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633 



Meltins 



WAX. 



Combs by the Solar 

 Heal, etc. 



Written for the Pacific Rural Press 



BY E. H. SCHAEFFLE. 



It is ail easj- matter to melt down a 

 a lot of eomi), but quite diflerent to 

 produce a brij^ht, yellow wax that will 

 command the best prices. In the bee- 

 business it is important that everything 

 should be made to realize the highest 

 price, as that is usually very low. 

 Leaving out all of the expensive ap- 

 pliances, there is within the reach of 

 every bee-keeper the home-made solar 

 wax-extractor and the old can or ket- 

 tle. By the proper use of these inex- 

 pensive wajs, as tine wa.x can be pro- 

 duced from the oldest brood-comb as 

 can be obtained through the use of 

 any patented appliance. The best re- 

 sults and least labor attends the 



Solar Wax-Extractor. 



This is a light V-shaped box into 

 which a V-shaped tin can, with flaring 

 sides and ends projecting above and 

 outward, is placed. Half way down 

 the can a tray is titted in snugly, and 

 over this is tacked wire-screen cloth. 

 Above this, far enough to allow space 

 for wax, is the lid with a glass cover. 

 This must be tight to keep out the 

 bees. Place the wax on the screen, 

 put down the lid, set the extractor in 

 the sunlight, and you will have bright 

 yellow wax from all kinds of comb. 

 Save the white, which will make an 

 article similar to the bleached wax of 

 commerce. In the absence of tin- 

 smith's tools, the following 



Home-Made Solar Extractor 



will be found to answer every purpose, 

 though not quite as convenient : Tack 

 two boards together, V-shaped, have 

 them half-inch larger than a five-gallon 

 coal-oil can. Across the ends of this 

 V tack boards to act as rests. This is 

 your holder. 



With a can-opener cut a coal-oil can 

 from top to bottom, on the corner. 

 From this cut, cut each way at each 

 end to the next corner ; bend out the 

 sides and ends for retiectors. Half- 

 wa5' down the V set a snug-fitting tray 

 covered with screen cloth. Across the 

 top of the V, and below the flaring 

 sides, fit a pane of glass, or several 

 pieces of glass can be laid across, tak- 

 ing care to close all the edges so as to 

 keep the bees out. Drop your can into 

 the V-shaped holder, put in the comb, 

 set the extractor in the sun, and let 

 her go ! 



Those who perfer to melt their comb 

 over a fire will find that a very bright 

 article of wax can be pi-oduced, pro- 



vided the can or kettle in which the 

 wax is melted, is clean. The wax 

 should not be allowed to boil. Fill the 

 kettle up with water ; when the wax is 

 melted, pour into a box set over a pan. 

 Have the bottom of the box covered 

 with screen cloth. Set the strained 

 wax and water out in the hot sun, for 

 which midday will be found the best 

 time. Tie a cloth over the pan to keep 

 out the bees. Allow the pan to sit 

 until the following morning, and then 

 take out your wax and scrape oft' all 

 the dirt adhering to the under side. If 

 you wish it extra nice, re-melt with 

 water, and set out in the sun as before. 

 Old black wax can in this way be very 

 materiallj' improved in appearance. 

 The secret lies in plenty of water, a 

 clean kettle, not letting the wax boil, 

 and, the most important part, in put- 

 ting the liquid wax into a liot place 

 and keeping it there, as the slower it 

 cools, or the longer it remains liquid 

 the cleaner it will be, as all the dirt is 

 given a chance to settle before the wax 

 becomes stiff. 

 Murphys, Calif. 



GOLDEN-ROD. 



It Is a Good Honey.Plaut in 

 WiscoiiMii. 



Wrltteii for the American Bee Journal 

 BY PAUL SCHECBING. 



Golden-rod is a valuable honey- 

 plant, at least in some localities. Mr. 

 Eugene Secor (page 585) wants to 

 know if golden-rod is not over-esti- 

 mated as a honey-plant. I, for one, 

 think that it is not. I have 50 colonies 

 23 miles from my home, in a good 

 golden-rod district, this year, and I 

 got an average of 30 sections per col- 

 ony of nice golden-rod honey, after 

 Aug. 10 ; the sections being so well 

 filled, and tiic honey so heavj% that 

 some of the cases of 30 sections each, 

 weigh as high as 3-t pounds. The sec- 

 tions are 4]x41x2, as I use separators. 

 Two years ago I hived 2 swarms of 

 bees together in one hive on Aug. 11, 

 and took 180 pounds of golden-rod 

 honey from them before I put them 

 into winter quarters ; but apart of this 

 was in 1] -pound sections, and the rest 

 in one-pound sections. I wish that 

 Mr. Secor could be in the neighbor- 

 hood of my apiary in the evening, 

 when the bees are working on golden- 

 rod, and just inhale the air for one 

 minute — it is perfectly delicious ! 



The wild sun-flouers, of which Mr. 

 S. speaks, are not plentiful here, but 

 the bees work on them also, but the 

 honey is darker than that from golden- 

 rod, and nearly eveiy bee has bee- 

 bread when thev work on the sun- 



flowers, which is not the case with 

 golden-rod. 



Once I visited a bee-keeper some 50 

 miles south of here, where there was 

 plenty of golden-rod ; he told me that 

 his bees never got any honey from 

 golden-rod, to amount to anything. I 

 was surprised, but he assured me that 

 it was a fact. Here the bees fairly 

 swarm on the golden-rod, when the 

 weather is just right. I would state 

 that I have never had 5 pounds of 

 buckwheat honey per colony, although 

 there would be several hundreds of 

 acres of it within reach of my bees. 

 They get a little sometimes, as I can 

 smell it, but they use it as fast as they 

 get it. 



De Pere, Wis. 



BEE-SUPPLIES. 



Importance of Ordering Supplier 

 Before llic Season Begins, etc. 



Written for the Americayi BeeJoumcU 

 BY REV. STEPHEN ROESE. 



The season of 1889 has been the 

 busiest with bees since I have kept 

 them. Since swarming began, I have 

 had not even time to correspond with 

 friend or relative; from daylight until 

 dark in the harness, and the worst of 

 all was, when swarming began, my 

 long-looked-for and expected supplies 

 did not come — in fact they did not 

 reach me until swarming was all over. 

 I had to rob all old colonies of tlio 

 upper stories, to put bees in, and even 

 take frames from them to supply new 

 swarms, hoping from one day to 

 another for the goods to come ; until 

 finall}' I was compelled to rip frames 

 out of boai'ds, and at last I put the bees 

 into starch, soap and candy boxes. 



Such torment and anxietj' of mind I 

 do not wish to return in mj- future 

 daj's. From sunrise to sundown, the 

 hum of swarming was kept up — 5 and 

 6 swarms on the wing at the same 

 time ; I could not even take time to 

 cat ni}' meals, and I often thought of 

 what Gen. Wellington said at the bat- 

 tle of Waterloo, viz : " I wish it was 

 night, or that Blucher would come C 

 but I did not wish for Blucher nor the 

 Prussians, for it was hot enough for me 

 without them, and the needle guns 

 and Krupp's cannons. 



One daj- 13 swarms came out, (J of 

 that number at one time, and they 

 united in one body, clustering after a 

 half hour's stroll all over the yard. At 

 last they settled on the trunk of a dead 

 apple-tree, about 6 feet from the 

 ground, where it began to branch out. 

 After being settled, it was a rare sight, 

 resembling a huge bear sitting on its 

 haunches. But the worst sight camo 



