A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to the Interests of Honey Producers. 

 $L00 A YEAR. 

 w. z. HDTCHINSON. Editor and Proprietor. 



VOL. XVIII. FLINT, MICHIGAN, MAR. 15, 1905. NO. 3. 



P^en^eirini^ Bees^^ax mritlii Cofiif©rl 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



T HAVE been wondering- if all bee- 

 ^ keepers have such a time learning- 

 to render beeswax as we did. When 

 I say "we," I mean my wife and 

 myself; as she used to assist during- 

 the first few years of our bee-keeping- 

 experiences; and "experiences" they 

 were, too, I can assure you, when it 

 came to rendering- wax. 



A DECIDRDLY HUMOROUS ACCOUNT OF 



THE OLD WAY OF RENDERIkIG 



WAX. 



The first mistake the beginner is 

 likely to make, is in having- too hot a 

 fire when melting- up his cappings and 

 old combs. This causes the wax to 

 boil before it is melted, and ready to 

 set off the stove. In this case it is 

 liable to boil over on the stove and all 

 over the clean kitchen floor; possibly 

 take fire, and 8moke the white walls. 



We used to melt our wax in the fam- 

 ily wash boiler, and my wife says she 

 scarcely got her boiler nice and clean. 



so she could begin to boil her clothes 

 without their being- soiled, before an- 

 other year's wax was ready to render. 

 After it was melted we dipped off what 

 free wax arose to the top, and then our 

 troubles began. Space will not admit 

 of mentioning all of the contrivances 

 we have tried in separating- the wax 

 from the slumgum, but I will mention 

 a few: Strainers of cloth hung- around 

 the stove to drain; colanders, pans and 

 sieves set in the dripping- pan in the 

 oven; sacks of slumgum on the wash- 

 board, placed in the tub in the usual way, 

 and the rolling pin used to squeeze out 

 the wax. Yes, it spattered all over the 

 clean kitchen floor. Great times those. 

 The cat boarded away from home in 

 those days. Did anyone else ever 

 have such a time ? My wife says every 

 dish in the house was smeared with 

 wax. Then suck a time clearing up. 

 I don't know whether you will believe 

 it or not, but "honest Injun," even to 

 this day, my wife faints away every 

 time she hears beeswax mentioned 



