192 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



We have used three different kinds, 

 none of which have worked satis- 

 factorily, as they will not extract 

 over fifty per cent of the wax. 

 Then the process is so slow that 

 one gets out of patience before the 

 work is half done. 



For nearly twentj^ years our 

 better half has had a job to " try 

 out," or boil out wax from old 

 comb, and the pieces tliat usually 

 collect where bees are kept in large 

 numbers. 



Of all the methods yet tried, 

 none has worked equal to the fol- 

 lowing : we take a boiler, such as 

 is used by the women for boiling 

 clothes on washing day, and place 

 therein several gallons of water 

 and heat until it boils. The next 

 thing is to have a bag at hand 

 made of strong, coarse cotton or 

 linen material, called here "strain- 

 er" cloth, large enough to hold 

 nearly two bushels and long and 

 narrow in shape. This is tilled 

 with old comb and as much of it 

 as can be put in at one time. The 

 bag is then thrust into the boiling 

 water. And a large pine-wood stick 

 is used to " punch" the bag while 

 the water boils and softens the dry 

 comb, at the same time twisting 

 the top end of the bag to force 

 its contents into the smallest com- 

 pass. Then the bag is refilled 

 with dry comb and so on until 

 quite a quantity has been melted. 

 At this point some cold water is 

 put into the boiler to reduce the 

 temperature of the water below the 

 boiling point, and then the wax is 

 dipped off into a vessel of cold 

 water. When the water has. boiled 

 some fifteen minutes or longer, the 

 soft comb is forced into the bottom 

 of the bag by twisting the cloth. 

 The bag "is then removed and 

 while some one holds it directly 

 over a vessel of cold water, an- 

 other person uses a large pair of 

 wooden squeezers until all the wax 

 that can be is pressed out. The 



dregs are then removed from the 

 bag when the same process of boil- 

 ing is gone over again as at first. 



The next move is to get the new 

 wax into cakes, which is done by 

 melting again. Put at least two 

 gallons of water into a boiler and 

 place the crude wax in it, and 

 when it is all melted, let it cool. 

 All the coarse dirt will be found 

 on the bottom of the cake of wax 

 and may be easily remove'i by us- 

 ing a large, sharp knife. The wax 

 may then be melted again and run 

 into small cakes in sizes to suit 

 the fancy. 



Bear in mind that the more the 

 wax is heated the darker the color ; 

 use only sufficient heat to melt it. 



We do not claim that this is the 

 neatest way to remove the wax 

 from old comb ; in fact, it is a 

 sticky, dirty mess. It is about 

 all the stuff is worth to get it into 

 salable shape. We have no trouble 

 in getting the work done, hovvever, 

 as our better half is rewarded with 

 the money realized from the sale 

 of the wax to use as "pin" money. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



"the APICULTURIST." 



The reader will notice that the 

 name of P. H. Morant & Co. no 

 longer appears on the cover of the 

 "Api." I wish to inform our 

 readers that the journal is under 

 the same management that it has 

 been since Mr. Locke retired. 

 While Mr. Morant was the owner 

 of the Apiculturist, he has never 

 written one word for its columns, 

 or had anything to do with its 

 management. Mr. Morant never 

 had any experience with bees, and 

 as he cared nothing for the busi- 

 ness, he thought it best to retire. 



While this enterpi'ise is not a 

 mone^'-making business, the re- 



