370 



Tin-: BEE-KEEPEKS' KEVIEW 



C. Miller calls attention to this point in 

 his excellent article of last month, and 

 intimates that there is a better method 

 than that of pressure, but does not sa_v 

 what that method is. From a short 

 article of his that appears in a late 

 issue of the American Bee Journal, I 

 think we may get an inkling of his 

 ideas on the subject. Here are two or 

 three paragraphs clipped from that 

 article: — 



Not long since there appeared in 

 these columns an article by Mr. Da- 

 dant describing a French contrivance 

 for recovering wax, consisting of a 

 double ended paddle rotating below a 

 strainer. The kettle, or pail, was to 

 be filled with water and comb, the pad- 

 dle and strainer adjusted, and as the 

 paddle stirred the mass below the 

 strainer, the freed wax rose to the sur- 

 face. Aside from a brief adverse com- 

 ment by Mr. Hast}', no notice appears 

 to have been taken of it. and yet ivithin 

 that tittle contrivance lie the true prin- 

 ciples for the extraction oj wax. To be 

 sure, the machine is incomplete and 

 crude, but, properl}' developed, it is to 

 be the wax-extractor of the future. 



Old comb consists of various kinds 

 of fiber and other substances of an 

 absorbent nature, and as soon as the 

 mass reaches the melting point of wax 

 these substances take it up. To get it 

 out, the mass is squeezed; but until you 

 can squeeze a sponge dry, do not expect 

 io press all the wax from a mass of old 

 comb. When melted under water the 

 absorbent substances take up much of 

 it, affordingbetter opportunity for more 

 wax to be secured; but even then the 

 mass must be agitated in order to per- 

 mit the wax to escape, and to make the 

 operation complete some device must 

 be used to break up every particle of 

 the comb. 



Besides these features, some device 

 must be had for skimming off the wax 

 as it rises, so that when all is extracted 

 the refuse may be immediatelj' removed 

 and the machine recha/ged. 



A machine properly constructed em- 

 bodying these features will secure all 

 the wax, and do it rapidlj' and easily. 



Whom Shall we Elect as Officers ? 

 Written in red ink upon one of the 

 ballots cast in the recent election was 

 the following: "There is little use in 



voting. The 'big four' have things 

 now so arranged that it is simply im- 

 possible to elect a man from the rank 

 and file. " 



In nearly every organization there 

 may usuall}' be found a few malcon- 

 tents whose chief pleasure is found in 

 sarcastic flings about the officers or the 

 management of the association. For 

 instance, what particular virtue is 

 there in electing to office a man "from 

 the rank and file?" Is such a man 

 more likely to make a goodofiflcer than 

 the one who, by hand, or pen, or 

 tongue, has made himself favorably 

 known among the fraternity ? The 

 very qualities which have brought a 

 man into prominence are often those 

 that are needed in an officer; and to 

 sneer because sucii men are chosen, in- 

 stead of some great unknown, shows 

 poor taste, to say the least. During 

 the last few years, quite a number of 

 changes have been made in the offi- 

 ciary of the National, and I happen to 

 know that some of them have come 

 about because good men have become 

 heartilj' sick of having their motives 

 impugned by just such sarcastic flings 

 as the above. If anything goes wrong 

 with the Association, it is perfectl}' 

 proper to point it out in a decent, re- 

 spectable manner, but there is no room 

 for the chronic, pessimistic calamity 

 howler. 



Caucasian Bees. 



It would be well it those who are 

 thinking of giving these bees a trial, 

 would exercise a little caution. If you 

 feel that you must give them a trial, 

 don't let anj' of their drones fl}', and 

 thus allow an opportunity for this 

 blood to become mixed into the apiar}'. 



When over at the Ontario convention 

 held recently in Toronto, Mr. J. B. 

 Hall told me that he gave the Caucasi- 

 ans a trial as much as 20 years ago. 

 He got two nuclei of Julius HofiFman, 

 who secured them through some gov- 

 ernment official in Russia. These two 



