GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



the top than bottom, and allow it to stand 

 until the wax is solid, when contraction will 

 allow it to slip out smoothly in beautiful 

 cakes. 



Wlien cutting combs out of the frames 

 wc place frames back in the hive-bodies 

 until wax-rendering is finished, when we 

 have a "boiling up" as follows: 



In an ordinary wash-boiler about half 

 full of water we place half a can of lye, and 

 in tliis boil as many frames as can be placed 

 upright therein. As this amount of water 

 will "not entirely cover the frames, after 

 boiling a few minutes we reverse them and 

 boil, possibly five minutes. This boiling 

 cleans the frames nicely, leaving them al- 

 most as nice as new ones. We then scorch 

 the hive bodies inside, and wash the out- 

 sides with a strong solution of some disin- 



fectant, usually the cheap coal-tar products, 

 such as krese or hygens A. Since carbolic 

 acid, due to the European war, has become 

 a luxury, we also scorch the bottom-boards. 

 We then rewire the frames, and fasten full 

 sheets of brood-foundation. 



This " occasional cleaning up " is an ad- 

 vantage, as it gives us some very nice new 

 combs at the end of the following season, 

 in place of a lot of old ones, many of them 

 filled half or more with old jDollen — too old, 

 probably, for the bees to make much use of. 

 We try to be very careful not to carry any 

 foul-brood germs out of the room where the 

 rendering is done, by stepping on particles 

 of comb which may become scattered when 

 cutting combs from frames. Before leaving 

 the room we wash the bottoms of our shoes 

 with the disinfectant mentioned. 



EXTRACTING THE HONEY FROM CAPPINGS BY CENTRIFUGAL 



FORCE 



BY C. E. FOWLER 



I have been using 

 folding pockets for ex- 

 tracting the honey from 

 cappings, small pieces 

 of comb, or even sec- 

 tions that are not sal- 

 able. 



The pocket is made of 

 two frames of iy2X% 

 strips, hinged with 

 leather. By making the 

 lumber thinner the 

 pockets could be made 

 to hold eight sections 

 4%^x4V4, or a gallon of 

 cappings. 



Large beekeepers may 

 not want to bother by 

 extracting cappings ; 

 but for the small bee- 

 keeper it saves a lot of 

 fussing, and finishes the 

 job all at once, even to 

 rendering the wax ; and 

 the room can be all 

 cleaned up the same 

 day. The mesh of the 

 netting is 41/2 to the 

 inch, but finer would 

 probably be just as 

 good, or better. 



Hammonton, N. J, 



Folding pocket for extracting cappings in an ordinary honey-extractor, 



