282 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUflE. 



Apr. 1 



pierced with holes. This is to contain the fragments 

 of wax to be melted. On the lower end of the screw 

 is a disk fitting exactlv into the perforate 1 cylinder. 

 The space between the inner cylinder and the on er 

 one is designed for the generation of steam. Through 

 the upper orifice pour warm or even hot water, and 

 place the apparatus on the stove. Pour in enough 



KOi,B & GROBEK STKAM WAX-PRESS. 



water to come up to the top of the glass observation- 

 hole. The steam soon causes the wax to melt, wh ch 

 runs out into a vessel beneath, which is partly filled 

 w Ih cold water. . . For more exttn>iive bee-keep- 

 ers the steam wax press is to be recommenderl. such 

 as is offered for sale by Kolb & Grober, in i, rch. 



This description will answer for any of the 

 other presses shown on this page. 



The solar extractor gives nice wax, but there re- 

 mains a good deal of wax in the refuse. Among the 

 small wax extractors, one of the best is one operated 

 by steam with a press. One of the.se implements, fur- 

 nished by the house of Rot^ert-Aubeit, is placed on a 

 stove, with hot water between the two sides, and on 

 the inside there is a small receptacle pierced like a 

 skimmer. It is there thit the wax melts and is 

 pressed. But the process is vei y long, and it is infi- 

 nitely better to melt the slunigum in a simple boiler, 

 and then dip out the melted wax with a dipper and 

 pour it into a sack fitted to the inner receptacle, 

 which is heated to the boiling point of water. It is 

 then pressed, and the sack removed to take out the 

 dross, or slumgum, and then begin again In work- 

 ing thus with this apparatus there is but very little 

 wax left in the slunigum. 



I said I was surprised that here in America 

 we had hitherto made comparatively little use 

 of the screw press in the ordinary steam wax- 

 extractors. I am the more surprised, because 

 the Europeans seem to have util'zed the com- 

 bination for nearly ten years. The fact that 

 so many machines are made, as will be seen 

 by the illustrations (and these illustrations in- 

 clude only a very few of the great variety), 

 would seem to indicate that the principle, 

 when rightly applied, is good. I have had 

 some experience in having the piles of slum- 

 gum chill in a wax-press of the Cary Hatch 

 principle while I was getting ready to put on 

 the ."squeeze ; but, as Mr. Hall says, there is 

 probably no need, if one works right, of hav- 



JflG. 11. — ROBERT-AUBERT STEAM WAX-PRESS 

 (FRENCH). 



Another writer in a French journal, L^Api- 

 culteur, says: 



FIG. 15. — ROfHSCUUETZ WAX-PRESS. 



ing this pile of refuse, or slumgum, just from 

 the boiler, and hot, chilled before the screw is 

 turned down. I am very sure it is true that 

 the average man would drizzle wax from the 

 boiler on the stove to the wax press on the 

 floor ; and for this reason, if for no other, the 

 combined machines would have the prefer- 

 ence. 



From what I can judge from the illustra- 

 tions I conclude that some of the German ma- 

 chines at least are mere toys compared with the 

 Ferris. The great trouble with the first-nam- 

 ed machines is that they are too small. Then 

 while they are standing on the stove I do not 

 see how suflficient pressure can be applied un- 

 less another person takes hold of the han- 

 dles while the operator himself turns down 

 the screw. 



I omitted to explain that the tops of all the 

 German machines are of cast iron. For the 

 purpose of standing the strain of the screw, 

 some of these cast-iron tops rest on gaskets 



