488 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



handle; let the screw slip down even with 

 the top of the press and unfold the first bur- 

 lap so it hangs over edges. Now get hold of 

 the top of the sack and pull it up some so it 



-Emm tmr 



CROSS-SECTION OF LOCKWOOD's Vk'AX-PRESS. 



can cool a little. Then empty out the slum- 

 gum, put the sack back, and fill it again as 

 before. 



To boil the comb, use a four-hole stove 

 with all the lids off. Put on a big tub con- 

 taining two buckets of water, and add the 



CROSS-SECTION OF FOLLOWER. 



oomb as it boils, until the tub is nearly full. 

 The water and free wax flow out of the press 

 immediately, leaving only the slumgum to 

 press. 

 Brigham, Utah. 



[The construction of this press is good, 

 and it ought to give satisfactory results. It 

 will be seen that it is on the same principle 

 as the Hatch press in that it is unheated, the 

 comb being melted up with water in a large 

 boiler and then dipped into the press lined 

 with burlap. 



As outlined in our two articles on the sub- 

 ject of wax-presses, we are very sure that 

 one pressing, as described, would not remove 

 more than 85 or 90 per cent of the wax, leav- 

 ing 15 or at least 10 per cent waste. Since 

 the publication of the two articles, many let- 

 ters have come in which have led to many 

 further tests, all- of which have proven con- 

 clusively in our estimation that one pressing 

 in any form of an unheated press can not be 

 relied on to get all of the wax. We would 

 suggest, therefore, that our correspondent 

 take the refuse that has been through the 

 press once and put it through the same treat- 



ment again, comparing the amount of wax 

 obtained from the second rendering with 

 that obtained from the first. 



Many presses similar to this one are used 

 all over the world, but we doubt whether 

 there are many producers who vise this meth- 

 ' od that run the refuse through the second 

 time, for it looks so perfectly clean after be- 

 ing pressed once. We would urge all such, 

 however, to try at least a second melting, 

 for we think at least 10 per cent more wax 

 will be obtained. After the second render- 

 ing there will not be over 2 per cent of 

 waste, as we have proven. 



It would seem desirable, if the body of this 

 press above described were to be so deep, 

 that it be only about half filled with melted 

 comb at a time, otherwise the cheese will be 

 so thick that too much wax may be left, even 

 after two renderings. 



Some years ago Mr. F. A. Salisbury, of 

 Syracuse, N. Y., used a press made entirely 

 of wood, and closed at the top to prevent all 

 escape of heat. His idea was that, in this 

 way, the refuse would not cool so quickly, 

 and he would, therefore, have more time to 

 get the wax out; but we are of the opinion 

 that, even in such a press, closed at the top 

 to prevent loss of heat, one pressing would 

 still leave a good deal of wax. We have 

 made a number of experiments with the or- 

 dinary Hatch press, with the exception that 

 a jet of steam was introduced so as to keep 

 the press and its contents very hot. We 

 found that, even under these conditions, one 

 pressing would not get all the wax by any 

 means, leaving almost as much waste as 

 when no steam was introduced. It is true 

 that, with a press heated in this way, the 

 slumgum can be taken out, shaken up, and 

 pressed again, and that this operation can 

 be repeated a great many times until the 

 waste is reduced to a very small amount; 

 but this actually takes more time than it 

 does to melt up the refuse again and run it 

 through.— H. H. Root.] 



PARTHENOGENESIS. 



A Recognized Phenomenon Among Plants. 



BY JOHN H. LOVELL. 



Relative to the statement in Gleanings, 

 page 163, " the man who can prove that plants 

 reproduce themselves generation after gen- 

 eration by the principle of parthenogenesis 

 should have a monument erected to his mem- 

 mory, " some of your readers may be inter- 

 ested to know that parthenogenesis is a well- 

 known and generally recognized phenome- 

 non among plants. It will probably be found 

 described in all the larger text-books on bot- 

 any. By parthenogenesis among plants, as 

 among animals, is meant the development of 

 a new individual from an unfertilized egg or 

 spore. It should, of course, be carefully dis- 

 tinguished from vegetative multiplication by 

 bulbs, cuttings, offshoots, etc. It is also en- 

 tirely distinct from hermaphroditism where 



