1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



37 



AV AX RENDERING. 



A Brief History of Different Methods, In- 

 cluding the Use of Wax-presses; the 

 Hatch-Gem mil Press and What 

 Can be Expected from it. 



BY H. H. ROOT. 



Some bee-keepers are not yet convinced of 

 the superiority of a good wax-press for ren- 

 dering wax from old combs, refuse from the 

 solar extractor, etc. The principal reason 

 for this is that they are sure that their own 

 particular method wastes no wax. I want 

 to say, however, that, from a good many 

 tests made, I am satistied that half of the 

 wax in many cases is thrown away. It is 

 next to impossible to tell very much concern- 

 ing the amount of wax in refuse after it has 

 become cold. It may look perfectly clean, 

 and show no ti^ace of wax, although it be 

 broken up and examined carefully. For in- 

 stance, one correspondent said that the cheese 

 was as hard as a board — a fact which he seem- 

 ed to think intlicated that it had received so 

 much pressure that surely no wax could be 

 left, while, as a matter of fact, the more wax 

 left in a cheese, the harder it is when cold. 

 Another stated that the refuse was perfectly 

 dry. and would shake out like ashes. While 

 I think this would indicate that pretty thor- 

 ough work had been done, yet, as I said be- 

 fore, very little can be determined from an 

 examination of cold refuse. Without actual- 

 ly testing it, the best way, pei'haps, to tell 

 whether there is any wax left is to take a 

 handful of refuse when it is hot, and squeeze 

 it. If line lines of wax appear along the 

 creases between the fingers, it contains at 

 least from eight to ten per cent of wax. The 

 only way, then, to lind the exact amount of 

 wax remaining is to run the refuse through 

 some form of press, and do the work thor- 

 oughly. Many bee-keepers place the combs 

 in an old burlap sack, and immerse the sack 



Fig. 1. A crude method of extracting- wax from old 

 combs, which wastes about 25 per cent. 



in boiling water. This is punched with a 

 stick, or covered with a slatted frame weight- 

 ed down heavily so that the wax is forced 

 out. In either case there is a waste on the 

 average of about 25 per cent. Mr. Orel L. 

 Hershiser, of Buffalo, N. Y., rendered, with 

 his hot-water press, 85 lbs. of refuse which 



had been treated in this way by one of the 

 largest producers in this country, and ob- 

 tained 28 lbs. of pure wax, showing that in 

 this one instance the method of rendering 

 under hot water, without the proper amount 

 of pressure, yielded, perhaps, less than two- 

 thirds of the total amount of wax. 



Fig. 2. Another crude and very wasteful method of 

 extracting wax. This is a better way than that shown 

 in Fig, 1, 



The solar wax-extractor, while it is indis- 

 pensable in an apiary, and possesses many 

 advantages that need not be enumerated 

 here, is hardly suitable for rendering old 

 combs. The amount of loss from such vax'ies 

 from 25 t(j perhaps 40 per cent. When a few 

 cappings are renderetl, the amount of refuse 

 left is usually quite small, and the waste may, 

 therefore, l^e neglected. But if a great quan- 

 tity of cappings is to be rendered, the refuse 

 which comes from the solar had better be 

 run through a good press. 



I am sure that this method wastes more 

 than most producers imagine, for wax of a 

 most beautiful lemon color can be obtained 

 from the l)lackest refuse in a solar extractor. 



Since the wax-press is, without doubt, the 

 most practicable extractor brought out thus 

 far, when viewed from the standpoint of 

 economy, we will now take up this part of the 

 discussion. 



WAX-PRESSES. 



These may be divided into two classes— the 

 first including any kind of press in which 

 heat is applied to the slumgum during the 

 pressing; and the second, all presses in whirh 

 no heat is applied during the pressing. We 

 will first consider brielij^ the heated presses 

 including the hot-water press, in which great 

 pressure is applied to combs immersed in 

 hot water, and the steam-press in which the 

 combs ai'e enveloped in steam. 



HOT-WATER PRESSES. 



In these the pressure may be continued 

 without the least danger of chilling the combs. 

 This method has also a decided advantage in. 

 that the screw may be raised after having 

 been turned down, and the cheese alloweil 

 to become saturated again with boiling wa- 

 ter. The screw may then be lowered and 

 this hot water forced out of the refuse, car- 

 rying with it more of the wax. This opera- 

 tion may be repeated as long as is found 

 necessary by experience. It is thus seen that 

 there is no disagreeable handling of the ref- 

 use until all the wax is out. Furthex'more, 

 all the work, if necessary, may be confined 

 to the one tank. 



