1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



439 



Late that summer I had a colony that 

 was about as badly affected as any I had 

 ever seen. While watching- them at work 

 dragging^ oit" dead and d3'ing bees, and in 

 some instances tlying with them and drop- 

 ping them right in front of the entrances of 

 other hives, fastspreadingthediseaseallover 

 the apiar}', the idea occurred to me that if I 

 could trap these dead and dying bees, and 

 destroj' them, I could effect a cure. So I 

 dug a ditch six inches wide and three inch- 

 es deep in front of this hive, the ditch ex- 

 tending around to the sides of the hive. It 

 is necessary for the hive to stand very close 

 to the ground. The health}' bees will drag 

 the diseased ones out and fall into this 

 ditch, and have to leave the sick bee there, 

 for it can't fly out; and all sick bees that 

 crawl out of their own accord will fall into 

 this pit and can't get out, so you have these 

 diseased bees trapped. I go out every eve- 

 ning and take up these dead bees, and burn 

 them, destroj'ing the disease germ, hence I 

 effect a cure. I have tried this remedy sev- 

 eral years, and have never failed yet to cure 

 a colony thus treated; in fict, I would not 

 be in the bee business to-day if I had not 

 discovered this remedy. It usually takes 

 about ten days to effect a cure. 



[The essential part of the cure above 



mentioned seems to be isolation. Other 



writers have said that bee-paralysis could 



be cured if the bees could be given a chance 



to carry away the diseased and the dead. 



-Ed.] 



«»« 



A CHEAP AND SERVICEABLE WAX=PRESS. 



How to Render Wax in a Wash. boiler, and Squeeze 



it in a Separate Press without Freezing or 



Chilling. 



BY F. A. SALISBURY. 



For a number of years we have been in- 

 terested in wax-presses, having used near- 

 1}' all styles. The Swiss wax-extractor was 

 the first one, but we found it too slow, be- 

 sides wasting a big lot of wax. We next 

 tried quite a number of processes, but found 

 all to be of no practical use. At last we 

 tried a press, and found it to be better than 

 an}' thing 3'et tried. We have gotten out 

 about 150 lbs. of wax in one day with the 

 help of a large press that used a common 

 jack-screw; but this was too large for ordi- 

 nary use, and took up a great deal of room. 

 Bee-keepers do not, as a general thing, 

 have any thing besides a kitchen stove on 

 which to work melting up combs. Ouite a 

 few have asked us from time to time how to 

 render out wax. but we could only tell them 

 to use some kind of press. At last we tried 

 to get up something that the average bee- 

 keeper could aft'ord to buy, and a year ngo 

 made a press, but found it to be too weak 

 to stand such a pressure as was given to it 

 b}' a screw. This last winter we tried our 

 hand again, and think we have something 

 that will be a benefit to all bee-keepers, for 

 by its use all the wax that is possible to be 



pressed out with any kind of press can be 

 gotten out by our cheap and simple press. 

 There were quite a good many things to 

 think of when inventing, and some of them 

 are as follows: 



1. The wax was to be kept hot as long as 

 possible to prevent it from freezing in the 

 press. 



2. The follower should go down as near- 

 ly level as possible, no matter how the slum- 

 gum under it was placed. 



3. It should all be inclosed, so that wax 

 would not be spurting out on the floor." 



4. The top piece that holds the screw 

 should be perfectly immovable sidewise. 



5. The whole top should be covered to pre- 

 vent the escape of heat while pressing. 



6. The bolts that go through the wood 

 part should also be perfectly plumb at all 

 times. This can not be done unless the bolts 

 are through wood, for they will move slight- 

 ly, and by so doing the screw will be tip- 

 ped one side, and the pressure will tend to 

 push the follower to one side. With the 

 press you can get out all the wax from old 

 combs that you can melt up on two ordinary 

 kitchen ranges. We have gotten out 49 lbs. 

 in one day with it, of nice yellow wax. We 

 have just seen 153 lbs. of wax gotten out by 

 the Ferris wax-extractor, and it was of a 

 pretty dark color. Now, it is known that 

 iron will turn wax dark, and zinc green. 

 We know this to be so, for we tried zinc or 

 galvanized iron for melting up wax for 

 foundation, and found it would be green 

 after standing some time. With iron the 

 wax will be dark in color. We believe all 

 manufacturers of foundation use wooden 

 tubs in which to melt wax, just for the rea- 

 sons I give. Our press is all wood, and will 

 impart no coloring to the wax. 



In using the press a common wash-boiler 

 should be used to boil the combs, and they 

 should be boiled till they are thoroughly 

 melted. This is known by a foam coming 

 on top like soapsuds. The comb-cells should 

 be all separate, and just like kernels of 

 corn. This will give a chance for the boil- 

 ing water to melt the wax between them. 

 Have on top of stove a pail or pan contain- 

 ing boiling water, and keep the follower in 

 it, grooved side down. Place in the press 

 a good strong piece of cheese-cloth having 

 the same reach across the bottom and up 

 the sides, and about six inches projecting 

 on all sides. Place a board from top of the 

 boiler to the press, so as to catch the drip, 

 and dip the slumgum into the press till it is 

 within three inches of top; lay cheese-cloth 

 over it so as to protect the follower from 

 coming in contact with the slumgum. Place 

 the follower on top of all, and then the cov- 

 er with the screw. Screw down till a stream 

 comes from the spout, and keep screwing 

 down gradually till all the wax is out. Do 

 not be in a hurry to screw down, but do it 

 slowly. You may ask, "Why not have the 

 press higher or deeper?" But you will 

 readily see that, if it were deeper, bee-keep- 

 ers would fill it too full, and the slumgum, 

 when pressed as fir down as possible, will 



