818 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



place a piece of L*x4 stuff, as long as your ex- 

 tractor is wide. Fix this piece so it will rest 

 secure on the ground, and hew it each way from 

 the centei', till the ends are 2 inches square. In 

 the center put a pin of J'4-inch iron, while a H- 

 inch hole should be bored in the bottom of the 

 front end, or No. 2, to receive this pin. Next, 

 ))rovide several pieces of 4x4 stuff to put under 

 the back end of the extractor, so that you can 

 lower or raise the back end, according to the 

 season of the year, or, in other words, according 

 as the sun is high, as in June, or low, in No- 

 vember. From the middle of May to the mid- 

 dle of August the extractor will do all yon want 

 of it. if faced directly south and left so all the 

 while: but earlier or later it will need turning 

 on the front pivot at least three times during 

 the day. At nine, face it southeast: at noon, 

 south: at two, southwest. To thus face it, was 

 why our front '"sleeper" was fixed with the pin 

 as I have given. Every scrap of wax that ie 

 taken from the hives while at work in thb 

 apiary is jiut into the extractor as we pass by it, 

 and all that accunHilatcs in t]i(> sjiop is jjlaccd 

 in a pan kept handy by for t his puriHisc. and tlie 

 pan is taken and emptied into tiie extiactur as 

 often as is necessary. When there is a suffi- 

 cient accumulation in the extractor, the cover 

 is taken off' from over the glass some sunshiny 

 day at 9 a. si., and the wax allowed to " extract." 

 When the whole mass is melted that is on the 

 iron, slide the sash to the front, and. with a 

 wooden paddle about 3 inches wide, draw all 

 the refuse up on one of the inclined sides to 

 near the top, pressing on the paddle consider- 

 ably, so as to break any of the cocoons that may 

 not have broken, so that all of the wax may 

 work out. In this way the wax \\'ill all run out 

 as clean as it can be gotten out in any other 

 way, and I used to think that I could get out 

 100 pel' cent of it in a kettle of wat(>r. After all 

 the wax is out, and while the whole is still hot, 

 draw out the refuse witii a scrajier made of 

 wood for the purpose, when the extractor is left 

 all cl(>an for another batch of wax scraps. If 

 left till cold, this refuse will stick to the iron so 

 that it can not well be removed, owing to the 

 propolis that will always go in with the scraps. 

 A dish of suitable size should always stand un- 

 der the open end of the iron trough: and to keep 

 the dish level I use square pieces of wood of 

 diffei'ent thicknesses, so tiiat. by laying one on 

 to]) of the other, any elevation of the back end 

 can be overcome. To keep tln^ scraps from slid- 

 ing down into the dish of wax, which tiiey are 

 liable to do as .soon as they begin to melt, where 

 the elevation of the back end is great, as it has 

 to be in tiie fall of the year, I cut a piece of win^ 

 cloth so that the edge of the wire cloth will fit 

 the hollowing iron trougli. after which this wire 

 cloth is nailed to two suital)lc-sluiped pieces of 

 board, or pieces of sections, when a wii'e is at- 

 tached to each piece of section, when the other 

 end is bent at right angles, so that they will 

 drop into holes bored along the upper edge of 

 the body of the extractor. By having these 

 holes in different places this wire cloth is ad- 

 justable, so that, where but few scraps are put 

 in at each melting, they need cover but a small 

 V)art of the iron trough. Having got out several 

 lots of wax in varying amounts, I remelt it and 

 cake it in 3-lb. cakes, straining it so as to take 

 out all impui'ities, as I do so. In doing this I 

 allow 2 oz. foi- the impurities, putting 3 lbs. 2 oz. 

 each time into the extractor. For a strainer I 

 use two thicknesses of cheese-cloth, fixing this 

 cloth over a wire bent so as to form a hoop 5 

 inches in diameter. By drilling two holes at 

 the I'ight place in the front edge of the trough, 

 and passing two wires around the strainer wire, 

 and up through the holes in the trough, the 

 strainer is drawn up so it will not be down in 



the wax, and is held thus by bending the wires 

 over the front edge of the trough. In this way 

 I not only save all the wax made in the apiary, 

 but I let the sun put it in the best of shape for 

 the market, or my own use. 



In conclusion I will say that very little if any 

 thing about tiiis solar wax-extractor is oi'iginal 

 with me, but was made to suit me from little 

 items I picked up here and there regarding 

 them. I think I got the most of my ideas from 

 the writings of G. W. Demaree on the subject. 

 The size given is plenty large for 100 colonies, 

 but the dimensions can be varied to suit the 

 wants of any one. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y., Oct., 1890. 



You will see by the engraving above, friend 

 Doolittle, that we have made a little neater job. 

 There are fewer pieces: being dovetailed at the 

 corners, it is stronger; the glass-frame is easily 

 removable, and the whole thing, when covered, 

 is complete without any projections, save the 

 supporting legs to hold it at an angle toward 

 the sun. The size is a trifle different, as we 

 made ours to take a 14x28 glass — a size that can 

 be obtained at any hardware store. 



Now, friend Doolittle, instead of going to 

 work and giving so many pieces of so many 

 different sizes, I would recommend the one who 

 contemplates its construction to make a plain 

 box whose inside dimensions shall be 14 inches 

 wide, 29 inches long, and 7 inches deep. The 

 sides of said box (not the ends) are to be rabbet- 

 ed % deep and about }4 inch wide to receive the 

 glass-frame. The cover should be a similar 

 box, but only V.i inches deep, of the some dimen- 

 sions otherwise, and is likewise rabbeted on the 

 side rims. Yon will thus observe that the glass- 

 frame 29 inches long and 14J< inches wide can be 

 let down into the rabbet into the box, and that 

 the cover slips over the whole thing, and makes 

 a complete and neat box. The legs are 173^ 

 inches long, and are pivoted with a screw, as 

 shown in the engraving. The dovetailing is 

 not essential, but as it costs us no more we make 

 it so. 



The pan is simply a trough made of Russia 

 iron, one end of which is closed up, and the 

 sides are bent over a little bit so as to rest on 

 the rabbets in the sides of the box. The wire 

 screen is fastened about % of the way down, as 

 shown in the engraving, or just far enough to 

 admit of a Langstroth frame. I would suggest, 

 that in telling how to make a hive or any other 

 similar box, we give its inside length, depth, 

 and width, and he who constructs it can then 

 with less mental effort tell how to make it. 



I have carefully tested your solar wax-ex- 

 tractor, and feel very sure it is very much su- 

 perior to the one we have formerly advertised. 

 It doesn't clog up, and the wax, when it melts, 

 runs down an inclined plane, runs through the 

 screen, and fituxlly into the pan, and the pan is 

 allowed to stand in the direct rays of the sun, 

 the wax is kept liquid during the entire day, so 

 that all foreign substances will settle to the 

 bottom. E. R. 



