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GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE 



CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH WAX PRODUCTION ALONE IS POSSIBLE 



BY LESLIE BURR 



The beekeepers of the Hawaiian Islands 

 produce but little beeswax. There seem to 

 be two reasons for this. First, they have 

 been contented in the past with producing 

 honey; second, they have no bee diseases, 

 and so have never had to do any wholesale 

 cooking'-up of combs, as beekeepers here 

 had to do in many parts of the world. The 

 only wax tliat is produced is from capping-s. 



In handling- the cappings the Hawaiian 

 beekeepers have adopted the usual method 

 employed in California — that is, they use 

 large solar extractor's to melt the cappings, 

 and then later cook the wax in large tanks 

 or vats and run it off into cakes. These 

 extractors are merely glass-covered boxes, 

 bee-tight on top and honey-tight at the 

 bottom. They are divided into two com- 

 partments by a screen. This screen is placed 

 midway between the glass and the bottom of 

 the tank, and it is on this screen that the 

 cappings are placed. The honey in the cap- 

 pings tinds a ready passage thru the screen ; 

 and the wax, after having been melted by 

 the sun, follows. 



MAKING A SPECIALTY OF WAX PRODUCTION. 



On tlie surface, conditions here in the 

 Hawaiian Islands appear to be such that 

 bees could be worked for wax as well as 

 honey. These conditions that make for wax 

 production are : A large portion of the 

 honey produced is of very low quality, and 

 an equally low price is obtained for it. 

 Then there is I he matter of transportation. 

 The islands being located near the center cf 

 the Pacific Ocean, it is a long journey to 

 any market. Ocean freight rates are by the 

 ton, and tlie value of the freight makas but 

 little difference in the rate charged. Then, 

 too, wax is worth almost the same price 

 here as on the Coast. 



Just Avhat procedure should be followed, 

 or what can be done in the matter of wax 

 production here, I do not now feel qualified 

 to say. I have been here but six months, 

 and during the time of year when the bees 

 have least to do. It may be that the present 

 method of woiking bees secures all the wax 

 that can be obtained at a profit, yet I doubt 

 it. 



CONDITIONS IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



Beekeeping everywhere is a matter that 

 has to be worked according to local condi- 

 tions. The time of year at which the sur- 



plus flows occur; the temperature, and the 

 kind of weather ; length and nature of flows, 

 and many other matters all have a bearing. 

 While it is safe to say that, as a rule, bees 

 will do like things under like circumstances 

 and conditions, yet there are very few local- 

 ities where identical circumstances and con- 

 ditions exist. For example, take Cuba and 

 the Island of Oahu. Both islands are north 

 of the equator, and located at just about the 

 same distance from it, yet the honey seasons 

 are revereed. In Cuba the honey season is 

 during the winter months, while on Oahu 

 the flow, is during summer. The tempera- 

 ture of the two islands, I think, is almost 

 identical, month for month, yet the general 

 weather conditions differ greatly. In Cuba 

 the rains come in the summer, while on 

 Oahu the rains are generally during the 

 winter months. So, because a thing can be 

 done in Cuba it does not necessarily follow 

 that it can be done iii the Hawaiian Islands, 

 and vice versa. 



One thing that was a surprise to me here 

 was that, among those interested in bees, at 

 least among those I have met, I have as yet 

 to find the first i^erson who seems to have 

 any interest in increasing the output of 

 beeswax. In fact, none claims to have given 

 the subject a thought. 



In Cuba, years ago, wax production was 

 one of the common topics of conversation 

 among honey-produeei'S — at least it was a 

 common tojDic every time the price of honey 

 went down. Some of the honey-producers 

 used to advocate the working of bees for 

 wax alone, their idea being to locate an 

 apiary in some of the out-of-the-way places, 

 where the territory was exceedingly good 

 (or at least supposed to be of that nature), 

 such as some of the locations up in the 

 mountains, or down in the mangrove 

 swamps on the Caribbean coast. The usual 

 plan of management advocated was to use 

 iia'ive hivfs — that is, hollow logs, and then 

 work the bees native fashion by cutting out 

 the surplus honey first from one end of the 

 log and then from the other end. The na- 

 tives place the log hives in rocks in a hori- 

 zontal position. The honey, after taking 

 out the wax, was to be fed back to the bees, 

 over and over again, until nothing but wax 

 was left. However, so far as I am aware 

 none of those who advocated such methods 

 of beekeeping ever tried to put their plans 



