May 22, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



327 



■was ill the larpe amount of refuse comb I had would he 

 wortli but a very small part of the money I have paid out. to 

 say nothing about the time and work. With this, as with 

 many other thiiij^'s in re^^-ard to our pursuit, an irresistible 

 impulse has seemed to draw and lure me on. 



Previously I had rendered comb into wax by the kcttlc- 

 and-sack plan, but having heard the Ferris steam wa.\-press 

 very highly spoken of, I secured one of the latest improved. 

 I next made a steam machine, or rather, had one made, on 

 something of the same plan as the Ferris ; it was made very 

 strong, and so constructed that the refuse could be subjected 

 to enormous pressure under boiling water; the baskets 

 were long and narrow, and there were two powerful screws, 

 one at each end of the basket. This machine cost me r21, 

 and I sold it for #4.50. 



I next had a machine made on a dilTerent principle; 

 with this one the wax was rendered with boiling water, and 

 the refuse or slumgum subjected to great pressure under 

 boiling water. I will brielly describe how this machine was 

 made ; 



It was about the shape, only a tritle larger, of a com- 

 mon. No. y wash-boiler. This outer part was made from 

 heavy galvanized iron to fit the inside of this, and leave a 

 space of about 2 inches. Between the two was a basket in 

 which the combs were to be placed, this basket also being 

 held up from the bottom about two inches by means of a 

 heavy, iron spider, which was riveted and soldered to the 

 bottom and sides of the boiler. The method of using this 

 machine was to set it over a fire, put in three or four pails 

 of water, and, as soon as it began to boil, put in as much 

 old comb as the basket would hold. After it had boiled a 

 short time a follower that just fits the inside of the basket 

 was placed on and pressed down by means of a powerful 

 screw at each end. These screws were attached on some- 

 thing of the same plan as those on the Ferris machine, but 

 instead of being small ones, they were made from two 

 medium-sized jack-screws. After the follower had been 

 pressed down the wax would of course rise to the top of the 

 water and was dipped oft'. This machine cost me S29.00, 

 and I sold it for ;r7.00. I regret now that I did not keep this 

 machine, for it may be that it is as good a machine as I 

 will be able to devise. 



The Root-German steam wax-press (one of which I pur- 

 chased) could be made with but little change so that the re- 

 fuse could be treated to pressure under boiling water, if de- 

 sired ; and the Root machine has a large and very powerful 

 screw. 



I next decided to make a machine on the Hatch-Gemmill 

 principle, that is, boil the comb and press the refuse in a 

 separate machine, for the inventor and one of the users of 

 this stj'le of press told what a large amount of wax could be 

 secured from old comb when this method was practiced. 



I sent to Chicago for a powerful screw, with which I at 

 first used a 4-foot lever or handle to turn it, but this did not 

 g'ive power enough to press out all the wax from the slum- 

 gum. I next put on a 6-foot handle, but still the power was 

 insufficient. I then put two men on the lever, and broke the 

 screw. I do not believe it would be practical to apply power 

 enough to secure all the wax from slumgum treated on this 

 plan. I could take up a handful of the refuse that had been 

 subjected to pressure by this method and squeeze out wax 

 from it with my hand. I do not mean the wax would drip 

 out of it, but there was wax enough in the refuse so that it 

 ■could be plainly seen by squeezing a small quantity in one's 

 hand. Of course, a good deal of wax can be secured from 

 the refuse when treated to strong pressure in this way, but 

 by no means all of it. 



The readers, if there are any who have followed me this 

 far, may wonder why I bought and made so manj- difterent 

 machines. I was not fully satisfied with any of them, and 

 it seemed as if I could improve or make the next one a suc- 

 cess. 



I also made three or four other machines ; one of these 

 treated the refuse to pressure by passing it through rollers. 

 I had great hopes of this principle, but I have given it up as 

 impracticable. Another principle that I have tried, though, 

 leads me to believe that we have been making a mistake by 

 endeavoring to secure all the wax from the refuse by great 

 pressure, for with moderate pressure combined with agita- 

 tion I secured a considerable amount of wax from refuse 

 that had been subjected to great pressure under the Hatch- 

 Gemmill process. 



A far greater percent of wax can be pressed but of the 

 slumgum if the pressure is done under boiling water, but 

 contrary to what some seem to infer, all the good the water 

 does in this case is to keep the refuse or slumgum boiling- 



hot while the pressure lasts, .\fter only moderate pressure 

 has been applied no water can penetrate the mass. 



