THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



261 



washed tJiein of all tlie houey that they cou- 

 taiu. Each year we usually get two barrels 

 of capi)iuy water which can be used for 

 either wiiie, cider, or to make the very best 

 of viueyar. To tost the strength of the cap- 

 ping water the cheapest nittliod is to try it 

 with an egg. To make good strong vinegar 

 an egg should float in it so as to just show 

 itself at the top. 



The solar extractor is necessary for two 

 purposes: first to render out the little bits 

 that may be picked up during the season at 

 different times and which might run the risk 

 of being consumed by the moth if preserved 

 during hot weather. It is also useful to ren- 

 der any wax that has been damaged by melt- 

 ing with very hard water or by over-boiling. 

 Beeswax which has a grainy appearance and 

 which some people have mistaken for grains 

 of pollen is wasted by many and can only be 

 recovered by tlie sun process. It contains a 

 great deal of water, sometimes half of its 

 weii?ht, and this must be evaporated before 

 the wax is fit to be used. 



Wax extractors should be nearly fiat and 

 so made that every nook and corner be ex- 

 posed to the rays of the sun through a glass. 

 Beeswax can be melted in them, from May 

 to October, but the best month for.their use 

 is June. They give a first class article of 

 beeswax without much labor, and for this 

 reason they will be much more extensively 

 used in the near future. 



Hamilton, 111., 



Oct. ly, 1891. 



Advantages of the Solar Wax Extractor. 



E. 0. AIKIN. 



pY EARLIER experience, friend H., 

 AIlP was like yours. However, it was my 

 mother's kitchen floor, stove and 

 utensils that were besmeared with wax. It 

 was melt and dip: boil both in and out of 

 sack; next a steam apparatus, imjiroved and 

 changed several times. Then again I made 

 a big boiler in the shape of a letter U with a 

 wire cloth cylinder submerged in it. It 

 looked nice, but no amount of turning would 

 get the wax out of the refuse and dirt. Then, 

 again, I tried the gunny sack. But, oh, my ! 

 The time and wax wasted, and the dirt and 

 litter all about. 



Then Demaree's solar came out. I read 

 his description in the .4. B. J., then picked 

 up an old trunk, minus the lid, got the re- 



mains of a worn out ton gallon tin can to 

 make the concave bottom, invested forty 

 cents in glass, and made an extractor. 



I have never tried acid, but I thiok the 

 solar ahead of any process I have tried. 

 Some seem not to succeed with it. There is 

 usually a tendency to use tools and appli- 

 ances that are i-.ot adequate to the work re- 

 quired. I have ol)served this to be the case 

 with extractors as well as other appliances. 



Let me suggest to those who want to make 

 a solar extractor, that they make it two or 

 three times larger than they think they will 

 need, and then it won't be a bit too large. 

 It does not pay to save a few cents in first 

 cost, and then always be in " hot water " 

 because your machine won't do your work. 

 Have the whole arrangement large enough 

 to give abundant sun, and to hold a large 

 amount of wax at one filling. When once 

 filled, let it stand for days, yes for weeks, 

 and the wax will gradually work down out 

 of the refuse. 



For a small apiary I think it will not pay 

 to bother with water or acid, but use the 

 refuse for kindling fires. 



There is, however, so much wax left in the 

 refuse that, in larger apiaries, it may pay to 

 save it and subject to some other process. 

 If this refuse be kept in some old crock, can, 

 or even a box, moths will cause no trouble in 

 it; and at the end of the season it can be 

 again worked over with water or acid at 

 some convenient time. 



The wax cakes that are removed from time 

 to time from the drip pan should be broken 

 up and again put into the extractor, having 

 the incline very slight, and allowed to melt 

 again and cool with an inch or two of water 

 in the pan that receives the wax. 



Again, the extractor comes very handy at 

 times to reduce candied honey.. Scraps of 

 comb containing honey, " and all such," can 

 just be thrown into the solar and all saved, 

 with almost no waste at all. 



Others have laughed at me for saving 

 scraps of comb, even that which seemed to 

 , be nearly all propolis ; but later they were 

 astonished to see the amount of nice wax I 

 got from it. I save even the propolis scraped 

 from sections when crating honey; and from 

 the scrapings of nine tons of honey have 

 two or three pounds of nice wax, done by 

 sun heat in October. 



When bees are secreting wax freely they 

 often use quite a little of it in the place of 

 glue. 



