Jan. 31, 1907 



American Vae Journal 



^^j^^_^v5^3 



end and on lliu tiutsidc willi a fmuK-l 

 or spoilt opening into tlic same near tin- 

 bottom thereof, tlic top of the funnel 

 being nearly on a level with the top 

 of the boiler. The funnel is for the 

 purpose of introducing hot water into 

 the boiler at tlie bottom. A delivery 

 spout is provided near the top of the 

 boiler for drawing off the wa.K after the 

 same has been melted and pressed from 

 the cheeses of wa.x-yielding materials. A 

 cock for drawing ofT the water from the 

 boiler is provided near its bottom. 



The boiler ma\' be placed on a stovi . 

 or other suitable means of heating may 

 be provided. Through the beam at the 

 top is introduced a screw engaging suit- 

 al)le screw-threaded bushing therein. 

 The screw is provided with a handle and 

 exerts pressure downward on the fol- 

 lower, which is substantially the size of 

 the inside horizontal dimension of the 

 boiler. In the bottom of the boiler is 

 placed a rack or grate consisting of 

 spaced steel bars on edge, over which is 

 placed a woven-wire screen. On this is 

 placed a cheese of bee-comb or slumguni 

 after the same has been made in proper 

 form, by means of a cheese-bo.\ pro- 

 vided for the purpose, and being 

 wrapped and secured in burlap cloth. 

 On top of this bottom cheese is placed a 

 slatted wooden frame, called a division- 

 rack, consisting of cross slats, on the 

 top and bottom of which are seciir>d 

 woven-wire screens. The cheeses and 

 these division-racks alternate until the 

 top is reached, the standard number of 

 cheeses being three, when the follower 

 is placed on top of the uppermost cheese, 

 this follower being provided with cross- 

 slats covered with woven-wire screen 

 on its under side. 



In operation, the extractor is placed 

 on a stove or other suitable means of 

 heating, and sufficient water is provided 

 to prevent the heat from injuring the 

 bottom of the boiler, after wdiich it is 

 tilled w'ith the cheeses of slumgum or 

 old comb as described. More water is 

 then added until it rises to nearly the 

 level of the delivery spout. The whole 

 is then brought to a sharp boil. Owing 

 to the construction of the division-racks 

 the water is free to circulate between 

 the layers of slumgum or old comli, and. 

 when boiled, melts every particle of 

 wax contained therein. The slumgum, 

 ow'ing to the presence of the burlap 

 covering in which it is wrapped and 

 the screen-covered division-racks, can 

 not pass up between the slatted frames, 

 but the wax. wdien melted by the hot 

 water, readily passes, and escapes in 

 this way, rising and floating on the 

 surface of the water, where, by means 

 of raising the level of the water, by 

 filling in hot water through the funnel, 

 the wax may be readily and cleanly 

 drawn ofif, so that no wax will remain 

 on the surface of the water in the ex- 

 tractor. Near the end of the operation 

 some hot water will come out with the 

 last remnants of wax, leaving the sur- 

 face in the extractor clean. A large de- 

 livery spout is provided, which results 

 in cleanly drawing off the wax with the 

 use of a comparatively small quantity 

 of hot water. 



In pressing, the screw should be 

 turned down gently at first, allowing 



the wa.x and water to escape from the 

 cheeses. .^fter the screw has been 

 turned down as far as it will go with 

 moderate exertion, allow the slumguni 

 to remain under compression 4 or 5 

 minutes. Then reverse the screw and 

 release the pressure, allowing 4 or 5 

 minutes for the slumgum to absorb the 

 hot water. Then press again, turning 

 the screw down a little further than the 

 first time, and leaving the slumgum un- 

 der pressure 4 or 5 minutes as before; 

 then release the pressure as before, and 

 repeat the process of intermittent pres- 

 sure a few times until the wax is clean- 

 ly extracted from the slumgum, each 

 successive pressing turning the screw 

 down a little further. 



To form the cheese, a box without 

 top or bottom is provided, the same 

 being a little longer on the lower than 

 on the upper plane, in order that it may 

 be easily slipped off from the cheese af- 

 ter is is formed. Lay this cheese-bo.x 

 on a plain surface, preferably a wood or 

 cement floor, spread the burlap cheese- 

 cloth over it so it will project uniformly 

 from the four sides of the cheese-box, 

 and then press it evenly down so that it 

 will fit snugly against the four inner 

 sides of the box. Now fill in the slum- 

 gum or old comb, tamping it down good 

 and solid, a tamper made of a 2x4 piece 

 of wood being good for the pu 1 p sh 

 When the cheese is filled even with the 

 top of the box, fold the cloth from two 

 opposite sides and fasten ; then fold the 

 cloth from the remaining sides and 

 fasten. Long, sharp brad-nails, used as 

 pins, have been found to be excellent 

 for fastening the cheese-cloth. The 

 cheese, still within the box, may now be 

 placed in the extractor and the bo.x 

 lifted off. 



