- 

 ing set over a gas-stove, so that I could 

 continually draw pails of boiling water from 

 the gate at the bottom and pour over the 

 refuse, washing it down into the wash-basin. 

 After my half -hour of treatment there was 

 wax — entirely too much — left in the cocoons, 

 even tho many of them were fairly imbed- 

 ded into the screen. I was forced to con- 

 clude, therefore, as I had years ago, that 

 the mi'thod, while a very interesting one, is 



