636 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



the edge of the bar to project upward about 

 J to I inch above the glass, this projection 

 forming the rib to putty to over the glass. 

 When the putty sets to that iron it stays 

 there almost for ever. 



To get these bars made into a sash I had 

 holes drilled just about in the center of the 

 width of each bar, one at each end and one 

 in the middle of its length. The bars are 

 about 5 feet long — these to take a f rod. I 

 forgot to say that the right-angle galvanized 

 strips were bolted to the bar with stove-bolts. 

 These f holes are made through the sheet 

 metal too. Next I took old gas-pipe and had 

 it cut at the plumber's into lengths corre- 

 sponding to the width of glass to be used; 

 then I began to thread the bars on to the 

 rods, slipping on a bar, then a piece of the 

 pipe, then a bar and another piece of pipe, 

 and so on until I reached the end of the rods 

 which are as long as the sash is to be, then 

 by a tap on each end of the rods all was 

 screwed up tight. This sash or rack I plac- 

 ed on the solar walls, and aftei'ward placed 

 the glass and puttied it in. A small sash 

 could be made complete before putting in 

 place, but a large one is altogether too heavy, 

 and not rigid enough to handle. Build it 

 right on the walls. 



POSITION OF GLASS IN REFERENCE TO SUN'S 

 RAYS. 



Some think the glass must be, as nearly as 

 possible, so that the sun will shine directly 

 through — that is, it should directly face the 

 sun; but while the power of the sun may be 

 a little greater shining through a glass at 

 right angles, yet with the changing condition 

 it becomes impossible to have it so. I do 

 not believe there would be a tenth enough 

 gain to justify building even a small machine 

 calculated to shift toward the sun as it goes 

 over. In the evolution of solar building I 

 gradually changed from the long north and 

 south form to making the length east and 

 west. After finally deciding on the east and 

 west form I built with a three-slope hip style; 

 but this form entails cutting glass into diag- 

 onal pieces, and, all together, is very much 

 more difficult of construction. I now build 

 with a gable, or, rather, half gable, as the 

 main roof has but one slope lean-to style. 

 My present machine is 5X16 feet, and is 

 built against the south side of a 10x16 build- 

 ing, with the opening into it from the main 

 building. So far as the solar is concerned it 

 does not have^any outside opening whatever. 

 An alleyway runs along'.'the north side, from 

 which the work of tilling in the comb, of 

 stirring as it melts, and of removing the slum- 

 gum, is done. In this alley I can walk per- 

 fectly upright with a can of honey or what- 

 ever I wish to carry on my shoulder. 



I have three melting-pans made of galvan- 

 ized iron — a 3X6 in the east, sloping west, 

 with a slight dip to the northwest, with a 

 discharge at the northwest corner, and a 

 similar one in the west sloping east, with dis- 

 charge at northeast corner; and the third 

 one, a 2^x4 between these, slopes to the 

 north, with a discharge at both^northwest 



and northeast corners. The incline of these 

 pans is about an inch to the foot. 



The alleyway runs along the entire north 

 side, except that in the east end I have a fur- 

 nace made of brick, with an old cock-stove 

 top for a cover. Grates are built into the 

 furnace, and an old cook-stove oven-door 

 with its frame is used for a furnace-door, and 

 this door opens on the outside of the solar. 

 Never, under any circumstances, have the 

 furnace or ash-pit open inside of the solar- 

 room. The ashes and dust from them are a 

 perfect nuisance inside. This gives me the 

 entire top of that cook-stove on which to 

 cook any thing I wish on the inside, and to 

 radiate heat for heating the solar; but the 

 fuel and ashes are all handled from the out- 

 side. 



Along the south side of the alleyway is a 

 brick wall. This wall and the outer south 

 wall were built up about four feet high, and 

 then sheet metal laid on top of them, and 

 then the outer wall continued up about 

 another foot to receive the south end of the 

 rafters or sash, and the inner wall built 

 about two bricks on the sheet metal. This 

 sheet-metal floor at the east end is covered 

 with mortar to break the force of the heat at 

 that point, else the wax and honey over it 

 would burn with a hot tire in the furnace; 

 and it is also about three or four inches high- 

 er than the stove top of the furnace. All the 

 smoke and tire from the furnace pass under 

 this metal floor the whole 16 feet to the west 

 end, and pass into the flue or smokestack at 

 the northwest corner, and a few inches above 

 this floor are the melting-pans resting on old 

 boiler-tubes for supports. 



But we will let this suffice for a description 

 of my present machine. It is good, but 1 

 could improve on it in several particulars, 

 and in my next article I will describe the 

 ideal form for such an apparatus, and also 

 give some sketches to show how to construct. 



Loveland, Col. 



THE HATCH WAX-PRESS. 



Some Comment.s and Suggestions on this 

 Method of Rendering Wax. 



BY C. A. HATCH. 



The Jan. 15th Gleanings came yesterday, 

 with the last chapter by H. H. Root on wax- 

 rendering. I am looking forward to the 

 time next spring when I can test the press 

 as it has been modified. Until then I do not 

 feel coxupetent to offer any criticisms or sug- 

 gestions, but would suggest some things as 

 to your method of working. 



Why you advise a wash-boiler to melt wax 

 in is beyond me unless you want to raise 

 trouble between a man and his housekeeper; 

 for a woman who attempts to wash, using a 

 boiler that has previously been used for wax- 

 melting, is sure to lose her temper if not her 

 religion, for it is no easy job to clean one 

 after being once coated with wax and slum- 

 gum; and why use a boiler at all when a 

 square box of galvanized iron is just as cheap, 



