1908 



GLEANINCJS IN BEE CULTURE. 



887 



two or three more small buildings for storage at 

 the out-yards; aiid as the yards at which they are 

 to be used contain only about 100 colonies each, 

 we decided on buildings only 10X12 feet, with 

 tiie frame on the outside. 



The cuts will make the construction clear. 

 Each side and end is made in one piece with ship- 

 lap running vertically. The roof is in two parts, 

 and covered with rubberoid roofing. The door 

 is 3X6^2 feet, while the window is about two 

 feet square. The cost, including a carpenter at 

 $4.00 for one day, is about $30.00 each. Such a 

 shop will hold six or seven hundred comb-honey 

 supers, or half as many full-depth extracting-su- 

 pers. One illustration shows the house in the flat 

 on the hay-rack, just after arriving at the Linder 

 yard. Another shows the house in the yard, 

 about half set up. The third shows the house 

 complete, with just a glimpse of the apiary at the 

 right, and part of our hive and super-hauling rack 

 at the left. 



Meridian, Ida. 



[This is one of the best-designed buildings 

 that has been submitted to the bee-keeping pub- 

 lic. The plan of putting the 2X4 braces on the 

 outside, and bolting them together at the ends, 

 is good — very good. — Ed.] 



WAX-RENDERING. 



The Hatch-Gemmil Press versus the Hot- 

 water System. 



BY J. L. BYER. 



During the past few years considerable has 

 been written regarding wax-presses and the differ- 

 ent methods of rendering wax; and it may be the 

 opinion of some that these subjects are somewhat 

 threadbare, and lacking of interest at the present 

 time. However, it is a fact that, notwithstand- 

 ing all that has been said and written, a large 

 number of bee-keepers are still doing without a 

 press, and annually ihro^ving atvay lots of good 

 wax which could, with a very little outlay, be 

 saved; and the work of securing ths larger amount 

 of wax would not be nearly so great as is the 

 case in securing a much less amount without a 

 press. 



In this connection, thanks of the bee-keepers 

 are due such men as Hershiser, Gemmil, Hatch, 

 and others for calling our attention to the fright- 

 ful waste of beeswax, unavoidable with the pro- 

 cesses of wax-rendering as practiced in past years. 



My first experience in trying to get wax from 

 old combs has, no doubt, been duplicated by 

 nearly all bee-keepers, and ihe results were of such 

 a nature that it is not to be wondered at that we 

 rather dreaded the job and often allowed such 

 combs to be destroyed by the moths, consoling 

 ourselves with the thought that "there was not 

 much loss anyway." 



The first press that it was the writer's privilege 

 to use was one built like the Root-German steam 

 press, only considerably smaller. When this 

 press arrived we thDught the problem of render- 

 ing the old combs was solved; but after a couple 

 of dajs' trial our enthusiasm waned quite rapid- 

 ly, as it was found that, for any large quantity of 



material to be handled, it would take weeks of 

 work to finish the job; and as we came to the 

 conclusian that our patience (to say nothing of 

 our time) was not equal to the occasion, the ma- 

 chine was voted a failure. 



We next purchased a press of the Hatch-Gem- 

 mil type, and have ever since used the same with 

 pleasure and profit; but before giving any more 

 particulars about this style of press I will give my 

 experience with the Root-German steam press. 



It will be remembered that Mr. F. Greiner, 

 some time ago, wrote up his experience with this 

 press in the columns of Gleanings, stating that 

 he was almost tempted to give up trying to get 

 the wax out of old combs, as the most wax he could 

 get in a day with the steam press was about 15 

 pounds. Seeing this, Mr. J. F. Davison, of 

 Unionville, Ont., asked me to try his Root-Ger- 

 man press and see how much wax I could get in 

 a day from old combs. In his opinion Mr. 

 Greiner's estimate was about right. 



To make a long story short, in the short time 

 we used the press, results were much in accord 

 with Mr. Greiner's experience; but before the day 

 was up we had caved in the bottom grates of the 

 machine. Quite a few have had this same ex- 

 perience; and, if I remember correctly, the senior 

 editor of Gle.'WINGS reported something of the 

 same nature. Used as it is supposed to be han- 

 dled, for any great amount of combs, this ma- 

 chine is not to be recommended as it is too slo^-w; 

 but it will get the wax all right if one is not par- 

 ticular as to time. A number having these presses 

 first melt up the combs in a wash-boiler or kettle, 

 and then put the mass through the pnss; and, 

 while this v\orks fairly satisfactorily, yet there is a 

 likelihood of putting in too much at one pressing 

 for good results, and, as previously pointed out, 

 there is the danger of putting on too much pres- 

 sure and bursting the machine. 



After using the Hatch-Gemmil press for some 

 time, the claims of the Hershiser and other hot- 

 vyatet presses coming into prominence we started 

 to save the slumgum from our press; and during 

 the past four years we have accumulated quite a 

 pile of this article. The treatment of some of 

 this slumgum with one of these hot-watf r presses 

 has, in connection with the requests of some bee- 

 keepers, led to the writing of this article. 



The press I have been using during the last 

 week is constructed on the principle of the one 

 described by Mr. Holtermann in Gleanings a 

 short time ago, only the one I have is much 

 stronger than the machine referred to. It is 

 practically tl e same system that is used by Mr. 

 Hershiser, only Mr. H.'s machine stands right on 

 the stove or furnace, while the one I used has the 

 mass of stuff to be pressed first heated in another 

 vessel, then transferred to the press, all then be- 

 ing surrounded and coxered with boiling vater. 

 An enormous pressure is applied by the tv^o-inch 

 screw with a four-fuot crowbar as a lever; and 

 just here I wish to remark that the screw as ordi- 

 narily used in the Hatch-Gemmil press is not, in 

 my opinion, strong enough to do good work in 

 pressing three or four cheeses as it is called to do 

 if said press is worked over into a hot water ma- 

 chine, as is recommended by some. Three hun- 

 dred and eighty pounds of slumgum was treated; 

 and, by the way, that amount of material, thor- 

 oughly dry, makes quite a bulky pile of stuff to 



