JUNE 1, 1916 



430 



be seen by the checks in some of them. On 

 this basis we must have had much more 

 than one pound of wax to every hundred of 

 honey at the north yard, as at a rough guess 

 I should say that not more than half of the 

 honey here at home was sealed over, while 

 at the north yard -nearly all combs were 

 about solid. Unfortunately we have never 

 had a full crop in both counties at the same 

 time; and as cappings are always rendered 

 up in winter, and all put together, results 

 have alwaj^s been about the same. At any 

 rate it looks as tho one should expect a 

 pound of wax to 100 of honey, provided the 

 crop is average in quantity. How does this 

 accord with the experience of other extract- 

 ed-honey producer? 



We are often asked how we disi>ose of 

 the eappings. After trying a capping-melt- 

 er a few years ago with indifferent results 

 at best, we are again back to the old-style 

 methrds we have used for some time. I am 

 told that the new-style melters are all right 

 in that they do not color or " cook " the 

 honey; but I have not tried them, so cannot 

 speak from experience. One thing objec- 

 tionable with all of them is that it means 

 extra heat in the building at a time of the 

 year when we need nothing extra along that 

 line. We use the old-stjde divisible capping- 

 cans, and like to have two at each yard. 

 One will about handle the eappings for a 

 single day's work, and with two cans the 

 eappings can be left to drain much longer 

 than when only one is used. The only ob- 

 jection that we have found is that they are 

 too deep to allow as much drainage as a 

 longer and shallower uncapping-device. On 

 the other hand, they are bee-tight, can be 

 easily taken from one place lo another if 



necessary, and they also lake up little room. 

 In crowded buildings this latter point is a 

 strong one in their favor. After draining 

 the eappings as long as we can leave them 

 in the cans, they are dumped into empty 

 barrels till we have time later in the fall to 

 attend to them. 



Formerly we put the eappings all thru 

 the capping-melter in the winter, removing 

 all the honey, and then the wax and all 

 refuse with it was melted up and run thru 

 the press, and then into the flaring tins we 

 use for the purpose. But that was too slow 

 a job, so we now put a pail of water in a 

 large kettle outdoors, and then fill n]) with 

 the eappings. The mass is heated till all is 

 thoroly dissolved, but not boiling, and then 

 removed fiom (he fire and allowed to cool. 

 Of course (he honey with the small amount 

 of water will all be at the bottom, and Avax 

 can be lifted off the (op. Wlien all the 

 eappings are treated like this, then the wax 

 in the rough, as it will be, is broken up and 

 remelted in a warm room. We have a stove 

 in our furnace-room and do the work there. 

 The honey and water taken from the eap- 

 pings is, of course, unfit for market, but it 

 will not sour or gianulate, and in the spring- 

 it makes first-class food for the bees if any 

 feeding is necessary. Before feeding we 

 add some more water and then bring all to 

 a sharp boil to avoid any chance of disease. 



This method of handling the eappings is, 

 no doubt, out of date in some ways; but 

 until we decide to use a melter while ex- 

 tracting, and thus dispose of the eappings 

 at once, I expect to continue as at present, 

 as it is about the quickest way we have 

 found of solving the problem. 



Markhara, Ont. 



RENDERING FOUL-BROOD COMBS INTO WAX 



BY EARL P. TOWNSEND 



In talking with a beekeeper regarding 

 the con(rol of American foul brood he in- 

 formed me that, after shaking the bees, he 

 burned the remaining brood-frames and 

 combs. This seemed to me rather wasteful, 

 as T have recently sold a quanti(y of prime 

 wax rendered from foul-brood combs to a 

 large manufacturing concern at 45 cts. per 

 lb. Had I followed his method these combs 

 would have been an entire loss. It occurred 

 to me that some of the newer beekeepers 

 might be interested in our method of ren- 

 dering such combs. 



We do not shake for American foul 

 brood at all, never having had very flatter- 

 ing success with the plan (altho possibly 

 this may have been my fault) ; but when we 



come across an affected colony during o*ir 

 regular inspection we make a note of it; 

 and as we usually find them before they are 

 very weak, we contract the entrance and 

 run them for all they are worth during the 

 honey-flow, allowing what bees r»main in 

 the fall to starve. During the winter we 

 render the combs. 



After putting the wax thru a Hatch press, 

 we again melt the refuse with a small 

 amount of water, and put it thru the press 

 again, this time placing inside the burlap 

 cloth a piece of coarse unbh'achcd cotton 

 cloth which catches any small jiarticles of 

 dirt which may have come thru the burlap 

 at the first pressing. We pour (he wax into 

 a metal dish having flaring sides, larger at 



