1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



943 



SOLAR '.AND ARTIFICIAL HEAT WAX-EXTRACTOR. 



kin town, but we had to forego that plea- 

 sure, as it was impossible for her to get 

 away. 



At the left of the picture will be seen a 

 large open drygoods box. Prof. Surface 

 had put a number of the colonies in winter 

 cases of this construction, packing them in 

 straw or leaves for the winter. When we 

 examined the bees between sessions at the 

 State College convention held during the 

 last of March we found them in good condi- 

 tion save that one or two had succumbed 

 from some unknown cause. These cheaply 

 constructed winter cases doubtless serve an 

 excellent purpose. 



As the trees were not leaved out at the 

 time this picture was taken, it will be seen 

 that this "dissected " colony was a fair one, 

 as the bees were fairly well bunched over 

 the frames. 



BEE-KEEPING IN IDAHO. 



A Solar Wax-extractor so Designed as to Take 



a Small Stove to be Used Early in 



the Morning. 



BY E. F. ATWATER. 



Last spring we built the solar extractor 

 shown in the cut. It turns on a tin or bolt 

 in front, and on two furniture- casters in the 

 rear. In front j ou see a door which gives ac- 

 cess to the lower compartment. The galvan- 

 ized pan will hold a lot of cappings or other 

 material to be melted, and the wax, as melt- 

 ed, flows down into a pail, and from that into 

 another, on the well-known Rauchfuss prin- 

 ciple. A part of the floor under the galvan- 

 ized pan is cut away; and if wf wish tp start 



the apparatus to work early in the day we 

 melt as (much wax as possible, and as long 

 as possible we insert a small coal oil stove 

 in the lower compartment so the heat is ap- 

 plied directly to the lower side of the pan. 

 The only objection to this arrangement is 

 that S'jch a stove requires some watching or 

 your whole ex tractor will "go up in smoke" 

 some day. 



Note the glass. Instead of buying a big 

 sheet of glass, which, if broken, makes a 

 considerable loss for Somerford's ' ' poor bug- 

 man," we get narrow strips, 8 to 8 inches 

 wide, and build them together with white 

 lead. These narrow strips usually cost noth- 

 ing. The sash and glass may be taken off; 

 the compartment containing the pan may 

 be taken off from the lowest compartment; 

 the machine is effective, economical, dissect- 

 ible, and repairable. See the piles of comb- 

 honey supers. We prepared last spring over 

 800 of them, with sections and full sheets of 

 foundation. We have them yet. 



Meridian, Ida. 



[The scheme of having artificial heat in 

 connection with solar heat I saw in practi- 

 cal use in Colorado some seven or eight 

 years ago. Mr. R. C. Aikin and one or two 

 others in that State had employed the com- 

 bination for some time. Whether the prin- 

 ciple was original with them or not I do not 

 know; but as I now remember it they claim- 

 ed much greater efficiency— that is, they got 

 much more wax from a given quantity of 

 comb than when solar heat alone was used. 

 This reminds me that solar heat with the 

 sun extractor is a very inefficient wax-ren- 

 dering device. The sun extractor should 

 always be used in connection with a wax- 



