48 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



Woodman, of Grand Rapids, repre- 

 senting theG. B. Lewis Co., of Water- 

 town, Wis., will g-ive $3.00 worth of 

 supplies; for the second best lot, a 

 Bingham, brass, smoke engine worth 

 $1,75. Mr. Woodman also offers simi- 

 lar prizes for the best ten pounds of 

 extracted honey, quality and manner 

 of putting up for market to be con- 

 sidered. 



. M. H. Hunt & Son, Bell Branch, 

 Mich., offer $3.00 worth of supplies for 

 the best ten pounds of extracted honey, 

 quality and manner of putting up for 

 market to be considered, a jumbo, 

 Cornell, brass smoker as a second 

 prize, and a Bingham honey knife as a 

 third prize. 



The A. I. Root Co. offers a complete 

 Danzenbaker hive, nailed and painted, 

 ready for use, value $3.10, for the best 

 ten sections of honey produced in a 

 Danz. hive; for the second best lot, a 

 copy of the ABC of Bee Culture, 

 worth $1.20; for the third best, one 

 year's subscription to Gleanings, 

 worth $1.00. 



In addition to the above, the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review will give a year's 

 subscription to the Review, to every 

 man who wins any of the other prizes. 



It will be seen that a bee-keeper with 

 a nice case of comb honey, or ten 

 pounds of fine extracted, might, con- 

 sidering the reduced rates on the rail- 

 road, come 100 miles and receive prizes 

 enough to pay all of his expenses. 

 Come and bring your honey. If you 

 don't bring it you may be chagrined to 

 see a poorer lot than yours take first 

 prize. 



It may be of interest, also, to know 

 that the National Biscuit Co. will make 

 a display of their goods that are made 

 with honey. 



Through an oversight, Bro. York, of 

 the American Bee Journal, received no 

 invitation to contribute to the list of 

 prizes, and when publishing the fore- 

 going, he called attention to the fact 

 that he had received no invitation. I 



at once explained the matter, and in- 

 vited him to contribute, when he very 

 courteously made the same offer as 

 that made by the Review, viz., a year's 

 subscription to every man who wins 

 one of the other prizes. 



Tests Regarding the Purity of Beeswax. 



At the Northwestern convention, Mr. 

 C P. Dadant gave three tests for dis- 

 covering adulteration of beeswax. The 

 first is called the heat test, and is 

 based on the fact that other substances 

 melt at different temperature than 

 that at which wax melts. Beeswax 

 melts at about 140 degrees, while 

 ceresin melts at a temperature several 

 degrees lower. Mr. Dadant's plan is 

 to attach a piece of beeswax of known 

 purity to a round (dairy) thermometer, 

 also a piece of wax that is suspected 

 of being adulterated. Both pieces 

 ought to be of the same size. The 

 thermometer and pieces of wax are 

 then suspended in a wide-mouth jar or 

 bottle, and set upon a stove. Careful 

 watch is then kept to see at what de- 

 grees the two samples melt. A varia- 

 tion of several degrees shows conclus- 

 ively that the suspected sample is 

 adulterated. Combs built from founda- 

 tion made of wax adulterated with some 

 substance that melts at a lower temper- 

 ature than beeswax will likely break 

 down in hot weather. 



The next test mentioned by Mr. Da- 

 dant is the specific gravity test. Al- 

 cohol, which is lighter than water, is 

 mixed with water until a piece of bees- 

 wax will sink very slowly (almost re- 

 main standing where it is placed) then 

 a piece of suspected beeswax, of simi- 

 lar size and shape is placed in the 

 mixture. A very slight percentage of 

 paraffin will cause the wax to float, 

 while a large percentage will cause it 

 to pop up out of the mixture, as an 

 iceberg stands up above the sea. 



The next test is called the saponifi- 

 cation test, and is not generally known. 



