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AUSTRALASIAN BEE MANUAL 



through the season, and the greater part of the honey 

 gathered would be converted into wax, leaving 

 sufficient of both comb and honey to see them through 

 the winter. 



I think it quite likely that if worked in this way 

 each colony started early in the season should yield 

 from four to five lbs. or more of clean marketable wax, 

 which at present prices, from 1/3 to 1/6 per lb., would 

 pay far better than raising low grade honey. I offer 

 the above as a suggestion worth considering. It was 

 one of the experiments I intended carrying out at the 

 Waerenga State Apiary, where a low grade honey is 

 frequently gathered, had I continued as Government 

 Apiarist. 



RENDERING COMBS INTO COMMERCIAL WAX. 



Of all the operations in connection with apiary work, 

 I think the rendering and cleaning of small quantities 



of comb to convert 

 it into commercial wax, 

 has hitherto been the 

 most unsatisfactory. 

 Through the want of 

 some simple, inexpen- 

 sive, but efficient method, 

 a large quantity of 

 comb in the aggregate 

 is wasted annually, as it 

 does not pay to bother 

 with small lots. Hot 

 water and pressure, 

 steam and pressure, and 

 sun-heat, are the three 

 methods employed. In 

 apiaries of 40 colonies or 

 more it pays to get the 

 best appliance in use for 

 this work, as the gain in 

 the wax saved will soon 

 defray the cost, and give 

 an annual profit. 



Fig. 12. GERMAN STEAM 



WAX PRESS. 



