278 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



irregular cakes should be put direct into the 

 baskets, and then run rapidly into the wax- 

 refiner at 1, and into 2, as given above. 

 Cooling bodies contract so after filling the 

 buckets full we do not trj' to empty them 

 of wax until they cool sufficiently to almost 

 drop out, as they will after a time. The re- 

 sults are shown in No. 7, in having nice 

 even cakes of choice wax ready for crating. 

 While rendering combs as shown in Fig. 1, 

 many of them were white drone combs, and 

 new foundation that had not been brooded 

 in. Those were put to one side with the in- 

 tention of having a choice quality of wax that 

 would command a higher price than ordina- 

 rily. When the old combs and the new had 



THE HATCH-GEMMILL WAX PRESS. 



Why a Detached Press is to be Preferred to a Com- 

 bined Steam and Wax Press. 



BY F. A. GEMMILL. 



Some years ago I had occasion to melt up a 

 large quantity of old brood-combs, varying in 

 age from five to fifteen years ; and, as a result, 

 have had considerable experience in rendering 

 such in order to secure the greatest amount of 

 wax therefrom, with the least possible loss of 

 time, labor, and expense. 



The Dadant (or gunny-sack) plan, probably 

 best known to your readers, was the one first 

 used. Next came the solar system, a la Board- 



FIG. /. — WAX RENDERED FROM SIX CORDS OF COMB. 



been refined, there was no diiTerence between 

 the two lots. This is sufficient to show its 

 value used in connection with any steam 

 wax-extractor. 



South Columbia, N. Y. 



[Mr. Ferris' experiment, showing the saving 

 effected by a press, is somewhat startling in its 

 results. It would look as if the old-fashioned 

 steam -extractors took, under certain condi- 

 tions, only 50 per cent of the wax in the old 

 combs. In the experiment under consider- 

 ation, the press actually saved g lbs. of wax, 

 nearly. At an average price of 2^ cts. per lb., 

 this would be $2 2^. At this rate, how long 

 would it take to pay for a press, either as a 

 part of the steamer or as a separate machine 

 like the Gemmill Hatch press? Referring to 

 this last machine, I have asked Mr. Gemmill 

 to tell of his experiments in detail, which he 

 does. — Ed.] 



man — a capital method for uncappings, and 

 combs containing few cocoons, and little or 

 no pollen. 



Liter the Doolittle arrangement, combining 

 pressure while the combs were still immersed 

 in boiling water, and manipulated out of doors, 

 was discouraged by a friend of mine, and I 

 therefore next tried the Swiss sttam or Ferris 

 system, all of which satisfied me that much 

 wax was being lost for want of proper and 

 economical plans to secure it from such combs 

 as described. The Salisbury method of treat- 

 ing the refuse or cocoons with acid did not get 

 a trial, for the reason that I could not readily 

 arrange for so doing. After considering the 

 results of my experiments, I concluded to use 

 pressure in some form, and finally adopted a 

 modification of the Cary-Hatch or cheese- 

 press process, as illustrated and described on 

 page 31-5 of 52d thousand of A B C book, pub- 

 lished by the Root Co., with some improve- 



