THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



275 



whole is thoroughly stirred for some time, 

 very little wax is left iu i\w residues. This 

 is tlie cheapest aud best method of rendering 

 wax, without the help of a specially made 

 wax extractor. 



To obtain a.^ much wax as possible from 

 the combs, the large wax manufacturers of 

 Europe empty the contents of the boiler into 

 a bag made of horse-hair or strong twine, 

 aud place the bag under a press while boiling 

 hot. All the implements used, as well as the 

 bag, are previously w etted, to prevent their 

 sticking. 



Some bee keepers use a wax boiler in which 

 the wax is melted by steam. 



But the best wax can be rendered by a 

 solar extractor, yet, by its use, some wax is 

 always left in the refuse, for the cocoons, 

 skins of larvie, etc., being dry, always absorb 

 more or less of it. This implement however 

 is destined to overthrow all others for the 

 rendering of wax in all countries where the 

 heat of t e sun is sufficiently powerful. At 

 this latitude, the 42°, sun -extractors can be 

 efficiently used during the months of May, 

 June, July and August. The sun-extractor 

 requires no labor irom the apiarist, other 

 than filling it with combs and removing the 

 melted wax. 



The dealers in France buy, from the bee 

 keepers, for little or nothing, the residues of 

 their melted combs. They dissolve them in 

 turpentine, press the pulp dry, and distill 

 the liquid, to separate the turpentine. As 

 the wax is not volatile, it remains in the 

 still. It is said that, when wax was dearer 

 than it is now, large profits were realized by 

 this operation. 



To cleanse beeswax from its impurities, 

 we melt it carefully with cistern water and 

 pour it into flaring cans (wider at the top 

 than at the bottom) containing a little boil- 

 ing water. The wax is kept in the liquid 

 state, at a high temperature, for twenty-four 

 hours. During this time the impurities drop 

 to the bottom and can be scraped from the 

 cake when cold. Some wax can be obtained 

 from this refuse, but some of it is always 

 left in the dregs, as is proven by the impossi- 

 bility of dissolving them by exposure. We 

 have lumps of this refuse, as dark as ink, 

 which were scattered on our farm, with 

 manure, ten years ago, and are just as they 

 were when put in the fields. Nothing can 

 destroy beeswax, except fire, or the ravages 

 of the bee moth. Exposure to the weather 

 does not affect it, but only V)leaches it. 



To iirevent the cakes of wax from crack- 

 ing, it should be poured into the molds or 

 cans when only Vm' Fahr., and should be 

 kept in a warm place to cool slowly. 



The utmost care is necessary not to spoil 

 wax in melting it. If heated too fast, the 

 steam may disintegrate it. Then its color 

 is lighter, but very dim: the wax having lost 

 its transpHreucy, resembles a cnke of corn- 

 meal. When it is in this condition, water 

 will run out of it if a small lump is pressed 

 between the fingers. The best way to re- 

 store it is to melt it slowly in a solar wax 

 extractor. We have succeeded also by melt- 

 ing it with water, and keeping the water 

 boiling slowly till all the water contained 

 between the particles of wax had evaporated. 



But this work is tedious and cannot be ac- 

 complished without the greatest care and a 

 skillful hand. Whatever the means used, 

 you may rely on more or less waste. 



Whenever beeswax is melted in water, even 

 with the utmost care, some small portions of 

 it are water-damaged aud settle to the bot- 

 tom of the cake with the dregs. This water- 

 damaged beeswax has often been mistaken 

 for pollen resuZwcs." 



As I understand the matter Mr. Dadant is 

 now getting the wax out of the refuse that 

 he formerly scattered about the farm with 

 the manure, and it is sulphuric acid that 

 enables him to extract the wax from tliis 

 refuse. 



Does Rendering wax with Sulphuric Acid 

 Injure the wax for Foundation 1 



In Gleanings for September 1, Mr, C. P, 

 Dadant has the following to say upon the 

 subject of rendering wax with sulphuric 

 acid. 



" I see that you are advising bee-men to 

 use oil of vitriol to render their wax. I be- 

 lieve it is a mistake, for we have always no- 

 ticed that beeswax rendered thus had an un- 

 pleasant smell, and we believe its general 

 use would have a tendency to render the wax 

 unfit for foundation. You will remember 

 that we told you that we used it only for our 

 residues, and such wax as could not possibly 

 be cleaned otherwise ; but we were very par- 

 ticular to use this wax only in a very small 

 proportion to the water-melted wax. The 

 fact is, we do not use this method on more 

 than two per cent of all the wax we handle, 

 and we consider wax thus cleaned as very 

 much inferior to that melted by the ordiiary 

 methods. We should very much object to 

 Vjuyiug any beeswax produced by beekeep- 

 ers, rendered in this way, for the sweet, 

 balmy odor of the hive is all taken away by 

 this process. We are satisfied that a part of 

 our success in foundation-making is due to 

 the fact that we used this way of cleansing 

 less than several others to our knowledge, 

 thus preserving the natural bee smell in the 

 greater part of the foundation." 



In reply to the foregoing, Ernest Root 

 says : — 



" As you are the largest foundation mak- 

 ers in the world, it may be well for us to 

 heed your warning aud go a little slow in 

 this matter of rendering wax with sulphuric 

 acid. So far we have used it only in our 

 dirtiest refuse, such as we could not render 

 in any other way. ^Ve have tried, however, 

 a few very black cakes of wax, to see if we 

 could not lighten them up, and the result 

 has been highly satisfactory as to color. 

 Since you have spoken of it, I notice a little 

 odor, though very slight, clinging to the 

 wax so treated ; but I think that, if it is 

 melted up into foundation again, this odor 

 will disappear. In the first place, the acid 

 is diluted some 300 or 400 times — so weak, 



