October, 1907. 



^ American ^cc Journal 



ready been superseded by the bees be- 

 fore they were a year old. Whether 

 this was accidental, or was caused from 



the peculiar season, I can not tell. Who 

 will offer a suggestion? L. B. Smith. 

 Rescue, Tex. 



I^endering Combs into Bees- 

 wax 



BY C. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A correspondent writes thus : "My 

 bees have black brood, or at least the 

 inspector says they have, and I wish 

 to try to cure them by the shaking-off 

 process. This will leave me with a lot 

 of old brood-combs to render into wa.x. 

 Now I wish you would tell us through 

 the columns of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal how I can best do this." 



It would seem from tlie many articles 

 given on this subject that no more 

 should be necessary ; yet I am aware 

 that beginners are constantly entering 

 our ranks, and for these, the articles 

 in the papers during the past are not 

 usually at their command. 



There are different ways of rendering 

 wax, the heat of the sun, that of steam, 

 and hot water, being those of most 

 common use. For cappings from combs 

 and the general accumulation of odds 

 and ends of comb from the apiary, the 

 solar wax-extractor is the one that I 

 use and would recommend. With it I 

 have no trouble in securing from 98 to 

 100 percent of the wax in the material 

 put into it. And as an ordinary mortal 

 can make one of these extractors dur- 

 ing a spare day or two during the win- 

 ter, when the common run of bee-keep- 

 ers are not pressed for time, no apiary 

 sliould be without one of these extrac- 

 tors. 



The steam wa.x-extractors I know 

 very little about, except the smaller ones 

 of the past, such as the "Swiss," etc. 

 These did their work quite well, but 

 were slow, and required a cost for fuel 

 which is eliminated with the solar. But 

 for a lot of old combs, filled more or 

 less with cocoons, pollen, etc., I know 

 of nothing better than boiling water in 

 a cajldron or other kettle fixed some- 

 thing as follows: 



Instead of hanging the kettle over 

 the fire as is usually done, take a meas- 

 ure of the kettle on the outside, a lit- 

 tle way up from the bottom, and go to 

 your blacksmith and tell him you wish 

 a piece of old, heavy wagon-tire welded 

 so that the inside shall represent your 

 measure. To this you want three or 

 four (the latter being preferable) square 

 or round bars of iron welded, at equal 

 distances apart, for four legs. These 

 should be of suitable size to give 

 strength enough to support the weight 

 of the kettle and contents, and long 

 enough to raise the kettle from 4 to 6 



inches from the ground at its lowest 

 point. 



After getting the kettle-holder home, 

 place 4 flat stones just under the sur- 

 face of the ground where you wish the 

 kettle to stand, at proper places, so that 

 each leg will rest on one, having it at 

 such a point or place as will be handy 

 for all of the work done with such a 

 kettle, such as heating water for many 

 purposes, boiling food for stock, etc., 

 for the smallest part for our iron friend 

 will probably be the rendering of wax. 



Aher once having the kettle fixed in 

 this way, you will never go back to any 

 of the old ways of "hanging" a kettle, 

 if you are at all like the writer. Be- 

 sides the kettle, you will want a sack 

 made of burlap or some other stout, 

 open cloth, which you are to fill with 

 the old comb, stamping it in so as to 

 get all in as compact a condition as 

 possible. 



Next take a piece of 4-inch soft-wood 

 plank, or two pieces of 2-inch plank 

 spiked together will answer, though not 

 quite so good. Now, round one side of 

 this, so it will fit the bottom of the ket- 

 tle, leaving the other flat. To the flat 

 side fasten (by cleats or otherwise') a 

 standard of suitable length, which 

 should be flattened at the top and have 

 several holes bored in it. Then get a 

 .•?x4-inch scantling, or a suitable pole 

 from the woods, and mortice through it 

 near one end for the top of the stand- 

 ard you have made, boring a hole 

 through it in an opposite direction for a 

 pin or bolt to pass through it and the 

 standard. Besides this \'OU will want a 

 log-chain, which is usually near at hand 

 about all farm houses. Having these 

 things we are ready to fill the kettle 

 two-thirds full of water and start the 

 fire under it. In doing this use only 

 light fuel so as not to have a hot fire 

 after the water boils; for, if otherwise, 

 it would be too warm for agreeably 

 working around it, and after consider- 

 able wax was in the water it might boi! 

 over. 



Having the sack stamped full of the 

 old combs, tie the mouth of it and put 

 it in the boiling water. After allowing 

 it to boil 3 or 4 minutes, with an old 

 hoe press and squeeze the sack against 

 the sides and bottom of the kettle, roll- 

 ing it over each time as you press. The 

 wax will rise with each pressing of the 

 sack: and if the old comb is not all 

 in the sack, you can soon raise the 

 mouth of it out from the water, and 

 after it has cooled a little so you can 



handle it, untie, fill up and re-tie again, 

 and so on till all is in. 



When all the old comb is in the 

 sack, and has been worked with the 

 hoe several times, fasten each end of 

 the log-chain to the ears of the kettle, 

 or, if the kettle has no ears, fasten on 

 either side of the kettle-holder, while 

 the middle of the chain is to be fastened 

 to the short end of the scantling or 

 pole. Now put the rounded plank end 

 of the standard on the sack and sink it 

 to the bottom of the kettle, whe'i the 

 top end is to be inserted in the mortise 

 in the pole, and the pin or bolt put 

 through the desired hole. Next, go to 

 the long end of the pole or lever and 

 see how you can make the wax rise by 

 bearing down. When bearing down, 

 sway the lever back and forth, and from 

 side to side, thus liberating the wax. 

 If you have your lever long enough, and 

 things fixed as they should be, you will 

 bring hundreds and thousands of pounds 

 to bear on the sack, and thus have a 

 better pressure than with any of the 

 wa.x-presses made, as none of these, 

 with which I am acquainted, can give 

 a rocking pressure while squeezing. 



After a little you will have reduced 

 the bulk in the sack so you can again 

 shake the debris down and re-tie the 

 sack so that the plank end will cover 

 the whole, when with another pressure 

 with the rocking mol'on every last par- 

 ticle of wax can be brought out to rise 

 on top of the water in the kettle. Be- 

 ing sure that the wax is all out, you 

 can hang a weight on the lever and 

 leave it. Don't dip off the wax unless 

 you have lots of time, and consider it 

 only fun to do so, for 1 assure you that 

 the next morning you will find it all 

 caked nicely on top of the water, when 

 you can break it up and get it ready for 

 a second melting and moulding, which 

 all wax should have before being put 

 on the market or for using in making 

 foundation. 



After taking off the wax. take out the 

 sack, empty out the refuse and rinse 

 and dry the sack, when it and the rest 

 of the implements used in this rendering 

 are to be stored away for future use. 

 I know the description of this seems 

 quite long, but I believe that in prac- 

 tice it is the shortest known process to 

 get out a large lot of wax from old 

 comb, and has to its advantage that no 

 large sum of money has to be paid out 

 for a wax press or extractor. If you 

 think the iron-kettle holder too expen- 

 sive, set the kettle on three stones. 

 If stones are used, they should first be 

 subjected to heat, else they may fly to 

 pieces and upset the wax. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



Syrup for Feeding Bees 



BY OTTO LUHDORFF. 



Many bee-keepers will have to feed 

 their bees again. We hear often of 

 sour honey in combs, of bees perishing 

 during winter, and often people do not 

 know w'hat the cause of it is. If bees 

 are short of stores, sugar syrup prop- 

 erly made is about as good as the best 

 honey; but not properly made, as for 

 instance is recommended in some cata- 



