1062 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov 15 



inserted the square shaft and pinion, the lat- 

 ter meshing into the gear of the crank-shaft. 

 A sHght circular twist of the cross-arm sup- 

 porting the crank and gearing disengages it 

 from the hook-shaped ears into which the 

 two end bolts are slid, so that the whole 

 thing can be lifted off. The cross-arm in the 

 basket has a square hole into which the ta- 

 per shank of the small pinion-wheel is insert- 

 ed loosely. When the cross-arm is removed 

 this pinion shank slips out of the hole, leav- 

 ing the basket free to take out and dump. 



When ready to extract, an inch or so of 

 water is poured in the lip in the bottom of 

 the compartment of the extractor. It is then 

 set on the stove, or, preferably, over a single 

 gasoline-burner, close to the floor. When the 



high rate of speed. As soon as the wax 

 ceases to come out, the cross-arm and reel 

 are removed by loosening the two end bolts 

 and giving the arm a quarter twist. The 

 basket is then dumped, put back in place, 

 the cross-arm secured, when it is ready for 

 a fresh batch of slumgum. 



The process can be greatly facilitated by 

 melting the slumgum in a large kettle with 

 hot water and then dipped into the centrif- 

 ugal wax - extractor and given a whirl. 

 Steam should be generated in the lower 

 compartment to keep the refuse hot while 

 it is subjected to the centrifugal force. 



While experiments so far conducted have 

 shown that this machine will give good re- 

 sults in some cases, yet a considerable quan- 



CENTRIFUGAL WAX-EXTRACTOR. 



water boils and steam is generated, old 

 combs and slumgum are poured into the 

 basket, and then the cover-lids are put in 

 place. The operation of extracting wax is 

 now much the same as with the German 

 wax-press, for the steam is allowed to pass 

 through the mass until much of the wax runs 

 out by gravity. When the refuse is hot, 

 the handle is turned briskly, throwing out 

 free wax. The remaining solid matter will 

 creep up on the sides of the cylindrical bas- 

 ket, exposing a large surface to the action of 

 the centrifugal force. As soon as the wax 

 has ceased to strike against the sides of the 

 can, the lids are removed, and a stick 

 claws the contents over; then the lids are re- 

 placed, and the reel is revolved again at a 



tity of wax is very often left in the refuse. 

 This fact is shown by taking some of the 

 steaming-hot slumgum in the hand and 

 squeezing it, which produces fine yellow 

 lines of wax in the creases between the 

 fingers. 



Although the machine does quicker work 

 than the press, it wastes wax, and this is a 

 most serious fault. It would indeed be 

 penny wise and pound foolish to use a ma- 

 chine that would waste even a small per- 

 centage of so valuable an article as beeswax. 



We prepared illustrations with the expec- 

 tation of putting the machine on the mar- 

 ket. It is somewhat disappointing that it 

 should seem inadvisable to put it out just 

 yet if we do at all. 



