190U 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



65 



Mr. Reeve did, nor by starting robbing 

 tlirough wire cloth, as can generally be 

 done by managing as he did. But th(; 

 (jood thing that I wish to bring out of 

 Bro. Reeves" article was that "zinc en- 

 trance guard" whicli caused those de- 

 moralized bees to maUe a "bold defense 

 behind it,"" thus driving "the interlop- 

 ers away." Robber bees do not like to 

 squeeze through any hole when there 

 are defenders behind such hole or holes 

 ready to seize them while they are 

 squeezing through, or immediately after 

 tliey are tlirough and while squeezing 

 out again. And for this reason a piece 

 of perforated zinc placed at the front of 

 an "awning" of wood which juts out 

 from one to two inches from the hive in 

 front of the entrance, is an admirable 

 thing to use for the prevention of robbing 

 or to suppress robbing after it has start- 

 ed. As soon as it is placed in front 

 of the entrance, the robbers will all be 

 seen trying to get in where the awning 

 comes up against the hive, rather than 

 out where the perforated metal is; while 

 the loaded robber bees which are in, 

 and the hive bees, go out from the per- 

 forated metal, and the hive bees go in 

 there. That one thing brought out by 

 Mr. Reeve is worth more than the price 

 of this paper one year to any bee-keeper 

 who has not used it before, and for this 

 reason I have used a large share of the 

 space allotted me, in making it, and the 

 robbing in confinement matter plain: 

 or rather in trying to make it plain. 

 "rendering beeswax. ' 

 That article by F. Greiner, found on 

 pages 47-48, regarding rendering beeswax 

 is well worth a careful perusal, for in it 

 are some exceedinglv good things, not 

 the least of which is that in caking wax 

 new bright tin should be used, if you 

 wish wax of nice color and appearance. 

 Then his oil-can, faucet arrangement 

 is fine, for by thus being able to draw 

 off the melted wax. after it has stood in 

 a molten condition for one or two hours, 

 so that no sediment or scum shall ap- 



pear with the wax, an article can be ob- 

 tained which will give joy to the one 

 producing it. But to my mind the press 

 part njatter can be improved upon, 

 where wax is to be gotten out in a 

 wholesale way by the hot water process. 

 Take a caldron or any other kettle that 

 will hold fiv<^ or more pails, and fill half 

 full of water, placing the same over the 

 fire. While the water is getting hot put 

 your combs and wax into the "strong 

 bag." used by Messrs. Beckwith & Grin- 

 der, or as much of it as you can get in, 

 tying tlie mouth. Now put it in the 

 kettle of water, and with a hoe work the 

 contents of the bag till all is melted and 

 much of the wax worked out. If all of 

 the old comb was not got in at first, 

 draw the mouth of bag to top of water 

 and side of kettle, untie and put in 

 again, and so on till all is in, working 

 with the hoe each time. Now bring bag 

 to top again and tie as close as possible 

 to residue in bag. Previous to this you 

 •should have fitted a suitable sized piece 

 of plank to the bottom of the kettle, 

 nailing this piece, after fitting, to the 

 bottom of a standard of a suitable size 

 and length, this standard having the up- 

 per end fitted or hinged to a 4x4 scant- 

 ling twelve to sixteen feet long. Now 

 fasten a log chain to the ears or bail of 

 the kettle, having it go over the end of 

 the scantling, near which the standard 

 is hinged. Next place the plank fitted 

 to the bottom of the kettle on the bag 

 of refuse, then hinge or fasten the stan- 

 dard to the scantling so that a powerful 

 fulcrum is made of the standard when 

 you put your weight on the long end of 

 the scantling, which is now turned into 

 a lever. Go gently at first, using a rock- 

 ing motion on the lever, bringing more 

 and more power to bear on it, till you 

 think you have given all the pressure 

 the bag will stand. When this is done, 

 hang a weight on the end of the scant- 

 ling where you liad put on the pressure, 

 and leave the thing to cool off till the 

 next morning. The next morning you 

 will find the wax all on top in a hard- 



