E 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



1 



EDITORIAL 



A discussion of lioney and market crop 



conditions will he found in market page 

 elsewhere. 



a :=ta ^ Qcrz n3 



IN THESE DAYS, when our attention is 

 being called to the necessity for conserving 



every kind of 



DON'T THROW 



AWAY GOOD 



BEESWAX 



material, b e e- 

 keepers should 

 not forget that 

 it is very easy 

 to throw away dollars — yes, hundreds of 

 dollars — in scraps of beeswax. Now that 

 wax has become so much more valuable, it 

 is all the more important that the waste be 

 reduced to the smallest possible amount. 



A small bee-tight and honey-tight tin box 

 should always be carried when one is work- 

 ing about the apiary, as a part of the regu- 

 lar tool kit or equipment, to hold the scrap- 

 ings and bits of burr or brace combs. This 

 box must be tight so that any honey may 

 not leak out and attract robbers. 



The box should be emptied, when full, 

 into a solar wax-extractor, which for such 

 purposes need not be very large nor ex- 

 pensive. Such an outfit will more than pay 

 for itself in convenience, for it costs nothing 

 to operate it, and the resulting wax is al- 

 ways of the very finest quality. The bee- 

 keeper who throws away or burns up the 

 refuse from a solar extractor is making a 

 wasteful mistake, for it contains anywhere 

 from twenty-five to fifty per cent of was. 

 Such material should always be run thru a 

 good wax-press. It should be saved, in 

 barrels, to be rendered out during the win- 

 ter months when time is less valuable. 



CAUTION IN THE USE OF SULPHURIC ACID IN 

 CLEANSING BEESWAX. 



If one has the proper equipment sulphur- 

 ic acid may be used for refining wax. Since 

 the acid will attack iron or copper the most 

 practical material for a tank is lead. A 

 wooden vat must be used, therefore, lined 

 with sheet lead, the heat being introduced 

 into the water in the lower part of the vat 

 by means of steam. Water should be pour- 



ed in until the vat is a little less than one- 

 third full, then the steam turned on and the 

 wax cakes thrown in as rapidly as they 

 melt, until the vat is nearly full. When the 

 whole contents have become thoroly melted 

 a very small amount of sulphuric acid 

 should be poured in. Light-colored wax 

 needs less than dark dirty wax. About 

 three ounces is sufficient for a hundred 

 pounds of average wax. The boiling should 

 not continue very long after the acid has 

 been added. One-half minute to two min- 

 utes is sufficient, then the vat should be 

 covered up and the impurities, carbonized 

 by the sulphuric acid, allowed to settle into 

 the water under the wax. 



IN VIEW OF THE unprecedented con 

 dition of the honey market (along with un 



px'ecedented con 



A GENERAL 



DISCUSSION 



INVITED 



ditions of all 

 markets) 

 Gleanings i s 

 going to invite 

 its readers, one and all, to join in a gen- 

 eral discussion in its August number of 

 present honey-market conditions and prite 

 prospects for the 1917 crop. " How to 

 get the most for our honey " is the general 

 theme that we ask our readers to discuss — 

 and to do this with absolute freedom. Any 

 man or woman who has any idea worth 

 while, an experience that teaches a lesson, 

 or a bona-fide honey-market quotation that 

 has not been printed heretofore — we want 

 it for Gleanings-' columns. 



Tell the truth, give the facts, frame the 

 ideas clearly, do this briefly, and we shall 

 be glad to print it. 



Let us emphasize that we wish to have 

 this discussion carried on with absolute 

 freedom. Hew to the line and let the 

 chips fall where they may. Give us your 

 ideas, give us your facts, give us any genu- 

 ine offer that you have had made you for 

 your honey (telling who made it), give 

 your experience. By so doing you may 



