1904. 



rilH AMKKICAN BEK-KBEPEH. 



WAX PRODUCTION IN ARGEN 

 TINA. 



Transforming Cheap Honey Into the More Readily 

 IVIarketable Commodity. 



Bj Adrian L.etaz. 



CONSIDERING the low price of 

 dark extracted lioney and the 

 increasing value of the wax, 

 tne question of produciiis; wax instead 

 of honey has often bt'cn i-aised. The 

 last number of the Auiculteur con 

 tains a contribution of I'rof. Brunner 

 from Coixioba, Argentine Republic, in 

 which he describes the method he fol- 

 lows for producing wax in a locality 

 where the honey is quite dark and dif- 

 ficult to sell. 



The hives used have 22 frames. 18x 

 11 inches and a super of same num- 

 ber of frames, only six inches deep. 



Early in the spring, that is, as soon 

 as the weather is quite warm and no 

 more cold ^snaps are expected, all the 

 frames not having brood are taken out 

 and the combs melted. The wax is 

 sold and the honey kept for feeding. A 

 partition is inserted on each side o." 

 the brood, and the frames are cover- 

 ed with a cushion, the roof being con- 

 structed so as to leave room enough 

 for that purpose. 



When the swarming season arrives 

 all the queens more tuan two years 

 old are replaced by some raised the 

 previous season, and wintered in their 

 nuclei. Two days later the frames 

 taken out arc returned to their hives. 

 Only one-half-inch starters are used. 

 A large feeder containing about 40 

 pounds of honey is placed on each hive, 

 and feeding is begun immediately and 

 kept up until the fall. As much as 

 the bees will take is given, no matter 

 whether there is any honey brought in 

 from the field or not. Every week the 

 combs are cut out from the frames 

 and melted and this process continues 

 until the fall, when the bees are al- 

 lowed to build up for the winter or 

 rather the ensuing year. 



About the middle of the summer, 

 sooner or later, the l>ees refuse to 

 work any more on that principle. Then 

 the supers are put on, with only small 

 starters in the frames, and (what 

 looks singular to me) the bees resume. 

 work at once. Prof Brunner has fol- 



lowed this method several years. It 

 takes, all told, G8 pounds of honey to 

 produce ten pounds of wax. The hon- 

 ey there (that is, the dark honey used 

 for that purpose), is worth (i cents per 

 pound and very hard to sell at that, 

 riie wax is worth .54 cents and sells 

 very readily. Furthermore, rhe bar- 

 rels or cans necessary for the honey 

 are quite high. The cost of vranspor- 

 tation is considerable, which malves 

 quite a difference in favor of the wax, 

 since there is less weight. 



So under such conditions Prof. Brun- 

 ner finds a large profit in buying dark 

 honey from the farmers and turning it 

 into wax. 



ADVANTAGE OF STRONG COLO- 

 NIES. 



Mr. Pincot, one of the leading 

 French apiarists is in favor of keeping 

 the colonies as strong as possible, in 

 order to get the best crops of honey. 

 By that he means keep them strong 

 all the time. Not merely pushing 

 brood rearing for a few weeks be- 

 tween the end of the winter and the 

 lieginning of the honey harvest, and 

 then reducing brood rearing to save 

 a few pounds of honey; but he wants 

 brood rearing to be kept up throughout 

 the season, even if it is necessary to 

 feed. 



He says that the amount of the 

 bi'ood raised is in proportion of the 

 number of bees present to take care 

 of it. no matter how prolific the queen 

 might be. and that if the colony is not 

 strong right at the openinc of the 

 spring, it will never get to its full 

 strength because on account of the in- 

 sufficient number of bees, the brood 

 rearing cannot be carried on to its full 

 capacity. 



And he gives facts and figures in 

 support of his opinions. One of the 

 facts quoted is worth reproducing here. 

 One of his neighbors had seven 

 swarms within a few days, each 

 weighing four or five pounds. Mr. 

 Pincot asked liim. as an experiment, 

 to hive the last two together. The 

 man consented. The swarms hivea 

 singly, made their winter provisions 

 (about 35 pounds each) but no more. 

 The double swarm not only made its 

 provisions, but gave 90 pounds of 

 siirplus. Furthermore, the following 

 year (1903), the double swarm was 



