THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



79 



WAX EXTRACTORS. 



Wo want one tliat is Practical and Business 

 Like, yet Thorougli. 



c G. FKRRIS. 



"I.eanied criticism has always been averse to 

 tlie truth m>on the first appearance of a new doc- 

 trine, wliether in science or religion. '' 



MV dear Mr. Hutchinson: A gentleman 

 by the name of Gemmill, of Strat- 

 ford. Canada, is hunting up the wax left 

 in the refuse after rendering. Probably 

 you know him, and more about it, than I 

 can tell you. In his comnumication to 

 me he questions the practical working of 

 any steam arrangement to attain this pur- 

 pose. Vou, also, I see, are soiuewhat in- 

 clined in that direction. Mr. Genimili 

 wrote me that he was going to see you 

 about getting samples from the wax ex- 

 tractor you now have, to experiment on. 

 While I do not question your ability to 

 handle the refuse properly, I would call 

 your attention to the fact that you have 

 one of my oM extractors; and will ven- 

 ture that you have never tried the No. 2 

 jjrocess of treating the refuse. Do you 

 mean to say that I lose from one -third to 

 (jiie-fourth by the use of steam ? I guess 

 you have not become familiar with the 

 working of the one-basket extractor, or 

 you never would make such a statement 

 ts that. 



There is another point that you lose 

 sight of, and that, to me, is every thing. 

 It is easy for any one having only a .small 

 job of rendering, to adopt that ])rimiti\ e, 

 and well known way of Mr. Heckwilh;or 

 to submerge a few combs in sacks, in the 

 bottom of the boiler, as you speak about 

 in the Gemmill method. To tho.se who 

 work in that way I do not expect to sell 

 an extractor, nor do I advise them to bu}' 

 one — they have no use for it. Vou sjjeak 

 about the refuse being so free from wax 

 after being presse<l. Why, my dear sir, 

 for years, all the refuse that I have thrown 

 out has been as void of wax as though it 



had never been in contact with it. Al- 

 ways, by using the flooding process, we 

 get the granulated refuse; unless there is 

 a great amount of sticks, wires, etc., in it. 

 As before stated, we want a system of 

 rendering wax that is practical, and rapid. 

 By almo.st any process we can, in a small 

 way, get all the wax, hy fus.sitig; but what 

 we want is to run all day, and then clean 

 up in a few moments, and get desirable 

 results. The first desirable point is ra- 

 pidity; next, simplicity; and lastly, to save 

 all the wax. 



There are those who can not run au}' 

 kind of au implement with success. They 

 need something that will run itself — and 

 then there is something lacking. This is 

 the kind of bee-keeper from which friend 

 Gemmill will get his refuse that still con- 

 tains wax. I will send him all the refuse 

 that / have, for the rest of the time that I 

 keep bees, and pay him one dollar Sl pound 

 for all the wax he gets from it. I might 

 safely say an oioicc, but he might get the 

 ounce; and that would make me feel bad. 



How well I remember the way we used 

 to squeeze the refuse.; Beckwith style. 

 How the wax would cool on the outside 

 of the cloth; and how, under pressure, 

 the wax would squirt in all directions 

 except the desired one. How things 

 would sitig, crack and snap, and we 

 would dodge to escape being encased 

 in wax. O. that beautiful, clean way ! 

 That ancient way, of squeezing and 

 dodging the wax. 



Mr. P. H. Elwood, my neighbor, one 

 of the most practical, scientific, educateil 

 and scholarly gentlemen we have, that 1 

 know of, has used the press, a powerful 

 one, in pres.sing out the refuse after boil- 

 ing — in a large kettle. With him it was 

 ;/<;/ perfectly satisfactory; as he has placed 

 his order for one of my large three-basket 

 extractors. With this he will have no 

 danger of burning the wax; which has 

 been a great disadvantage heretofore. 



Should there be a better way of render- 

 ing wax, I would like to know it myself; 

 l)ut I never will go back to friend Beck- 

 with's and Gennnill's way. 