When rendering comb which contains 

 a large percentage of wax, or in con- 

 verting cappings into wa.x by the hot- 

 water process, it is advisable to melt the 

 comb or cappings in another boiler and 

 dip out as much as can readily be ob- 

 tained. Then place the cheese-box on a 

 division-rack, over the extractor, so the 

 drip will fall therein, and form the 

 cheese by dipping the residue from the 

 boiler into the burlap lined cheese-box 

 until it is full, no tamping be required. 



In crowding the extractor to its full- 

 est capacity the beam may be adjusted 

 after the slumgum has been heated suf- 

 ficiently to settle down where it will 

 not interfere. 



By the method here described, prac- 

 tically all the wax may be extracted 

 from old comb or slumgum. By this is 

 meant that after the extracting is fin- 

 ished as per directions for the opera- 

 tion as practiced in every-day commer- 

 cial use, less than l per cent of the 

 residue will be wax. As a matter of 

 fact, thorough and severe tests which 

 have been made of slumgum from which 

 the wax had been extracted as here de- 

 scribed have revealed from less than i/^ 

 of I percent to less than s.s of i per 

 cent. 



It will be observed that there is no 

 opening of the extractor after it is 

 filled until the extracting is finished. 

 Hence there is no raking, shaking or 

 pawing over of the slumgum, and no 

 second or subsequent cookings and 

 pressings in order to get what wax it is 



possible to obtain by some of the mussy 

 and unsatisfactory methods. 



In years past I was one of those 

 who mussed and fussed over wax-ex- 

 tracting, and finally came to using a 

 screw-press machine of modern manu- 

 facture, reputed to be one of the best. 

 By this machine I was obtaining from 

 JOG to 250 pounds of wax, annually, but 

 the results of extracting were always 

 unsatisfactory, and for good reasons, 

 as, besides the slow and tedious work, 

 involving the use of a comparatively 

 large amount of fuel and the remelt- 

 ing of the wax in order to mould it, 

 I have since discovered that, with all 

 my pains in raking, scraping, stirring 

 and repeated pressings, I had been 

 throwing away in the slumgum a con- 

 siderable quantity of wax each year, 

 which it was impossible to obtain' with 

 the press. This waste amounted to 

 enough to pay a handsome dividend on 

 an investment of several presses. I can 

 therefore fully appreciate the pleasure 

 of being spared all that muss, which has 

 now become unnecessary, and there is 

 added satisfaction in the knowledge that, 

 when the operation of extracting is 

 coinpleted, practically all the wax has 

 been extracted from the slumgum, and 

 that this maximum of beneficial result 

 has been achieved with the minimum 

 amount of labor, muss and expense. It 

 may be added that in the prodigality 

 of wax-wasting I had much good com- 

 pany, as I have had occasion to know 

 that my experience was by no means 

 exceptional. Indeed, a fair estimate 

 would place nine-tenths or more of the 

 bee-keepers in the class to wdiich I then 

 belonged. 



A fair average price of wax in East- 

 ern markets is 28 cents per pound. Sup- 

 pose that after extracting is finished the 

 residue of slumgum amounts to 100 

 pounds. Now for every pound of wax 

 thrown away with the slumgum 28 cents 

 is lost ; 28 cents is 6 per cent of $4.66 2-3. 

 Then to find how much money at 6 per 

 cent is required to yield the value of a 

 given number of pounds of wax lost in 

 the slumgum, multiply $4.66 2-3 by such 

 number. For example, suppose we find 

 that we are losing 8 lbs. of wax in every 

 100 lbs. of slumgum ; then $4.66 2-3x8 

 equals $37.33 1-3, which is the amount 

 that at 6 percent would be required to 

 yield $2.24, the value of the 8 pounds 

 of wax lost: like cases may be solved 

 by this rule. For the benefit of those 

 who have no ready means of ascertain- 

 ing how much wax thev are wasting, 

 it may be stated that perhaps not one 

 bee-keeper in 50 is getting within from 

 8 to 10 per cent of his wa.x. and per- 

 haps one in 10 is getting within 15 to 

 25 per cent. 



Deposits of money in banks that pay 

 4 percent where the money is available 

 for withdrawal is considered an ideal in- 

 vestment. Municipal, State or Govern- 

 ment bonds seldom yield more than 6 

 percent, yet they are favorite invest- 

 ments for capitalists. How much more 

 ideal, then, is an investment by the bee- 

 keeper of a small sum in a good wax-ex- 

 tractor which, after tnaking due allow- 

 ance for wear and tear on the machine, 

 will yield all the way from 6 percent to 

 many hundred percent, depending upon 

 the amount of wax to be extracted. Bee- 



