RENDERING WAX. 



85 



for the wax moth, unless fumigated with burning sulphur or exposed to 

 the fumes of bisulphide of carbon two or three times each month until 

 no more eggs of the moth remain. 



The old way of rendering wax was to put the combs into a sack made 

 of some open stuff, weight this down in a kettle of water, and boil for 

 some time. The wax rose, and when cold was removed in a cake. 

 This process, besides being dauby, often yielded inferior wax burned, 

 water- soaked, or filled with settlings. 



The most approved method of rendering wax is, for moderate-sized 

 apiaries at least, by means of the solar wax extractor (fig.,61), already 

 mentioned under the head of " Implements." Its management is very 

 simple. The machine is placed in the sunniest spot in or near the 

 apiary, and all of the wax cappings, after having been drained of honey 

 or worked over by the bees, as well as bits of comb, are thrown into 

 the receiver above the wire 

 strainer, the glass is adjusted, 

 and the whole is turned so that 

 the direct rays of the sun enter. 

 More bits of comb are added 

 from time to time during the 

 day. The melted wax trickles 

 through the strainer and col- 

 lects in a tin placed at the 

 lower edge of the tank or 

 melter. The cake is removed 

 each morning, it having cooled 

 and contracted during the 

 night sufficiently to cause the 

 mass to cleave readily from 

 the vessel. 



The solar wax extractor can 

 be used during four or five months of the year in the more northern 

 States, and for a longer time in the South. To render wax at other 

 times steam heat is best. When available a jet from a boiler may 

 be connected with a barrel or vessel containing the combs and a large 

 amount rendered in a short time. In smaller apiaries a steam extractor 

 for use over a boiler on the stove may be employed (fig. 36). The 

 manner of using these extractors is simple. The cappings and bits 

 of comb to be rendered are placed in an inside basket made of per- 

 forated metal. Upon placing this over a water boiler, into which it 

 fits closely, the steam rises through holes in the bottom of the upper 

 can and readily penetrates the mass. The melted wax runs out 

 through a spout at the lower edge of the upper can and is caught in a 

 pan partly filled with warm water. As fast as the mass in the perfo- 

 rated can settles away more bits of comb are added. The dark residue 

 remaining is composed of cocoons, pollen, and accidental impurities. 



FIG. 61. The Boardman solar wax extractor. 

 Gleanings.) 



(From 



