AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



211 



yet if it can be done I am sincerely de- 

 sirous to know how. Will you please 

 tell •? 



Marengo, 111. 



[Oh, dear, dear Doctor, what a regu- 

 lar (luestion-mark you must be turning 

 into ! 



We think we'll have to admit that Mr. 

 Melbee's article on page 111 didn't con- 

 tain just the kind of information that is 

 most desired; but now that he has had 

 his "say" in the way he did, perhaps in 

 his next article he will "get down to 

 business," and tell us just how he man- 

 ages to sell honey at the price he gets, 

 and keep on doing so. 



Your honey. Doctor, is all right — in 

 quality, at least. We know, for we 

 were fortunate enough to get a 24-pound 

 case of it after the Fair closed. No one 

 would ask for finer looking honey, either. 

 But, as you say, that has nothing to do 

 with the question under consideration. 



Melbee, is a man — not any heavier 

 than you, Doctor, though perhaps a lit- 

 tle taller; and we think it would be per- 

 fectly safe for you or anybody else to 

 meet him on the darkest night on the 

 loneliest of roads. He's not at all a 

 dangerous character, though perhaps he 

 might seem so to one who was indiffer- 

 ent about purchasing honey when Mel- 

 bee wanted to sell some. Melbee would 

 most certainly sell the honey if anybody 

 could. 



Now, we hope Mr. Melbee will at 

 once devote himself to the task of tell- 

 ing Dr. Miller, and others, all about hoiv 

 he is able to retail extracted honey at 

 24 cents a pound. That's "the next 

 number on the program." — Ed.] 



Againsl Renlering Beeswax witli Acids. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY C. p. DADANT. 



I wish to take exception to the item 

 on purifying wax with acids, as given 

 on page 138. We do not believe in this 

 practice unless it is absolutely necessary, 

 owing to the wax being mixed largely 

 with residues after having been improp- 



erly rendered. Combs may be rendered 

 into wax just as well without the use of 

 acids — at least we can, and always do, 

 render all our combs with only pure 

 water, and always succeed in getting 

 bright yellow wax from them even if 

 they are dark. 



Although the acid does not practically 

 deteriorate the wax, it so completely re- 

 moves all other substances that it takes 

 away all its perfume, and the honey and 

 bee odor which is so pleasing and attrac- 

 tive to the bees. We have, hundreds of 

 times, smelled the odor of the honey in 

 foundation. Such would not have been 

 the case, had these cappings been 

 rendered with acid, but, on the contrary, 

 there would in many cases be a little 

 sour smell remaining. Every one of the 

 hands in our shop remembers the fine 

 perfume which pervades our shops when- 

 ever we have a chance to handle a ton or 

 two of Southern California capping-wax. 



At a meeting of some local Michigan 

 association, a few years ago, some one 

 made the remark that we must use 

 honey in lubricating the rolls of our 

 mills, because our foundation smelled so 

 sweetly of honey, and was so readily ac- 

 cepted by the bees. The credit of this 

 sweet smell did not belong to us, but to 

 the parties who had rendered this wax. 

 All our credit in the matter consisted in 

 preserving this good flavor as much as 

 possible. 



If the practice of rendering combs 

 with acid becomes universal, the quality 

 of the wax will be greatly lowered, and 

 we can assure Mr. N. S. H. that bees 

 will not accept comb foundation made 

 from such wax as readily as when it re- 

 tains the bee and honey smell. If much 

 of acid-rendered wax should come on the 

 market, we should certainly offer less 

 for it than for the other grade. 



We will gladly, free of charge, give 

 directions for rendering combs with 

 water in a satisfactory manner, to any 

 one who may desire them. 



Hamilton, 111. 



[As the information that Brother Da- 

 dant could give about rendering wax 

 with only water would doubtless be in- 

 teresting and helpful to all our readers, 

 we suggest that he send us the directions 

 for publication in the Bee Journal. 

 Being the largest comb foundation mak- 

 ers in the world, whatever comes from 

 the pens of Chas. Dadant & Sqn on this 

 subject could be implicitly relied upon. 

 —Ed.] 