When the refuse is dipped out into a separate press the 

 wax, or at least a part of it, gets below the boiling-point at 

 once, and the colder it gets the greater pressure it requires 

 to press the wax from the slumgum. When it gets too cold 

 I do not believe any force it would be practical or possible 

 for us to use in this manner would separate the two. 



In pressing refuse or slumgum, whether it has been ren- 

 dered in water or by steam, or if it is pressed under water or 

 in a separate press, a great deal more wax can be secured if 

 the screw just fits down loose on the follower than can be 

 had if the screw fits in a socket rigid so that the follower 

 has to go down even. Especially is this so when a cloth is 

 used to hold the refuse. Why this is so I am unable to ex- 

 plain. < )f course, with any of the machines I have men- 

 tioned, what refuse comb I had could soon have been rendered 

 into wax, but I kept the comb on hand because I wanted 

 plenty of material with which to test ray new or different 

 machines. Hut this pastime or holiday work must soon 

 cease, for a while at least, for the time draws near when my 

 real work of producing comb honey will begin for the sea- 

 son. Southern Minnesota, April 7. 



Tongue Length and Glossometer— Co-operation. 



BV I'KdF. A. |. COOK. 



I WAS surprised at our good friend Hasty's suggestion of 

 criticism of my statement, that the tongue length of bees 

 as ascertained with the glossometer must agree with the 

 measured length as indicated by the microscope. Why, 

 bless your heart, Mr. Hasty, both tell the truth, and truth 

 never wars or quarrels with truth. The old-time hog had 

 an infinite nose. He was a rooter. With such a hog a 

 plowed meadow only required propinquity. The hog present, 

 and the meadow must be rooted. 



The microscope told of the long Syrian-bee tongues — 

 told that all had long tongues, or that their tongues were 

 surprisingly uniform, and all of great relative length. The 

 same instrument spoke of equal uniformity and the same 

 relative brevity of the tongues of black bees. 



Mr. Hasty, all bee-keepers know that all bees will push 

 hard for nectar. If the glossometer is put into the hive 

 thej' will reach to the utmost for the coveted sweet. The 

 Syrians having the longest tongues, they must clean the glass 

 farther than the equally eager black bees. If I had said 

 thej' must gather more or whiter honey, it would be differ- 

 ent. The}' usuall)- will gather more because of their longer 

 tongues, as they can reach the nectar in tlower-tubes which 

 is inaccessible to bees with shorter tongues. They will also 

 be able to reach deeper into long, tubular flowers, and thus 

 get more. They might have other characteristics that 

 would prove a greater hindrance than would be the advan- 

 tage gained in the longer tongues, when, of course, they 

 would really secure less nectar. In many cases, too, as in 

 the case of such Howers as linden, sage and figwort, the 

 honey is so exposed, and so easy of access, that any tongues 

 can reach it in its entirety ; and here the short tongue would 

 serve as well as the long. 



We cannot have bees with too long tongues, but with 

 these we also must have in the perfect bee all the other ad- 

 vantages, like early habits, maximum activity, eagerness 

 to defend the hive. etc. 



In a letter from Prof. Gillette, he objects to my method 

 of obtaining the tongues. I cut off the heads of the bees, 

 and then dissect out the tongues. Prof. Gillette threw 

 the bees into hot water. His objection to my method is that 

 the tongue will move. Of course we must wait until the 

 muscles die, which requires many hours, often a full day. I 

 have known a headless wasp to inflict a painful sting more 

 than 12 hours after it had lost its head. Of course the mus- 

 cles were not all dead yet. and the sting will be thrust out 

 as long as the muscles are alive. Might not the hot water 

 set the muscles ? If we stretch the tongue by pressure on 

 the mentum as soon as the muscles are dead and inactive, 

 and before regor mortis has set in, I believe we have the 

 conditions best suited to give the most correct results. I 

 have reason to think so from the uniformity of results in 

 the measurements of bees from the same colony. 



CO-OPERATION AMONG HOXEY-PRODUCEKS. 



We have great reason to hope from, the temper and 

 spirit of our late and last convention, that we should very 

 soon have a honej' exchange that would rival in excellence 

 and advantage to its members the Citrus Fruit Exchange of 



