THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



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is a liability to mold, unless the combs are 

 free from filth aud beo- bread, and it is 

 worse still if they contain any honey, since, 

 by attracting the moisture, it begins to run 

 aud thereby disfigures both the combs and 

 the hives. 



Mice are particularly fond of bees and 

 bee- bread as well as of a hive of combs as a 

 place for building their nests, consequently, 

 if they can possibly reach the combs they 

 are liable to do much damage in a short 

 time. The only security against them is to 

 put the combs away in such a maimer that 

 they can by no possibility get at them. 



After the preservation of all comb that 

 promises to be of value as such there will 

 remain, as intimated at the outset, comb of 

 ditt'erent descriptions that is of value only 

 for the wax it contains, and still of far too 

 much value for that to excuse its neglect or 

 loss. Conveniences should always be at 

 hand in every apiary for the collection and 

 preservation of all bits that may be 

 trimmed from combs, frames or honey 

 boards. .Such pieces are especially val- 

 uable for they are composed almost en- 

 tirely of wax, and the rendering of them is 

 easy. These and all other comb to be render- 

 ed should be kept away from moisture and 

 light until that operation can conveniently 

 be attended to. 



The rendering of brace and burr combs, 

 and of other comb in which no brood has 

 been reared, since they contain nothing to 

 prevent the wax readily separating from 

 the residue, is a comparatively simple mat- 

 ter, but with that of a comb full of cocoons 

 and bee bread the case is different, and yet, 

 when the proper course is understood, and 

 one knows what to expect, the operation is 

 not a trying one. For that class of comb 

 from which cocoons are absent, almost any 

 method, except the one often recommended 

 of tying it up in a bag and then boiling 

 it to make the wax exude from the bag, 

 will answer tolerably well. If one is already 

 provided with an ordinary wax extractor or 

 with a solar wax extractor it may well be 

 used, but if I were without both I should 

 hardly be to the expense necessary to pro- 

 cure either. At best the solar extractor is 

 cumbersome, can be used only about two 

 months in the year, and is of no practical 

 utility in rendering comb containing co- 

 coons. As to the ordinary wax extractor, 

 the best I can say for it after testing it 

 thoroughly for ten years or more, is that it 



does tolerably well what can be done much 

 more quickly aud easily with an open vessel. 

 In the absence of extractors, if the comb to 

 be rendered consists entirely of that with- 

 out cocoons it may be put on the stove in 

 almost any kind of a vessel that will stand 

 tire, one of tin or copper being preferable to 

 one of iron on account of the dark color 

 which the latter imparts to the wax, and 

 brought to a "boil, " of course, putting in 

 plenty of water before placing the vessel 

 over the tire. When the wax is all thorough- 

 ly melted, let it cool, either upon the stove 

 or in as warm a place as possible off the 

 stove. When the wax is cold it may be 

 lifted off almost free of foreign matter, and 

 afterwards treated by a further process de- 

 scribed later to tit it for market. Everyone 

 who has anything to do with the heating of 

 wax on a stove should be thoroughly im- 

 pressed with the fact that without unflagging 

 watchfulness the operation is attended with 

 a good deal of danger. Boiling wax is very 

 liable to boil over, in which case it runs at 

 once into the tire box, takes fire, and al- 

 most at once the stove is a mass of flames, 

 and, of course, unless prompt preventive 

 measures are taken the wax boils over fast- 

 er and faster and the house itself runs an 

 extreme risk of destruction. Only a cool, 

 careful person should have charge of such 

 work, and he should never be out of sight of 

 wax boiling, or likely to boil, at least, not 

 until he so thoroughly understands the de- 

 tails of the process that he knows what, with- 

 in the possibilities, may happen while he is 

 gone. Boiling wax may be kept from run- 

 nig over in most cases by lifting it with a 

 dipper and pouring it back from a little 

 height, but to meet all emergences adequate- 

 ly, plenty of cold water should be always 

 at hand, with a dipper. Boiling wax is 

 easily controlled by adding cold water. 



For the rendering of combs containing 

 cocoons, and that without cocoons need not 

 be excluded, I think after trying every im- 

 aginable method, except that by the use 

 of steam from a boiler, that there is no pro- 

 cess for the average beekeeper equal to that 

 which I now use. It is as follows : I pro- 

 vide myself with three utensils, a rendering 

 tank or kettle, a perforated-tin vessel such 

 as is used inside the ordinary wax extractor, 

 and a tin scoop such as is used by grocers 

 for the purpose of handling sugar, etc. 

 For the first I use a circular ten vessel, 20 

 inches in height and 24 inches in diameter, 



