FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 323 



bees ; remove the queen and at the same time give a ripe 

 queen-cell or a very young virgin, which cell or virgin 

 shall be of the most vigorous stock, and trust the bees 

 to do the rest. 



Now please remember that I do not give this as a 

 treatment well tried and thoroughly reliable. My theory 

 is only a theory, and the plan of treatment needs con- 

 firmation, as the newspapers say. I only say that I 

 think the treatment worth trying because it has worked 

 with some success so far ; and if it proves successful 

 with others it will be no small gain. 



Remember, too, that it is European foul brood I am 

 talking about. For American foul brood the plan would 

 be worthless. 



DRIPPING-PAN WAX-EXTRACTOR. 



Before the introduction of the solar wax-extractor, 

 the rendering of wax was generally reserved as winter's 

 w^ork, and indeed after the introduction of the solar it was 

 often convenient to work up in winter some of the mate- 

 rial saved up. A very simple arrangement on a small 

 scale did excellent work on much the same principle as 

 the solar extractor, only the heat of the stove was used in 

 place of solar heat. 



An old dripping-pan (of course a new one would 

 do) had one corner split open, and that made the ex- 

 tractor. The dripping-pan is put into the oven of a cook- 

 stove with the split corner projecting out (Fig. 107). 

 The opposite corner, the one farthest in the oven, is 

 slightly raised by having a pebble or something of the 

 kind under it, so that the melted wax will run outward. 

 A dish set under catches the dripping wax, making the 

 outfit complete. Of course the material to be melted is 

 put in the pan the same as in the solar extractor. 



SOLAR WAX-EXTRACTOR. 



I do not know that the solar extractor has any ad- 

 vantage over the dripping-pan arrangement, except that 



