202 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



take a large kettle (a90-gallonone 

 is what I use) and put in four pails 

 of water and heat it to the boiling 

 point ; then put in the comb as fast 

 as it will melt, until all is in or until 

 the kettle is filled to within about 

 four inches of the top. Stir the 

 mass all the time to reduce it to a 

 pulp as much as possible ; keep 

 the fire just hot enough to melt all 

 the wax, but not hot enough to 

 boil, or it would be quite certain 

 to rise and go over. When all is 

 melted so that the comb is well re- 

 duced to a pulp, take the fire away 

 and dip off the wax. To do this, 

 I use a basket made of wire cloth, 

 the same wire as we use for queen- 

 cages. It should be about six 

 inches deep, and eight or ten 

 inches across, large enough to dip 

 from with a common dipper. Sink 

 the basket into the mass with one 

 hand, and dip off the wax as long 

 as yon can without getting water ; 

 then give the mass another stirring 

 when more can be dipped off. 1 

 proceed in this way until I get 

 nearly all, when I leave it to get 

 cold. All the wax that I fail to 

 get while hot I find in a thin scale 

 on the mass when cold, and this 

 can be easily taken off and run 

 through the extractor, or, if one 

 has more than one kettle full to 

 make it can be put in with the 

 second lot. The wax should be 

 strained when dipped off so there 

 will be no more bother with it. 

 Cover the dish as soon as you get 

 it full, so that it will keep hot long 

 enough to settle all impurities there 

 may be in it, and also to prevent 

 it from cracking. There is no 

 trouble in getting all the wax in 

 this way if one is thorough in 

 stirring the mass, so that all the 

 wax can float out. I seldom have 

 to renew the fire to get it all. If 

 I have comb enough for one hun- 

 dred pounds it is an easy job to 

 start a fire and heat water and do 

 all the work after five o'clock at 



night in May and get the wax out 

 before dark. 



All the wax there is in bee- 

 glue can be got out in the same 

 way, except I do not dip the wax 

 off', but let the glue settle and ev- 

 ery particle of the wax will sepa- 

 rate and can be taken off when 

 cold. To separate wax from bee- 

 glue, I put five or six pails of wa- 

 ter in the kettle, and when hot 

 put in the glue and bring to a boil- 

 ing point, so that all will be melted, 

 and let it simmer for a few min- 

 utes, stirring all the time so long 

 a's it is boiling, the wax and glue 

 will all float on top and appear to 

 keep together. When you are sat- 

 isfied that the glue is all melted, 

 put out the fire and let it stand for 

 a short time, then give it a good 

 stirring ; if the glue settles to the 

 bottom let it alone, but if it does 

 not, then wait awhile longer before 

 you repeat the stirring. I have 

 sometimes had to wait for an hour 

 after the fire was put out before 

 the vrater got cool enough to cause 

 the glue to settle. There is more 

 wax about bee-glue than most peo- 

 ple are aware. This season I 

 got twenty pounds of nice wax 

 from the glue saved in two seasons 

 from the sections and cleaning up 

 of old frames, hives, and honey 

 racks, and it all appeared to be clear 

 bee-glue and nothing else. Young 

 swarms in June and the early part 

 of July, when bee-glue is scarce, use 

 wax freely in place of glue, then 

 later on when glue is plentiful they 

 coat it over with bee-glue, so that 

 all appears to be glue. It is well 

 worth saving when we have use 

 for all the pure wax we can pro- 

 duce. 



De Kalh Janctlon, N. Y. 



