338 Beekeeping 



is much wax still in the dirt it may be kept to put in the 

 next melting and the dirt will gradually be eliminated. 



Extensive dealers in wax use a little sulfuric acid to 

 assist in cleaning the wax. Manufacturers of comb-founda- 

 tion usually advise against this practice because beekeepers 

 often use too much acid. A proportion of not more than 

 one pint to forty gallons of water should be used, this water 

 being sufficient for the melting of 750 pounds of wax. 



Granulation of wax. 



In rendering, wax may be formed into an emulsion due 

 to the presence of gums in the honey which adheres to the 

 combs and on hardening this resembles a thick paste of 

 corn meal. Many beekeepers believe that this is pollen 

 from the combs and throw it away. It is, however, almost 

 solid wax. In melting up combs which had contained honey- 

 dew on one occasion the author found the whole mass of 

 wax in this condition after cooling. Such granulated wax 

 (as it is usually called) should be melted slowly by dry 

 heat (not in water) and with care the wax may be saved. 

 It is claimed that this emulsion is less common when sul- 

 furic acid is used in clearing and Dadant claims that it is 

 increased by excessive heat. The important fact for the 

 beekeeper is that this is not pollen and should be saved. 



Bleaching wax. 



The bleaching of wax is rarely done by the beekeeper and 

 requires little mention in a book on beekeeping. It is inter- 

 esting to note, however, that waxes from various regions vary 

 greatly in bleaching, some of the darker waxes being easily 

 bleached while some lighter waxes do not respond to this 

 treatment. Presumably this is due to the kind of honey 

 and pollen available to the bees when the wax was secreted. 

 Wax dealers claim that wax from some of the southern 

 States is the best obtainable in the United States for bleach- 

 ing. Usually wax is cut into thin ribbons and exposed to 

 sunlight, but chemicals are sometimes used in bleaching. 



