The Production and Care of Beeswax 335 



FIG. 139. Double boiler for melting combs. 



will settle at the bottom in cooling and may be cut from the 



cake. A common method for melting combs and pieces of 



wax is by the use of the solar wax extractor, the combs being 



put in a box covered with glass and the heat of the sun, 



being confined by the glass, melts the wax, which runs into 



a lower compartment where it hardens. In Hawaii, the 



beekeepers have unusually large solar extractors to melt 



their cappings as 



well as other 



pieces of comb. 



A more rapid 



method is to place 



the combs in a 



double boiler (Fig. 



139), the combs 



being either hung 



on cross supports 



or thrown on a 



screen (like that 



in an uncapping tank) and as the wax melts it runs out a 



gate provided for the purpose. A less efficient method is 



to boil combs in water and skim off the wax. Doctor Miller 



finds a dripping pan in the oven of the kitchen stove a 



good substitute for a solar extractor in the winter. 



Wax presses. 



These methods are satisfactory for clean combs, free 

 from pollen, cocoons and other substances, but in the case 

 of old combs much of the wax adheres to the cocoons 

 and is not liberated. To render old combs they should (if 

 the weather is cold) be broken up and then soaked in water 

 after which they should be put into a sack, heated and pressed 

 under strong pressure while hot. In this way most of the 

 wax is removed from the cocoons. There are three types 

 of press in common use. In the steam heated press the 

 mass of comb is kept hot by steam generated below dur- 

 ing the process of pressing out the wax, which drops down 



