1903 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



161 



ated are wheu work is necessary on 

 some roiled or vicious colony, and 

 ■when some emergency calls for work 

 just as we are ready to go somewhere 

 and the daubing of the hands with 

 propolis means annoying delay. But 

 there are gloves and gloves. Rubber 

 ones are expensive, short lived, hot 

 and clumsy. Cotton ones invite too 

 many stings, and most leather ones 

 are little better. There are leather 

 gloves, however, that are superior to 

 all others; that are soft and flexible; 

 that on account of their treatment or 

 finish do not invite stings, and which 

 may be wiped clean of honey with a 

 damp cloth and propolis may be scrap- 

 ed from them with a dull knife, and 

 the glove wiped clean with a little gas- 

 oline or naptha. 



To those who habitually use gloves 

 and yet find them inconvenient when 

 picking up queens and similar work, 

 I would suggest cutting ofE a half-inch 

 of the fore-finger and thumb of each 

 glove, staying the seam from raveling 

 by a few stitches. 



Whether you keep one colony or one 

 hundred, have the best tools you can 

 get, and don't be afraid to pay a good 

 round price for them. Good ones are 

 cheap at most any price. 

 Providence, R. I., May 23, 1903. 



HOW TO SAVE WAX. 



(Bessie L. Putnam.) 



THE OLD bee-keeper fully real- 

 ized the value of wax and the 

 Importance both of saving the 

 finished product and supplying all 

 available substitutes. Experiments' 

 show that to make a single pound of 

 wax requires the consumption of 

 twenty pounds of honey. Hence, be- 

 sides inducing regular work in comb- 

 building, the advantage of using foun- 

 dation is too great from a financial 

 point of view to be omitted. 



W!i<^ie m;iny l:ecs are kept the wax 

 is cared for in the most approved man- 

 ner, and eveiy piece cai'efully hus- 

 banded. Not always so when the am- 

 ateur has charge of a few colonies. 

 Yet. if he but knew, evei-y piece past 

 usefulness in Its original capacity may 

 be converted into cash or its equiva- 

 lent. If discolored and unfit for market, 

 there are many httle household uses 

 for it. Save it all. 



A simple way of reducing it is to 

 pack into cloth sacks, (the loose cloth 

 in which salt or sugar Is put up will 

 be just the thing). Put them in a 

 boiler of water and heat slowly. When 

 all is melted put weights on the bags 

 and let the contents of the boiler cool. 

 The wax, which as soon as melted will 

 have risen to the surface, will cool and 

 harden and may be removed in a thick 

 cake. If there are still impurities in 

 it, repeat the process. By pressing 

 the bags while still boiling one may 

 press out more wax, but with it will 

 be considerable refuse matter. 



The general sentiment seems to be 

 that there is no way of removing wax 

 but by heating, and that it is cheaper 

 to burn the cloths used in sti-aining 

 than to clean them. By soaking in a 

 little kerosene for a few hours and 

 then cleaning with hot suds one may 

 get them into shape without very much 

 trouble. The kerosene softens the wax 

 so that it readily yields to the soap 

 and water. This plan will also prove 

 of great help in cleaning the other 

 utensils used in melting the wax. Let 

 them cool and scrape off the wax easi- 

 ly detached in that way, and the rem- 

 nants, which by old methods prove the 

 worst to remove, will give little 

 trouble. 



A ball of beeswax will be a most ac- 

 ceptable gift to the seamstress, to 

 keep her thread from knotting. A 

 small piece tied in a cloth to rub over 

 the flatiron will keep it smooth. Now 

 that carpets are being replaced by 

 waxed floors, its use in the household 

 will be greatly extended. Even the 

 small piece of wax is worth looking 

 after. 



Conneaut Lake, Pa., May 25, 1903. 





Whittier, Cal., May 2, 1903. 

 Dear Mr. Hill: 



You may be surprised to get word 

 from me from Southern California in- 

 stead of South Dakota. I left Dakota 

 in March and spent a week in Iowa 

 and found many bees among farmers 



