1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



779 



thing that would do business, and I got it in 

 my new home-made press, using the cheese- 

 press screw. I believe it is a two-inch one. 

 For this press I litteil up a tank so that the 

 screw works right in the tank, and the pres 

 sure is all done under l)oiliug water. The 

 stuff to be pressed is put into bags ( burlap 

 bran-bags), and thorcnighly cooked, and then 

 put into the hoop and pressed, and it is a 

 good hard squeeze too. 



While the bags are cooking in the big vat 

 made tor this purpose they are stirred and 

 punched and twisted, and much wax comes 

 out and may be skimmed off; but when the 

 bag goes under the press, the golden streams 

 that come from it show how futile have been 

 the punchings and twistingsso far as getting 

 out the wax is concerned. I turn the screw 

 lather tight, then wait a little and turn it 

 some moi-e, at short intervals screwing down 

 a little more for several times, keeping the 

 pressui'e on proVtably from ten to tifteen 

 minutes. I next release and shove the hoop 

 from under the press and lift the follower 

 and stir and paw over the cheese until it is 

 again thoroughly saturated with water, when 

 it is again put through the same process un- 

 der the screw. If 1 happen to get the cheese 

 a little too lai'ge I give moi'e time and paw- 

 ing; but I try to have a cheese that, when fair- 

 ly well pressed, will not be over one to IJ 

 inches thick. I have repeatedly made tests 

 to find out how much wax was gotten from 

 the second pressing, and found it to be suf- 

 ficient to make me several dollars a day, so 

 I rarely let a cheese get through without giv- 

 ing it a second watering and squeezing. If 

 1 have gotten a very large cheese it gets a 

 third dose usually. 



One week ago 1 pressed from combs main- 

 ly — a small portion was solar slumgum — just 

 about 200 pounds of wax. The slumgum left 

 from this I put through the mill two or three 

 days later to test it. It took me almost a full 

 day, and yielded seven or eight pounds of 

 wax — mighty poor pay for that kind of woi'k. 

 I had before made some tests in a small way 

 to determine if my machine and method were 

 getting about all the wax. They were not 

 so conclusive as this one, and I now think 

 I can get so nearly all that it is as effective 

 as any machine out. In reality I am using 

 the Hershiser idea of washing out the wax, 

 and that is what I have contended for many 

 years we must do. 



As for the speed of this machine of mine, I 

 can get out just about twice as much wax, time 

 for time, as with the Root-German, and I 

 think it is much more effective in getting all 

 the wax. And lest you may think 1 did not 

 work the Root machine well I will set you 

 right there by telling you that I pawed over 

 as often as with my press, and poured into 

 the cheese boiling water from a tea-kettle, 

 then put on all the pressure the thing would 

 stand, and also gave as much time. With 

 my machine I run from !00 to 150 pounds a 

 (lay. If I remember aright I once made one 

 ruii of 170. 



But, of course, every bee-keeper can not 

 have such a plant as I have for the work. 



Under ordinary conditions, hiring builders 

 and buying all material new, such an outht 

 can not be put up for $100, counting in my 

 solar. It is too expensive fur any but an ex- 

 tensive bee-keeper or some one who does 

 work for others as well as for himself. I 

 can take the combs, etc., of bee-keepers and 

 run them, making wages for myself, and yet 

 turn over to the owners as much wax as they 

 ordinarily get. One man brought me his 

 solar slumgum which he thought was just 

 about clean of wax, and he had worked it 

 well too; ijut I took from it almost as much 

 wax as his first run. He afterward told me 

 he thought I was talking through my hat 

 when 1 said I could get the wax from it. 



lint I am not yet satisfied by any means. 

 My machine is too slow. It can be improv- 

 ed, and I know it. We must have a machine 

 that will put the stuff through several times 

 as fast, and enalile one having a plant to 

 work the neighbors' stuff and return them 

 more wax than they can get with the small 

 machines, and still leave the operator a good 

 margin. I have faith it can and will be done 

 in the near future. I think I can see how it 

 is possible with expensive machinery, but for 

 a small outfit I have nothing but very vague 

 ideas. 



CLARIFYING, AND THE COLOR OF WAX. 



Wax run from the solar is almost invari- 

 ably yellow unless burned or scorched with 

 too much heat. Yet I have a few times had 

 it come dark from the solar, and could not 

 account for it. Just last week, when press- 

 ing out a lot of wax, I had on hand some 2o 

 or 80 pounds of nice yellow pieces that came 

 from the solar. These I wanted to remelt 

 and cake as they were not as clear of sedi 

 ment and honey as I wished. I put them into 

 a copper boiler that I use constantly for such 

 purposes, and put in clear fresh water from 

 our city system. It is the purest of snow 

 water from the mountains. After this wax 

 had cooled it was very much darkened, and 

 yet the water left under the cake was almost 

 clear. This is not the only experience of the 

 kind I have had, and I can not explain it. I 

 hope somebody can give me light on the sub- 

 ject. 



Here is another experience that has been 

 many times repeated. When I am making a 

 big run of wax with the press, of course I 

 always start the run, filling the tanks with 

 perfectly clear water from the water system, 

 as it is soft snow water. The continued use 

 of tliis water melting combs containing hon- 

 ey, pollen, and all the filth and dirt that will 

 be fcmnd in a lot of old combs, many as 

 black as a pot, makes the water almost a syr- 

 up by night or by the second day's run, yet 

 the last run of wax from this dirty mix seems 

 to be yellower than the fii'st. Somebody will 

 say it is the pollen that gives color; but I do 

 not believe that. The only explanation I 

 can give is that, as the water gets more and 

 more honey in it, its specific gravity becomes 

 greater, and this heavy syrupy water saturat- 

 ing the foreign matter that goes with the 

 wax, such as is found on the bottom of wax 

 cakes, makes it so heavy it settles quickly 



