1900 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



215 



Now, will Editor Hill please tell 

 us why? Is it that the information 

 is of so little value that it is a waste 

 of space, or because there is no 

 bee-keeper who does not already 

 know it? 



Yes, we will try to tell why; 

 though at a loss to understand why 

 such a I'equest should be made by 

 •'the oldest bee-paper in America." 



After a body of wax has been 

 melted and permitted to remain at 

 a high temperature for a sufficient 

 length of time to allow the coarser 

 particles of foreign matter to set- 

 tle to the bottom, its color cannot 

 be perceptibly affected by the 

 length of time occupied in the pro- 

 cess of cooling. If the wax is the 

 procuct of new comb — comb in 

 which brood has not been reared or 

 otherwise discolored — it will appear 

 more nearly white than yellow; 

 and whether the cooling process 

 occupies fifteen days or fifteen min- 

 utes, it will not be "bright yellow." 

 Wax, such as ordinarily accumu- 

 lates in the apiary — scrapings from 

 top-bars, odd bits of comb, burr- 

 combs, hatched queen-cells, etc., 

 if rendered in a cleanly way, usually 

 yields bright, yellow product. 

 When it has been melted a suffic- 

 iently long time for the particles to 

 settle, it may be set out in a snow 

 storm, or into the refrigirator, and 

 it will still be the some "bright 

 yellow wax" that would result from 

 a slower process of cooling. Wax 

 of a bright yellow color sometimes 

 results in rendering combs that are 

 black with age; but more frequently 

 a product is obtained which ap- 

 proaches brown rather than yellow. 

 The exact cause of this variation in 

 color is yet an open question. 

 When the darker or stained wax 

 comes from the extractor it might 

 be placed in a room the tempera- 

 ture of which could be so controlled 

 that it would not conceal within a 



week, yet it would not be "bright 

 yellow." The acid treatment must 

 be resorted to to produce this de- 

 sirable color. In brief, "cooling 

 slowly" has nothing to do with the 

 "secret." The beginning of con- 

 gealation is the end of the purifying 

 process; if, perchance, that has not 

 already been reached, as a result of 

 the liquid state having been con- 

 tinued a sufficiently long time for 

 matter of greater or less specific 

 gravity to have separated itself 

 from the body of the wax. No, we 

 did not think that all bee-keepers 

 knew that cooling slowly would 

 produce bright yellow wax. We 

 thought they knew better. 



LITERARY NOTES. 



THE WAV TO WIN STRKNGTH. 



Tiie Romans won their eonpire by attacking their 

 enemies one by one. Besides this, tliey did not at- 

 tack a new enemy until they had conquered the 

 old enemy. They went farther still and, like the 

 English in conquering India, used their late ene- 

 mies as weapons against their new enemies : 

 and this is what we sliould do in learning and 

 practicing games and athletics. It is of little use 

 to try to conquer the whole empire at once. First 

 conquer a part and make it your own. Then pro- 

 ceed to a second part and conquer that; and, if 

 you can, let the parts which you have already con- 

 quered help you to conquer fresh parts. — Eustace 

 H. Miles, in the Saturday Evening Post. 



KTTCHKN WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 



Four teaspoonfuls of liquid make one table- 

 spoonful. 



Four tablespoonfuls of liquid, one gill or a 

 quarter of a cup. 



A tablespoonful of liquid, half an ounce. 



A pint of liquid weighs a pound. 



A quart of sifted flour, one pound. 



Four kitchen cupfuls of flour, one pound. 



Three kitchen cupfuls of eornmeal, one pound. 



One cup of butter, half a pound. 



A solid pint of chopped meat, one pound. 



Ten eggs, one pound. 



A dash of pepper, an eighth of a teaspoonful. 



A pint of brown sugar, thirteen ounces. 



Two cupfuls and a half of powdered sugar, one 

 pound. — November Ladies' Home Journal. 



THE YOUTH'S COMPANION CALENDAR. 



More thought and expense than ever before 

 have been lavished on the Calendar which the 



