I'JIlO 



THE AMEJilCAX liEE-KEKl'ER. 



■i; 



Rendering Beeswax. 



BV F. GREINER. 



1[| WAS verj- much interested in Mr. 

 S Beckwith's method of rendering wax 

 -^ described in the Review. And as I 

 had a quantity of imperfect combs to work 

 up, I concluded I would try the method, 

 my Solar wax extractor not having 

 sufficient capacity. I made a pre.ss ac- 

 cording to the description given. It is a 

 lever-press, made of two pieces of plank 

 three or tour feet in length, hinged to- 

 gether at one end by two strong hinges 

 fitted over the plank properly, the other 

 ends of the plank narrowed down and 

 thus forming the handles by which the 

 press is to be operated. A strong bag is 

 made and the hot mass of melted combs 

 is ladled into it, care being taken not to 

 fill the strainer bag more than half full. 

 The press is now brought into service 

 when the contents of the strainer is press- 

 ed down into a flat cake. The press is 

 opened now, that cake doubled over itself 

 and pressed again. Once more the press 

 is opened, the bag and contents turned a 

 quarter way round, doubled over a second 

 time and pressed again, so that the residue 

 finally consists of four equal layers of dr}' 

 refuse, cocoons, etc. This according to 

 Mr. Beckwith. 



In my hands the press did not work 

 quite as well, although I made 150 lbs. of 

 wax with it last season. In the first 

 place, with the three or four feet -long 

 handles I was not able to lay out power 

 enough even when putting my whole 

 weight of 150 lbs. on same. In fact, 

 after I had spliced the handles to twice 

 that length my weight was no more than 

 sufficient. Then in this doubling and 

 quadrupling of the strainer, with its hot 

 contents, I did not have very good luck. 

 The mass would slip and slide, 

 the strainer would burst when it was 

 quadrupled, and so, at last. I gave that 

 up; at least, I could not successfully do 

 any more than fold the bag over once 

 and have it remain in place while press- 

 ing it. My own awkwardness may have 



been to blame, but if so, then I believe 

 there will be many others, who will also 

 fail for a like reason to accomplish what 

 Mr. B. did. 



I want to state here that from a .set of 

 combs I obtained about two pounds of 

 wax, which is not as well as others have 

 done. The refuse from the strainer 

 seemed to contain still quite a little wax 

 which might have been secured. 



The wax, as it conies from the press is 

 not yet in marketable shape and needs 

 remelting and moulding I want to tell 

 the readers of the American Bee-Keeper 

 how I managed this matter: 



I. W. BECKWITH AND HIS WAX SOrEEZER. 

 (Courtesy of Bee-Keepers' Review. 1 



I happened to have an old 5-gallon oil- 

 can; from it I cut the top and put in a 

 small brass-faucet about three inches 

 above the bottom. The can was then 

 ready for work. It was first filled with 

 water up to within one inch of faucet; 

 when the water was hot, the wax, in its 

 crude state, was added little by little as 

 it kept melting, till the can was nearly 



