104 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



plan of pouring hot water slowly over the 

 cheese until it swells up thick again, and 

 then applying the pressure. I have tried 

 this quite extensively, but I find that, even 

 when it is repeated three times, there is still 

 apt to be too much wax wasted; and since it 

 takes less time actually to remelt it thor- 

 oughly, and the results by so doing are bet- 

 ter, I prefer to follow that plan. 



When it is remembered that beautiful yel- 

 low wax may be removed from old black 

 combs at the rate of from 7 to 10 lbs. an 

 hour, with a total loss of less than three or 

 even two per cent, it will be seen that this is 

 a rapid method. Furthermore, the diameter 

 of the can which I used was only 15 inches. 

 A larger one could be made at Init little ad- 

 ditional expense, and the output almost 

 doubled. 



Some will say that the plan requires a great 

 amount of fuel and time, for heating so much 

 water; but since the water can be used over 

 and over again, instead of using fresh cold 

 water each time, this fuel item does not 

 amount to very much. The wax and water 

 which come from the press are simply pour- 

 ed into a can or boiler having a spout at the 

 bottom. The wax will rise to the top, and 

 the hot water may be drawn from the bot- 

 tom through the spout as needed. When the 

 work is finished the water should be drawn 

 off until but little remains,- and then the 

 wax run into shallow pails or molds to hard- 

 en, previously soaped to prevent sticking, or 

 left in the can, and taken out the next day 

 in a large cake. When the wax is left in 

 this way, the top of the can should be cover- 

 ed to keep the cake from cracking. 



The results of a number of trials have been 

 carefully recorded, and they are here given: 



the second time — that is, after this second 

 treatment there is only this much loss. 



It might he well to add further, that, if the 

 work be very carefully done, this final loss 

 can be reduced to about one per cent. This 

 I have carefully demonstrated; but I have 

 preferred to give the higher percentages 

 from other trials, as, in my opinion, they 

 would more nearly equal the average results 

 which would be obtained when no great 

 amount of care is exercised. 



In the second and fourth experiments 

 chopped-up hay was mixed with the melted 

 comb. This is a plan which has been advis- 

 ed, especially by German writei's, the claim 

 being that the cheese is thus made more por- 

 ous, so that the wax I'uns out more easily. 

 It will be noted that, in these experiments, a 

 little cleaner work is done; but whether this 

 would be the case right along I do not know; 

 but it would seem to me that it would be a 

 good plan to use the hay. 



It will be seen that, after the second press- 

 ing in this unheated press, the refuse was 

 further treated in a German wax-press to de- 

 tei'mine the amount of wax which ordinarily 

 would have to be counted as waste. Some 

 will want to know how we can be sure that 

 this removed the last particle of wax that 

 could be practicably obtained by any meth- 

 od. In answer to this I will explain that 

 each lot of refuse was pressed for at least two 

 hours in the German press, and was shaken 

 up and pressed again repeatedly long after 

 the wax had ceased to come from it. While 

 there would be, of course, a very little wax 

 left, even after that, yet it is perfectly safe to 

 say that this amount would be only a small 

 fraction of one per cent. 



The most important advantage in using 



Thei'e are several interesting things to note 

 in the above figures. First, let us look at 

 the percentages of wax left in the refuse aft- 

 er one treatment in the unheated press, as 

 given in the fifth column. The last per- 

 centage is much lower than the rest; but in 

 this instance newer comb was used — that is, 

 comb that had been in use but a short time, 

 and, therefore, contained very few cocoons. 



The other percentages in this column are 

 truthful statements of the amount of wax 

 that the ordinary producer wastes right along 

 when he runs the melted comb through this 

 form of press but once. It may be well to 

 explain in this connection that these results 

 are a characteristic few similar to many 

 tests, made not only by myself but by several 

 producers as well, who have sent slumgum 

 here to be further tested. 



The last column shows the percentages of 

 loss after the melted comb had been treated 



the unheated press is that the first cost of the 

 outfit is exceedingly small. In fact, it can 

 be made or purchased at perhaps a fourth or 

 a half the price of a steam or hot- water press. 

 I have shown that this form of press can be 

 so used as to yield at least 97 per cent of the 

 total amount of wax. While better results 

 can be obtained, we will, for the sake of argu- 

 ment, say that, with the unheated press, there 

 is a loss of three per cent. If a bee-keeper, 

 then, produces 800 lbs. of wax in a year, he 

 will lose 9 lbs. of wax, or about $2.50. We 

 will grant for the moment that some form of 

 a steam or hot- water press can be so used as 

 to get 99 or, say, 100 per cent of that wax, 

 thus leaving no waste. Now, supposing, I 

 say, that this is true, it would take a bee- 

 keeper, producing even 300 lbs. of wax, sev- 

 eral years to get enough more wax to pay 

 the difference in cost between an unheated 

 press and a heated one. If the difference in 



