80 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



is good and stroDg, and % steam-pipe, long 

 enough to reach from a steam-boiler to the 

 bottom of the barrel. Copper pipe would be 

 better, but I find the small surface of the 

 pipe touching the wax does not make any 

 appreciable difference. You want a valve to 

 shut off the steam, four pieces of pipe five 

 inches long, an elbow, a cross, and three 

 caps. In the pieces of pipe five inches long 

 drill three l-l(j-inch holes, spaced about two 

 inches apart ; screw an elbow on the bottom 

 of the pipe coming from the steam boiler ; 

 then one of the short pieces of pipe in the 

 elbow ; now screw on the cross, then the 

 three pieces of pipe, and put a cajj on the 

 end of each. Turn the pipes until the small 

 holes point all one way, so the steam in 

 issuing will et the water whirling. Now fill 

 the barrel one-fourth full of clear water. 

 Put in one pound of sulphuric acid ; turn on 

 the steam, and when boiling put in the old 

 combs. Let all boil until heated thoroughly, 

 and stir with a large stick at the same time. 

 Now you will want a press. Mine is sim- 

 ply a box made large enough to hold three 

 racks, made of -'sxi.j-inch square sticks 15 

 inches long, nailed to two end pieces l,"") 

 inches long, so there will be \s inch between 

 the slats. In the bottom of the box I have a 

 tin dish one inch deep, and it just slip'^ down 

 inside nicely. At one side the tin is turned 

 down, and a hole is made in the bottom of 

 the box for the wax and water to run out. 

 Get a rim two inches wide and twelve inches 

 square made from ''fi-inch stuff, and three 

 pieces of burlap three feet square. Lay one 

 of the racks in the tin dish in the bottom of 

 the box ; on this the two-inch rim ; over this 

 one of the pieces of burlap. Press the bur- 

 lap down in the rim, and dip the melted 

 wax over into it until full to the top of the 

 rim. Bring the burlap over the top: take 

 out the rim ; lay another rack on top of this, 

 and so proceed until you have the three 

 , filled ; then place a follower on top of all, 

 and a common jack-screw on toi) of the fol- 

 lower. Make a frame out of 2x4 scantling 

 to go under the box and come to the top of 

 the jack-screw. You will want two bolts to 

 go throu gh the top and bottom pieces of the 

 frame. Have them of % round iron, and 

 screw the nuts up tight. Put the top piece 

 of the frame over the jack-screw, and turn 

 the screw slowly so as to give a chance for 

 the wax to run out. After it Jias stopped 

 running, take out the refuse, and you will 

 find the wax nearly out. You could not get 

 out of a barr.l of comb, after pressing, if it 

 were possible to iret it out, over a tea cupful 

 of wax. We have tried a number of ways, 

 but the above is the best. 



I tried an arrangement inside of a barrel 

 to continually stir the comb ; and over the 

 com!), underwater six inches, I had a screen 

 to keep refuse from rising. I thought all 

 tiie wax would in time rise to the top, but 

 more stayed under the screen than came to 

 the to]). I also tried keeping two barrels of 

 comb, that was thoroughly broken up, moist 

 with water for two years, to see if 1 could 

 not rot the cocoons and pollen so it wouklbe 

 like dirt. If I could rot it, I could get out 

 all the wax, and not make me a press, but 

 simply melt it iu water, and the dirt would 



settle. This was a failure. The smell of the 

 stuff when melting would fairly knock a man 

 down at ten rods. I was very sick with 

 malaria shortly after. Some thought I 

 caught it from that bad-smelling boiling 

 mixture. The wax I did get out of it was all 

 right. I had to use the press to finish up. 

 No more jobs like that for me. I can take 

 cakes of wax that come to me dark, and, 

 after rendering, they will be a nice yellow 

 color. You simijly want to melt them in 

 the acidulated water, cover the barrel over 

 tight, and throw an old horse-blanket oyer 

 the whole ; let it stand five hours, and then 

 diti out in pans carefully, so as not to dis- 

 turb the dirt at the bottom. Save all the 

 refuse from scraping the bottom of cakes, 

 and put through the same process. 



F. A. Salisbury, 

 Syracuse, N. Y., Dec. ,5, 1890. 



[Thanks for your valuable article. When 

 I visited the Dadants a few weeks ago I 

 learned that they treated their refuse, that 

 would not refine by ordinary methods, with 

 sulphuric acid. I do not remember just ex- 

 actly the i)roportion of sulphuric acid they 

 use with the water, but I think their method 

 and plan was very similar to the one you 

 describe. If I am wrong they will please 

 correct. Mr. Dadant told me when they 

 first used sulphuric acid, the man who used 

 it earned for them $7.^ the first day, and a 

 smaller amount the second day. until all the 

 cast-away wax refuse which could not be re- 

 fined by ordinary methods was used up. 

 The price at which wax now sells renders 

 this a very important matter. Mr. C. P. 

 Dadant told me not to throw away old 

 refuse ; that a great deal of first quality of 

 wax can be gotten from it by the use of the 

 solar wax-extractor and sulphuric acid. The 

 action of the acid seems to be to rot or dis- 

 integrate the cocoons and other matter, so as 

 to free the wax.] E. R." 



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