660 



American Itee Journal 



The extracting of wax was a messy job, and because 

 of this disagreeable feature, various other means of obtain- 

 ing it have from time to time been devised, but classified 

 with reference to the principles involved, they may all be 

 brought under three heads, namely, the sun or solar ; the 

 steam and the hot-water methods. Practically there is but 

 one solar method, but of the others, the steam and the hot 

 water, the variations and the combinations are too numer- 

 ous to mention in detail. 



The solar extractor, with which most of you are familiar, 

 is an excellent method of obtaining wax from cappings. The 

 wax is of superior quality, which is attributable to the 

 bleaching power of the sun, but mostly due to the fact that 

 cappings are nearly pure wax with very little dark coloring 

 matter in them. 



For extracting cappings the solar is, perhaps, the most 

 economical, as there is no expense for fuel, and no time re- 

 quired in its operation, except to fill it and to remove the 

 wax. Moreover, in the extracting of cappings the amount 

 of slumgum resulting is very small. When it comes to ex- 

 tracting wax from old combs the solar method is about 

 the least desirable. Some wax can be obtained, but scarcely 

 enough to pay for cost, maintenance and operating the ma- 

 chine. The difficulty with the solar method, in extracting old 

 comb, is that the latter is usually largely made up of cast-off 

 cocoons of the larval bees, pollen, propolis and other for- 

 eign materials, which act as a sponge to absorb and hold 

 the wax, preventing it from flowing out into the receptacle 

 when melted. The extractor becomes choked with slumgum 

 from each filling, and this refuse contains from 25 percent 

 to 30 percent of pure wax. The percentage of wax remaining 

 in the slumgum from cappings is even higher, but the small 

 quantity of such refuse makes it of little consequence. 



The solar extractor is perfect as far as perfection may 

 reasonablv be expected in it ; that is, to get out all the wax that 

 will drain off it by gravity. It is simple and cheap to con- 

 struct and operate, requires no artificial fuel, and is no more 

 mussy than any other method. 



But a good, modern pressure-machine will do the work 

 of extracting both the old comb and the cappings, and such 

 a machine should be used by every apiarist, the solar method 

 being supplemental thereto. 



A method somewhat similar to the solar is the placing 

 of the comb in an oven, on a screen, or a strainer, over a 

 receptacle, so the wax will collect therein. 



This method requires artificial heat, like the bleaching 

 influence of the sun, and is open to all the faults of the solar 

 method. Obviously, this process is slow and tedious on ac- 

 count of the limited capacity of the average oven. 



The wax-extractor much used about 20 years ago, and 

 through false economy still retained and used by many bee- 

 keepers, consists of a tin can divided into two compart- 

 ments — a small one below to contain water, and a large 

 one above within which a wire-cloth or perforated-metal 

 basket, for containing the old comb and cappings, is placed. 

 Means for steam to pass from the lower into the upper com- 

 partment is provided, and a spout at the lower plane of the 

 upper compartment is so placed as to drain off the wax. 

 In operation the perforated-metal basket is filled with water 

 and placed over the fire. Steam is generated and as much 

 wax as will drain out by gravity is obtained; that which 

 remains in the slumgum being nearly as much as that left 

 by the solar method. The last above-described method is, in 

 the opinion of the writer, very little, if any, improvement over 

 the primitive bag-and-hot-water method first mentioned. 



A great improvement over the method last described 

 is found in the Ferris extractor. It- is rectangular in form, 

 and is composed of from one to three units, like the other. 

 These units are long and narrow, which facilitate the flow of 

 wax. This machine has a compartment below for water 

 from which to generate steam, and the compartment above 

 within which is a wire-cloth basket to contain the wax- 

 yielding materials. As first manufactured the wax drained 

 off by gravitv, but, subsequently, pressure, by means of a 

 screw and follower, was used, resulting in a largely in- 

 creased percentage of wax. To obtain the best results the 

 screw must be taken out, the follower removed, and the 

 slumgum raked over to expose new surfaces, and again 

 pressed; and this operation repeated several times or until 

 no more wax can be obtained. The fault with this machine, 

 in the writer's opinion, is that the follower and screw are 

 too frail, resulting in their speedy destruction. Again, in 



this method, there is a certain amount of wax held by the 

 slumgum, by capillary attraction, which no amount of pres- 

 sure will expel. In my own operations, by an improved 

 method, I have found the amount of wax that could be ob- 

 tained from this slumgum to be over 15 percent of its 

 weight. 



