228 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 12 1900. 



a decided advantage, inasmuch as they had honey to winter 

 on, with little or no honey in those whose frames had been 

 reverst several times. 



The claim was also made that the reversing of the 

 frames would do away with swarming, as the queens occu- 

 pying the reverst queen-cells all die. Many queens in the 

 embryo form would thus die ; but as swarms were sure to 

 issue from queens not killed by reversing, or by the swarms 

 coming out without any capt queen-cells, or little if any 

 preparation along the line of queen-cells, the reversing of 

 frames for this purpose proved fully as fallacious as for 

 section-honey. 



The only advantage I could ever discover by reversing 

 frames was that, by thus doing, the combs would be built 

 as perfectly to the bottom-bar of the frames as to the top- 

 bar, so that the trouble of ridding the frames of bees on 

 account of their hiding in the space between the bottom- 

 bar and the comb was obviated. While this was some gain, 

 yet I never found the gain here to be sufficient to pay for 

 the trouble and cost of reversible frames. This ean be ac- 

 complisht in other ways, such as placing the frames in an 

 upper story for one season, extracting the honey from the 

 same, or using such frames for winter stores. After they 

 are thus filled there is no necessity for placing them in the 

 upper story again, unless it is so desired for some other 

 purpose besides having the frame entirely filled with comb. 



RENDERING AND CLE.^NSING BEESWAX. 



Another correspondent writes: "I have a lot of old 

 combs which I wish to render into wax, and a lot of old 

 dirty beeswax which I wish to change to the nice yellow 

 wax usually found in the comb foundation sent out. Will 

 you tell me thru the columns of the American Bee Journal 

 how this can be done ?" 



Answer. — As to the old-comb part, I very much doubt 

 whether there is a better way for the rank and file of bee- 

 keepers to render such into wax than by using the sun or 

 solar wax-extractor. I have tried many plans, such as a 

 kettle of boiling water, with the comb placed in an old bur- 

 lap sack, the same being workt with a hoe or plunger till the 

 wax was workt out and rose to the top ; and other methods 

 of getting out by water ; the Swiss wax, and other steam 

 extractors ; the dry oven method, etc., but I have laid all of 

 these aside, and now use the solar wax-extractor altogether. 

 It has a convenience in storing combs and bits of wax, till 

 full, and then in rendering without "fuss or feathers," by 

 simply removing the covering from o\-er the glass on any 

 sunshiny day, not possest by anything else. Almost any 

 supply dealer keeps them for sale. 



It is claimed that all of the wax can not be gotten out 

 of the combs in this way, but if any person will take off 

 the glass frame, after the most of the wax has run out, and 

 with a trowel, or something similar, rub down the refuse, 

 so as to break down the cocoons that may remain whole, I 

 think he will have no trouble in securing fully 99 percent 

 of all the wax contained in any comb, no matter how old or 

 tough they may be. At least I never find any such quanti- 

 ties left in the " slumgum " from my wax-extractor as 

 others tell of, and I have boiled and prest it many times to 

 see if I was wasting enough to pay me for putting it thru 

 this process, as many claim they do. 



Regarding the cleansing part, wax coming from a solar 

 wax-extractor is more nearly perfect as regards any impuri- 

 ties than that obtained by any other process, and rarely 

 needs any cleansing except straining. At least that is my 

 experience, for it is always nice and yellow, no matter how 

 old and black may be the combs from which it came. Many 

 of the comb-foundation makers use certain chemicals to 

 bleach and cleanse their wax, if I mistake not, and if the 

 questioner has dirty wax to the amount of hundreds of 

 pounds, it may pay him to enquire of them. Regarding the 

 use of these I know nothing, and I doubt whether the ordi- 

 nary practical bee-keeper, with only a limited quantity of 

 wax, could make it pay to use chemicals for purifying bees- 

 wax even were he familiar with their use. 



Any plan by which the wax is kept in a liquid state for 

 a long time, the same being perfectly stationary during this 

 time and while cooling, and using quite a body of water 

 with the wax for the dirt to settle into, has a tendencj' to sep- 

 arate the impurities from the wax, and give it a bright yel- 

 low color. 



