THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



May 



painted, so all of his arguments count 

 for naught. Then his "generally bees 

 get a chance to fly once or twice each 

 month " shows that he has no experience 

 in a climate where winter holds sway for 

 from four to five months, during which 

 bees rarely have a chance to fly even 

 once. Another thing, what he says about 

 when bees "'have a box fixed to their lik- 

 ing, it will be as tight as a tin can," 

 shows that he is not a close observer, or 

 else propolis varnish is very different in 

 his state than it is hei-e. Before the first 

 freezing weather in the fall, propolis of 

 the same season's gathering will be as he 

 explains; but with the freezing of win- 

 ter and the moi!>ture coming in contact 

 with it, the bright, shiny surface of this 

 varnish becomes dull and full of very 

 fine cracks and holes so that both 

 moisture and air pass through it very 

 much as does the air and moisture from 

 the human body on a zero night, when 

 we are snugly tucked up in our wollen 

 blankets and comforters. 



One other item and I will bring this 

 huigthy article to a close ; for this has 

 much to do with the lasting qualities of 

 an unpainted hive. Nearly all bee- 

 keepers here at the North now winter 

 all single-walled hives in the cellar, so 

 that the winter rains and storms do not 

 touch the hives. Then all practical, far- 

 seeing bee-keepers use a shade-board in 

 the summer to shii^ld the hive from the 

 direct rays of the sun, so that the heat 

 shall not drive the bees from the sections 

 and brood-combs on hot days, to the 

 outside of the iiive. And, to be as it 

 sliould be, this shade-board should be 

 impervious to water. Those I use are 

 covered with tin. When housed during 

 winter and covered by a proper shade- 

 l)(»ard during the time they are out door, 

 such a tiling as the soaked hive Brother 

 Miller alludes to, is out of the question. 

 Now. understanding things in their 

 true liglit, I am willing to allow eacli the 

 privilege of doing as they think best r(>- 

 garding this paint question, when using 

 single-walled hives. 



Borodino, N.Y.. March, lUOl. 



AN UP-TO-DATE WAX EXTRACTOR. 



Something of the Construction and Use 

 of the Machine which Represents the 

 Highest Achievements in the Science 

 of Rendering Beeswax. 



BY C. G. FEUUIS. 



LACK of space prevents our showing 

 a large half-tone repre-jenting six 

 cords of combs cut from the frames, 

 piled up and then photographed, show- 

 ing the result of what is known as black- 

 brood, pickled-brood or foul-brood 

 becoming mixed in among the lot. The 

 combs have been accumulating for the 

 past twenty-five year-*, ;i nd have been used 

 in producing extracte 1 honey exclus- 

 ively. To eradicate this disease and 

 transform this huge pile of combs into 

 choice wax, as is shown in No. 7, I call 

 your attention to my large three-basket 

 Combination Steam Wax-extractor, as 

 shown in No. ~'. This machine is made 



"Negloct i.s the rock on which many bee- 

 keepers have wrecked their success."" 



No. 2.— TnuKE-BAsivEr E.VTKAeron. 



to take one or more long, narrow baskets 

 (see No. 4) on the same princicle as frames 

 that we use in our hives. By being made 

 in this manner tin frames of comb can be 

 put directly into the basket in clusters, or 

 handfuls. of six each, without breaking 

 or otiun'wise changing them. Another 

 advantage of this construction is that the 

 live steam has a better chance to penetrate 

 than if made to hold eight or ten. A 



