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GLEAXIXCS IX BEE CULl URE. 



Apr. 15 



tube. Next draw the open end of the tube 

 along the edge of foundation where it comes 

 in contact with the top-bar. While drawing 

 the tube, increase the pressure on the rub- 

 ber handle, forcing the hot wax out in a fine 

 stream. 



This principle is all right, but we do not 

 find it as convenient to handle as our regu- 

 lar Van Deusen fastener with an orifice in 

 the handle that regulates perfectly the flow 

 of wax. I might say that, within twelve 

 months, we have made a change in the Van 

 Deusen method of manipulation. The hole 

 for the air- vent is put in the handle, so that 

 there is no danger of burning the fingers, 

 and the tube is made of drawn brass. This 

 is cheaper to make (sells about same price), 

 and in our experience it gives a more even 

 flow of wax. The Griffin tool, above shown, 

 requires a uniformly increasing pressure on 

 the rubber handle, otherwise the wax will 

 not run out. —Ed.] 



A SEPARATE GENERATOR OUTDOORS FOR THE 

 GERMAN WAX-PRESS. 



I am sending you a picture of my wax- 

 press. This is one of the first presses you 

 made, and the cast-iron cover was not good. 

 I broke it all to pieces, and then made a 

 cover of a three-inch oak plank, with a cross 

 of wagon tire across the top. Then I cut a 



IJ-inch hole in the bottom of the press, 

 which fits over a spout in the steam- tank as 

 seen in the picture. I fill the tank with 

 water in the morning, which will last until 

 noon. Before I go to dinner I put in more 

 water, to last until night. No time is lost 

 in getting up steam, as by the cook -stove 

 method. I use sage-bush, tree-prunings, 

 and slumgum in the furnace. Now I have a 

 machine worth twice as much as when I 

 first bought it. I can press all the wax out 

 without being afraid of breaking it. I put 

 only a piece of burlap in the bottom of the 

 basket. I find that best. I like to put the 

 frames right in the press to melt the combs 



out. It takes only eight. I should like to 

 have it larger and square. The grate in the 

 bottom should rest loose on an iron ring so 

 it could be removed for cleaning. The press, 

 as I now have it arranged, is a fine thing to 

 melt cakes of wax. James Hornback. 

 San Jacinto, Cal., March 6. 



[We believe that this idea is a valuable one 

 in a good many ways. It furnishes a method 

 of generating steam quickly, with compara- 

 tively little trouble and fuss, and in a place 

 where wax drippings will do no harm. To 

 say the least, rendering wax from old comb 

 is a "messy job." If the furnace is made 

 large enough to accommodate a good- sized 

 can also, one batch of comb may be melting 

 while another is in the press— according to 

 the plan which we recommend in our direc- 

 tions. In this way as much as one hundred 

 pounds of wax may be obtained in a single 

 day, and, what is more important, the ref- 

 use left is clean. Few bee-keepers have 

 any idea of the dollars they are throwing 

 away or burning up in the refuse of old 

 comb when they do not use some sort of 

 heat during the pressing. 



The first few presses that we made had 

 cast-iron covers, but we soon learned, as did 

 Mr. Hornback, that these were not strong 

 enough. But instead of using a heavy cover 

 made entirely of oak, we have been sending 

 out, since the first few, oak cross-arms 

 strengthened by heavy cast-iron underneath, 

 which have proven entirely satisfactory.— 

 H. H. Root.] 



cement for outer WALLS OF HIVES AND 

 FOR FOUNDATIONS OR STANDS. 



The hive at best is not satisfactory to me. 

 The Dovetailed is about the best form that 

 I know of. It is all right for summer, but 

 too frail for wintering. The chaff hive is 

 good, but short lived. I have had much ex- 

 perience with cement, and I have an idea of 

 an outer wall and foundation slab in which 

 to place our single-wall Dovetail hives, and 

 keep our bees in this kind of inclosure in- 

 stead of the chaff hive. This is for a per- 

 manent apiary, when the bees are not 

 intended to be moved, and I have in mind a 

 permanent foundation of cement, or a slab 

 of cement say about two inches thick and 

 of sufficient width, and project in front for 

 an alighting-place for the bees. Then make 

 the outside wall or shell about two inches 

 thick, and of such height as is most conven- 

 nient, say for two stories, and covered with 

 a wooden cover. This outer case of cement 

 should be sufficiently large to give about 1| 

 inches of space all around the Dovetail hives 

 to give an air-space and also for convenience 

 in taking the hive in and out when this 

 should become necessary. Would such a 

 stone slab be too cold in winter or spring for 

 the bees? or would it be necessary to have 

 a wooden bottom to the hives in such a case ? 

 Has such a case ever been tried ? If it has, 

 what were the results ? If it has never 

 been tried, what is your opinion of of it? 



Saint Paris, O. Geo. Dormire. 



