JUNE 1, 1916 



437 



biles; but give it a full ration, and your 

 only show for an automobile ride is when 

 the police run you in as a vagrant. 



To raise more wax and less honey, begin 

 in the spring by cutting out and melting up 

 everything' but perfect brood-combs. Then 

 replace the empty frames; and when they 

 are filled with new comb and honey cut out 

 the combs, drop them into some receptacle 

 like a Mclntyre uncapping-box, from which, 

 after being crushed and chopped up with a 

 short spade, most of the honey can drain 

 off into a tank. A eapping-melter will get 

 the rest and the wax. I have queen-exclud- 

 ers for all my hives, and would consider 



tliem an essential in wax production, so as 

 not to be bothered by brood, for queens 

 dearly love to lay eggs in new comb. 



I shall try this season to see how much 

 wax I can get from my 250 hives; and if 

 the beekeepers of the West Indies and our 

 southern states — Arizona, Imperial Valley, 

 and northern California, would do likewise, 

 I feel sure it would be advantageous to us 

 all. 



Yuma, Ariz. 



[We hope that our correspondent, after 

 he runs his bees for all they are worth for 

 wax, will make a further report. — Ed.] 



USE SOFT WATER TO FACILITATE WAX -RENDERING 



BY W. B. BRAY 



In the method I use in rendering the wax 

 from old combs I am able, in the one 

 operation, to get the wax into large clean 

 blocks ready for market. I melt the combs 

 in a large copper boiler and press them in 

 a Hatch press, which I consider is the most 

 useful press for any beekeeper. I cut out 

 an extra melting operation by catching the 

 wax and water from the press in a benzine- 

 tin which has a small tap soldered in at the 

 bottom. When this tin is full I keep on 



drawing the water off at the tap, and return 

 it to the boiler. By using the same water 

 all the time, I save firing, do quicker work, 

 and the wax remains hot in the tin. When 

 it is nearly full I strain the wax and some 

 water into a clean tin, which is then well 

 covered up so that the wax will cool very 

 slowly. A couple of-days after, I can take 

 the block of wax out and scrape all the dirt 

 off the bottom. Even this dirt contains a 

 small quantity of wax, so I i3ut it in the 



k 



Wax rendered by memhers of the apicultural class at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. Different 

 processes are demonstrated by the students under the direction of Dr. Burton N. Gales. 