Another form of the steam process is found in the Root- 

 German wax-press, and with this I feel safe in saying you 

 are all familiar, either by having operated it, or in the study 

 of the machine in bee-supply catalogs, or in advertisements 

 in our bee-periodicals. It has the merit of being compact 

 and powerful, and it has satisfactory capacity. In my judg- 

 ment, there is no better steam method in use. I believe it is 

 recommended that the steam be combined with the hot-water 

 method, by first boiling the comb or slumgum and then press- 

 ing it while under steam. In order to get the wax out clean 

 it is recommended to take out the plunger or follower and 

 also the slumgum, rake or stir it over to expose new sur- 

 faces, and press again ; repeating the operation until no more 

 wax can be obtained. This, obviously, is a mussy operation. 

 However, while mentioning the good qualities of this method, 

 I desire to note an exception to the widely published state- 

 ment by the manufacturers of this press, that by its use "You 

 can get every particle of wax out of old combs." 



Having extracted several parcels of slumgum which had 

 previously been treated by the German method, my experi- 

 ence is that several particles of wax still remain in this refuse. 

 In two careful tests which I made of refuse from the Ger- 

 man press, I obtained from one parcel 7 percent and from the 

 other 11 percent of its weight in pure wax. I desire to go on 

 record with the statement, that, so far as I have been able 

 to ascertain, no machine with any amount of pressure will ex- 

 pel every particle of wax, when economically operated. I am 

 prepared to say, however, that it can be accomplished econom- 

 ically to within less than 1 percent of the weight of the slum- 

 gum. 



Messrs. Hatch and Gemmill have done much towards 

 initiating improvements in wax-extracting methods, and I 

 take pleasure in acknowledging that the publication of their 

 experiments was what inspired me to make researches in this 

 line. Not having had the time or opportunity to look up past 

 records, I am unable, I fear, to describe the Hatch and Gem- 

 mill methods correctly. However, they are essentially hot- 

 water methods, the comb first being boiled then placed in the 

 form of a cheese with burlap or some other suitable cloth 

 to retain it in place, and screw-pressure applied. I then be- 

 lieved, and still believe, that the hot-water method offers the 

 best possibilities, and it has been along this line that my ex- 

 periments have been made. 



The pointing out of faults in methods implies that im- 

 provements are possible. All the methods described have 

 more or less merit, and by using that which is good in them, 

 with some added new features, an ideally perfect wax-ex- 

 tractor is possible. To produce this perfect machine cogniz- 

 ance must be taken of certain laws and physical properties 

 of the various combinations of elements with which we have 

 to deal in the operations. Specific gravity, adhesion, capil- 

 lary attraction, absorption, etc., must be advantageously used 

 or they will, and do, operate to our disadvantage. For ex- 

 ample, take a sponge, saturate it with ink, or any coloring 

 matter; now subject it to the most powerful pressure, and 

 you cannot expel all the coloring matter. Why? Because 

 capillary attraction holds it with a giant grip. But dip the 

 sponge in water and press again and you will expel more of 

 the coloring matter, and if you will repeat the process a few 

 times you will get it clean of all color. The slumgum is 

 sponge-like, and in a similar manner the wax must be washed 

 out. Again, the specific gravity of wax being less than water, 

 if we do our pressing under the surface of hot water the 

 wax will float to the surface and thus be out of the way where 

 it will not be re-absorbed by the slumgum. The masses of 

 slumgum should be comparatively thin in order that the 

 wax may more readily be expelled. It is not possible by the 

 ordinary process to extract all the wax from the mass of 

 slumgum for the reason that the interior parts 1 hereof are 

 not subjected to the same compression as the outside portions, 

 the elasticity of the mass opposing and diminishing, the actual 

 pressure. Again, as the surface of the mass becom ~s hard and 

 compact, the escape of wax is impeded. It follcws that the 

 interior part of the mass of slumgum is never sc cleanly ex- 

 tracted as the exterior portions. Moreover, the power re- 

 quired to compress the mass increases greatly towards the 



