THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



347 



in the consumer, when we tell him that 

 we "gfuarantee our honey to be absolutely 

 pure." A few years ago he might have 

 taken this as empty talk, but he now 

 knows that there is a penalty fo: decep- 

 tion in foods, and this is helping us out. 



A HOME-MADE WAX-PRL55 



How to Extract Wax Most Efficiently With 

 Simple Apparatus. 



Wax presses of the screw-variety do 

 their work effectively, but some of them are 

 quite expensive, and I doubt if some of 

 them will extract the wax more com- 

 pletely from old combs than will the sim- 

 ple apparatus described by Mr. G. M. 

 Doolittle in the American Bee Journal. 

 Mr. Doolittle says: — 



The steam wax-extractors I know very 

 little about, except the smaller ones of 

 the past, such as the "Swiss," etc. These 

 did their work quite well, but were slow, 

 and required a cost for fuel which is 

 eliminated with the solar. But for a lot 

 of old combs, filled more or less with co- 

 coons, pollen, etc., I know of nothing bet- 

 ter than boiling water in a caldron or 

 other kettle fixed something as follows: 



Instead of hanging the kettle over the 

 fire as is usually done, take a measure of 

 the kettle on the outside, a little way up 

 from the bottom, and go to your black- 

 smith and tell him you wish a piece of old, 

 heavy wagon-tire welded so that the in- 

 side shall represent your measure. To 

 this you want three or four (the latter 

 being preferable) square or round bars of 

 iron welded, at equal distances apart, for 

 four legs. These should be of suitable 

 size to give strength enough to support 

 the weight of the kettle and contents, and 

 long enough to raise the kettle from four 

 to six inches from the ground at its low- 

 est point. 



After getting the kettle-holder home, 

 place four flat stones just under the sur- 

 face of the ground where you wish the 

 kettle to stand, at proper places, so that 

 each leg will rest on one, having it at 

 such a point or place as will be handy for 

 all of the work done with such a kettle, 

 such as heating water for many purposes, 

 boiling food for stock, etc., for the small- 

 est part for our iron friend will probably 

 be the rendering of wax. 



After once having the kettle fixed in 

 this way, you will never go back to any 

 of the old ways of "hanging" a kettle, if 



you are at all like the writer. Besides 

 the kettle, you will want a sack made of 

 burlap or some other stout, open cloth, 

 which you are to fill with the old comb, 

 stamping it in so as to get all in as com- 

 pact a condition as possible. 



Next take a pieca of four-inch soft- 

 wood plank, or two pieces of two-inch 

 plank spiked together will answer, though 

 not quite so good. Now, round one side 

 of this, so it will fit the bottom of the ket- 

 tle, leaving the other flat. To the flat 

 side fasten (by cleats or otherwise) a 

 standard of suitable length, which should 

 be flattened at the top and have several 

 holes bored in it. Then get a 3x4-inch 

 scantling, or a suitable pole from the 

 woods, and mortice through it near one 

 end for the top of the standard you have 

 made, boring a hole through it in an oppo- . 

 site direction for a pin or bolt to* pass 

 through it and the standard. Besides 

 this you will want a log-chain, which is 

 usually near at hand about all farm 

 houses. Having these things we are 

 ready to fill the kettle two-thirds full of 

 water and start the fire under it. In do- 

 ing this use only light fuel so as not to 

 have a hot fire after the water boils; for, 

 if otherwise, it would be too warm for 

 agreeably working around it, and after 

 considerable wax was in the water it 

 might boil over. 



Having the sack stamped full of the 

 old combs, tie the mouth of it and put it 

 in the boiling water. After allowing it to 

 boil three or four minutes, with an old 

 hoe press and squeeze the sack against 

 the sides and bottom of the kettle, rolling 

 it over each time as you press. The wax 

 will rise with each pressing of the sack; 

 and if the old comb is not all in the sack, 

 yon can soon raise the mouth of it out 

 from the water, and after it has cooled a 

 littla so you can handle it, untie, fill up 

 and i-e-tie again, and so on till all is in. 



Wnen all the old comb is in the sack, 

 and has been worked with the hoe several 

 times, fasten each end of the log-chain to 

 the ears of the kettle, or, if the kettle has 

 no ears, fasten on either side of the 

 kettle-ho'.dar, while the middle of the chain 

 13 to be fastened to the short end of the 

 scantling or pole. Now put the rounded 

 plank end of the standard on the sack 

 and sink it to the bottom of the kettle, 

 when the top end is to be inserted in the 

 mortise in the pole, and the pin or bolt 

 put through the desired hole. Next, go to 

 the long end of the pole or lever and see 

 how you can make the wax rise by bear- 

 ing down. When bearing down, sway the 

 lever back and forth, and from side to 

 side, thus liberating the wax. If you have 



