132 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



A paper read by Mrs. S. J. Smith, entitled 

 " Bees versus Man," greatly pleased the con- 

 vention. Mrs. S. has a poetical turn of mind. 

 It is not the first time that she has given the 

 members of the Association a treat of that 

 kind. 



Mr. H. S. Case exhibited and explained his 

 little feeder which is used in the spring for 

 stimulating. It is placed on top of the brood- 

 frames, covered up with quilt and packing, a 

 long spout running clear to the outside of the 

 hive, by means of which it can be filled easily 

 and quickly without disturbing the bees in 

 the least. 



Naples, N. Y. 



RENDERING WAX FROM OLD COMBS. 



How to Make a Large Wax-tank at Small Expense. 



BY s. C. LORD. 



At best the rendering of old combs is not 

 agreeable, and at the first attempt I saw the 

 need of a simpler method than the crude one 

 generally employed in this section. After 

 some study a plan occurred to me, but 

 which, however, I did not put into practice 

 until Mr. A. W. Hatch, of Redlands, having 

 employed me for a few days about his apiary, 

 suggested the same plan ; hence the idea is 

 not mine exclusively. On trial the result was 

 most satisfactory. Here is the method : 



Make a pine box of any convenient dimen- 

 sions, say 6x3 ft. X 16 in., preferably of lyi- 

 inch or 2-inch plank. Grooves should be cut 

 about two inches from the ends of the sides, 

 into which fit the end pieces. For the bottom, 

 nail on sheet iron, driving the nails about an 

 inch apart to render the box water tight. 

 Mount this box on a brick arch, one end being 

 left open for stoking, and the other fitted with 

 two lengths of stovepipe. 



Now make a frame which will fit tightly 

 into the tank, and cover the same with wire 

 window-screen. Here is a sketch which will 

 make these specifications more lucid : 



Fill this tank half full of water ; cover up, 

 and build a lively fire. When the water boils, 

 put in your old combs, a few at a time, throw- 

 ing out the frames as soon as all the wax has 



melted from them. From 200 to 30.0 frames 

 can be disposed of at one rendering. 



After stirring awhile, place the wire screen 

 in the tank ; press the whole mass below the 

 surface two inches, and fasten the frame there 

 by nailing vertically four small cleats on the 

 inside of the tank, near the ends. Cover the 

 tank, and keep the fire burning for an hour 

 longer. 



The next morning the wax may be removed 

 and the under side scraped, or further refined, 

 if thought necessary, by reboiling in a smaller 

 vessel. The point, however, on which I lay 

 the greatest stress is that, by this method, the 

 amount of wax lost is reduced to a minimum. 



On my first trial I scraped up and rendered 

 about four bushels of slumgum, the refuse of 

 a day's work by the old method, and was sur- 

 prised to find that I had saved two dollars' 

 worth of clean bright wax. 



As a test of the efficiency of this method 

 the good wife of Mr. Hatch, an excellent bee- 

 keeper herself, endeavored to burn some of 

 the residue after it had become dry, but re- 

 ported that it would not burn, thus showing 

 that there was little or no wax left in it. 



Redlands, Cal. 



[I have no doubt that your method of wax- 

 rendering will work very satisfactorily ; but 

 one ought to be a fairly good mechanic to 

 make a vat or tank of wood and metal to hold 

 water or wax. — Ed ] 



APIS DORSATA. 



The Length of their Tongue Compared with that of 

 Italians.. 



BY PROF. B. F. KOONS. 



Dear Bro. Root : — Yours concerning bees 

 and rack, also the packages of the same, were 

 duly received. I have made careful measure- 

 ments of the mouth parts of a part of the bees, 

 with the following results expressed in thou- 

 sandths of an inch : 



No. 1, .220 No. 2, .240 No. 3, .215 



No. 4, .170 No. 6, .170 No. 6, .174 



No. 7, .173 



I have also gone to my own hives and got 

 some Italians ; that is, I take them to be quite 

 pure, and I examined a lot of them in the 

 fresh stage, not alcoholic, and find the follow- 

 ing in thousandths of an inch : 



You will see that there is a very wide varia- 

 tion in the Apis dorsata, and a much greater 

 uniformity in my fresh Italians. I fear that 

 the alcohol has vitiated the record in those 

 you sent, as alcohol is a drier. It coagulates 

 the liquids, takes out the water, hardens, etc. 

 I notice that, in preparing the mouth parts of 

 my fresh bees for the microscope, often the 

 tongue is retracted so as to belittle longer 

 than the labial palpi ; but by gently pressing 

 the base, the tongue will extend as it is usually 

 figured in the books, but in the alcoholic spec- 



