50 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



The following from Mr. R. F. Holter- 

 inann was read, on 



Some Facts not Generally Known 

 about Rendering Beeswax. 



The subject to which I am about to 

 refer I shall not attempt to clothe in 

 much language, but it is important, and 

 particularly so in view of recent discus- 

 sions upon the spread of foul-brood 

 through wax, and how it is to be pre- 

 vented. 



We know that there is scarcely any, if 

 any, natural produce, be it in the ani- 

 mal or vegetable kingdom, which can be 

 heated to any material degree above 

 that in which it was produced, and re- 

 tain the same properties of nature as it 

 did before so heated, yet we appear to 

 ignore the fact in the melting of bees- 

 wax. 



The general bee-keeping public do not 

 appear to be aware that wax can be 

 injured by heating almost to the boiling 

 point, or by long and continuous heat- 

 ing at a somewhat lower temperature. 

 Is such the fact ? I am convinced that 

 whilst the average wax is rendered with 

 less injury now 'than in former years, 

 the average wax has lost a portion of 

 the valuable properties which it pos- 

 sessed when first generated by the bee. 



Of course, you have a right to ask, Is 

 this a suggestion upon the line of which 

 I wish you to experiment and observe in 

 the future, or have I proof ? Well, it is 

 both. I believe it will only require care- 

 ful reflection and a few arguments in 

 favor of my— call it theory, if you like, 

 to lead many of you to at least reflect. 



Wax produced in countries consider- 

 ably south of us, should surely, if any- 

 thing, be stronger and better able to 

 resist a high temperature, and yet the 

 average beeswax from the South will 

 break more easily in the hive than our 

 own. After months of reflection, I can 

 only come to the conclusion that the 

 reason is, that in these localities the 

 methods of rendering are more crude, 

 and it is more liable to injury from over- 

 heating in that process. 



Again, I know and have seen, comb- 

 foundation made from wax rendered in 

 the solar wax extractor, put in the hive 

 much thinner than ordinarily, and yet 

 not sag or break down. I could assign 

 no other reason for this, than that by 

 the rendering it received less injury, as 

 it had not likely reac^hed the same tem- 

 perature as that rendered by different 

 methods. 



Observation has led mo to conclude 

 that natural comb is, for the amount of 



wax in it, stronger than that built from 

 the average beeswax for comb-founda- 

 tion. I can assign no other reason for 

 this than that already given. You will 

 all be able to understand what this has 

 to do with the foul-brood question. 



Instances of foul-brood, although never 

 in my own apiary, have come under my 

 notice, and I do not feel inclined to be- 

 lieve that the disease is spread through 

 beeswax after melting. Yet we should 

 use every precaution until we are sure 

 it is not so spread. 



If we have to injure our beeswax by 

 using such a precaution, it is certainly 

 time steps were taken to find out if the 

 disease of foul-brood can be spread as 

 indicated, and that arrangements were 

 made to properly test the matter. 



R. F. HOLTERMANN. 



KiUeJ liy tlie Slim of a Bee. 



DR. .J. W. VANCE. 



We read not long since in a medical 

 journal the statement that a young man, 

 Wm. H. Danley, of Williamsport, Pa., 

 died from the sting of a bee in 15 min- 

 utes from the time he received the 

 sting. Mr. D. complained of excruciat- 

 ing pain ; his hand at once began to 

 swell rapidly, and in a few minutes his 

 whole system was affected. Ten min- 

 utes after being stung, he fell into a 

 comatose condition, and before aid could 

 be summoned, he was dead. 



There were some surmises as to the 

 why and wherefore, but it is idle to 

 attempt to explain why a bee-sting will 

 kill a robust young man, when so many 

 delicate people are stung hundreds of 

 times every Summer with no poisonous 

 effects, except a slight local inflamma- 

 tion. We were somewhat am used by the 

 query of the writer in the medical jour- 

 nal, that the bee that stung the deceased 

 might have imbibed some virulent 

 poison. 



It caused us to ask, whence do bees 

 imbibe the ordinary poison with which 

 they charge their stings ? 



About all we know of the nature of 

 the poison is that it is similar to formic 

 acid, but what its relative component 

 ingredients of carbon, hydrogen and 

 oxygen are, we have not yet found out. 

 It is a secretion of certain glands that is 

 gathered into a receptacle called the 

 poison sac. Usually, when the bee in- 

 flicts a sting, the poison sac is lost with 

 the sting, which becomes fixed in the 

 skin, by the minute barbs with which 