If, in addition to the above, a pint of good, strong 

 vinegar is used for every ten pounds of wax and one quart 

 of water, the result will be more satisfactory. My plan be- 

 fore using the solar wax-extractor was as follows : 



Put 10 pounds of wax, one quart of water, and one pint 

 of strong vinegar into a flaring tin dish, and set it on the | 



stove until the wax is melted and the whole becomes as hot 

 as it will bear without boiling over. If there are impurities 

 of any size it should now be strained thru common cotton- 

 cloth, or these impurities are likely to be partially imbedded 

 in the wax at the bottom of the cake when cold, so as to 

 make the job unsatisfactory. Having this accomplisht, 

 spread down two or three thicknesses of old carpet, or two 

 or three horse-blankets, where the wax is expected to stay 

 until cold ; then set the vessel of wax in the middle, and 

 wrap over the top and sides the unoccupied parts of the 

 blankets until the whole is well protected from the outside 

 air, so that the whole may be four or five hours in cooling. 

 If you will watch the liquid you have in the vessel before 

 covering it up, you will note that the whole mass seems to 

 be in agitation, rolling and turning about as tho if were 

 alive. This is the work of the vinegar, and that which 

 makes the dirt separate more perfectly from the wax than 

 it otherwise would. If strained as given above, there will 

 be onlj' a fine dross at the bottom of the cake, which is 

 easily separated from the wax by scraping with a dull knife. 



Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Breeding Bees for Business. , 



BY ERANK cover dale. 



I AM very glad to see that at least a few people in our 

 ranks are beginning to look more thoroly after a good 

 honej'-gathering stock of bees, and other good qualities, 

 such as hardiness, non-burr-comb builders, and white cap- 

 pers, all of which amount to a very great deal to a comb- 

 honey producer in full, and in part to the bee-keeper who 

 extracts. 



I must confess that I have heretofore been far too negli- 

 gent along this very important line. Who would believe 

 me, if I should say that a large portion of the queens sent 

 out by our breeders are behind the average black stock over 

 the country ? During the past two years I have purchast 

 upward of SO queens from different breeders, and nearly 

 every one has fallen short as a honey-gatherer, but for 

 beauty, gentleness and prolificness nearly all were by far 

 ahead of average black bees. 



The above fact, in my estimation, doesn't condemn any 

 race of bees, but strains of bees, or in other words, bees 

 that have been bred for a standard which did not take a 

 proper estimate of the honey-gathering quality. Bees left 

 to themselves in the wild state do of their own accord (in 

 the northern climate, at least) perpetuate the honey-gather- 

 ing qualities to quite a far-reaching degree ; . because a poor 

 season comes along at intervals, so poor that only the 

 greatest hustlers will have enough stored to carry them 

 thru. Just so among our slipshod bee-keepers of to-day — 

 one j'ear in 20 will use up a whole apiary from starvation 

 except a few of the best gatherers, which leaves good stock 

 to begin with after the poor, or, I should say, very poor sea- 

 son is gone. But can't we make the same selection every 

 year that would take nearly 20 years ? Progress is in a 

 rapid state on all lines, and I believe that the queen-breeder 

 of the future must look well after the more weighty matters. 

 A few years ago, when attending our State fair, and 

 going the rounds of the different bee and honey exhibits, I 

 came across a very beautiful strain of bees, and thej' ap- 

 peared to be very gentle ; I was assured by the owner of 

 them that they were hustlers both to gather honey and to 

 cap over their combs white. The gentleman did not make 

 a specialty of rearing queens, but he was anxious that I 

 should try his strain of bees, and at once made me a present 

 of one of his queens, which proved to excel all other queens 

 that I ever owned, either before or since. Her workers 

 would gather six and seven supers of honey while no other 

 of the 50 colonies by their side scarcely finisht half the 

 above amount, and nearly all the yard gathered only one 

 and two supers each. I would give SSO for such a queen for 

 my own use for next season, if I knew where she could be 

 found. Her offspring shows up yet wherever it is to be 

 found thru the home yard, but this queen was not made 

 proper use of on account of lack of time, and I am now very 

 sorry for that. 



I often think it would paj' me to do as the hog-breeders 

 do — go right to the bee-yard where the owner is producing 

 honey, during the main flow, and make a selection, buy a 

 queen from an extra-hustling colon}-, and take her right 

 home with me. Jackson Co., Iowa. 



The Premiums offered on page 237 are well worth work- 

 ing for. Look at them. 



