1916 



GLE-.NIXGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



81 



A. J. Cook wishes to add to the Caucasians 

 the tongue-length of the best of the yellow 

 races. The longest- tongued bee ever mea- 

 sured was of the Caucasian race, measured by 

 Prof. Gillette, of Colorado. I have a colony 

 of pure Caucasians, and I look forward with 

 interest to their honey- record. They are in 

 the home yard with unlimited red clover, 

 and some alfalfa within range. For gentle- 

 ness they are far ahead of any and all Ital- 

 ians, or even Carniolans; nor have they lack- 

 ed energy to take feed from an Alexander 

 trough feeder under the rear end of the hive. 

 They are the only bees that I ever saw that 

 would contract the entrance of the hive with 

 a huge rampart of propolis, and other mat- 

 ter apparently worked into it. 



At our convention a few days ago one of 

 our members exhibited a glossometer, and 

 told us how his best yield of alfalfa honey 

 came from the longest- tongued colony in 

 the yard. Have those who announced their 

 intention of breedmg for tongue- length 

 accomplished any thing ? 



Meridian, Idaho. 



[No, indeed, the interest has not died out, 

 so far as we are concerned. Our red-clover 

 stock has been of the long-tongued sort; but 

 since the old original queen-mother died, 

 and we have not been able to duplicate her 

 — that is, to raise another queen whose bees 

 and queens would show up as well as those 

 of the old original — we have not said much 

 about the long- tongue business. If we were 

 able to inbreed, selecting the queens and 

 drones both for mating, we would be able 

 to accentuate this quality of increased length 

 of tongue. If it is possible to breed cattle 

 with shorter horns than the normal stock, 

 it will be possible by careful selection and 

 inbreeding to breed bees with longer 

 tongues, providing, of course, we can con- 

 trol the male parentage. A. I. Root is 

 now located on an island in the Gulf of 

 Mexico, off the coast of Florida, and it is 

 possible that he may be able to tackle this 

 pr.jblem of breeding from selected drones, 

 so that we may advertise conscientiously 

 bees with longer tongues than the average. 



it is unfortunate that some adverse criti- 

 cism arose about this long- tongue matter 

 when it came to the front; but that should 

 not deter us from going at this matter in an 

 honest and straightforward manner. 



There is no doubt from what you write 

 that your bees gathered some red-clover 

 honey. The flavor of this honey is not the 

 equal, quite, of that of other clovers. It is 

 a little darker, and, while not unpleasant to 

 the taste, by a long way, it is hardly equal 

 to the other light honeys. 



If the Caucasians have a tendency to 

 sport to longer tongues, this may help a lit- 

 tle toward a solution of the long-tongue 

 problem. There is no question at all but we 

 might secure big crops of honey if we could 

 only produce a bee that could reach the nec- 

 tar in the red clover. As it is, considerable 

 honey is secured, but nothing like what we 

 might be able to obtain with the right bee. 

 -Ed.] 



WAX-RENDERIKG. 



How to Use the Hot-water Method without any 



Great Pressure for Getting Wax out 



of Old Combs. 



BY ROLAND F. SHERBURN. 



Having read different articles in Glean- 

 ings about melting combs for wax, wax- 

 presses, etc., I will give you my method. 

 As long ago as I can remember we used to 

 melt the combs and strain every thing 

 through some coarse cloth, pressing as best 

 we could. Of course, a part of the wax was 

 lost in the dross. 



When I commenced in the bee business on 

 my own account I happened to find a way 

 to get practically all the wax without much 

 trouble. Some twenty years ago I made a 

 pan for melting candied honey, that would 

 fit on top of a cook-stove, after the plan of 

 a molasses-pan, using plank for the sides, 

 and galvanized iron for bottom and ends. 

 This was two feet square and one foot deep. 

 When I wanted to melt the wax this pan 

 naturally suggested itself as the best thing 

 to use, and I never have wanted any thing 

 better. 



This is my plan: Place the pan on top of 

 the stove, and put in two or three buckets 

 of water. Always put in plenty, adding 

 more as needed. When this comes to a boil, 

 put in the combs and cappings to be melted. 

 Have ready a piece of wire cloth, such as is 

 used for door-screens, say 15 inches square, 

 and a dipper. Shape the wire cloth so that 

 it can be pressed down into the melted wax 

 without the dross getting into it, and com- 

 mence dipping out the wax just as soon as 

 melted. The vessel which holds the v/ax 

 should first have a quart or two of hot wa- 

 ter put into it to keep the wax from sticking 

 to the bottom, and to hold any settlings 

 which may have been dipped out with the 

 wax. Now keep it going as long as there is 

 anything to melt, adding the comb and dip- 

 ping out all the wax you possibly can. 



There should always be plenty of water in 

 the pan; and in the wind-up it should be kept 

 slowly boiling. It will have a brown foam 

 over part of the pan all the time. Please 

 notice here is the point— the wax-press if 

 you please. As most of the wax has already 

 been dipped out, what is left in the pan is 

 mostly water and the dross. By shifting 

 the contents of the pan so that all parts of 

 it will be boiled through repeatedly, you can 

 imagine that the parts will be disintegrated 

 and the wax forced to the top. 



This thick dirty-looking juice will boil like 

 molasses, so the wax will be forced to one 

 side or corner, furthest away. Always re- 

 member to skim off the wax. 



This pan should be made of an even size 

 from top to bottom, so as to hold a close- fit 

 ting wire-screen frame. This frame I ma ' 

 of light slats for the outside, with two sla 

 across to support the screen and keep it 

 from bulging. When I am through with the 

 boiling and skimming, this wire-screen frame 

 is placed on the slumgum, and weighted 



