74 



THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW. 



which is as large as the top of the stove 

 I use in my honey house will accommo- 

 date, but neither the shape nor size is 

 material, except so far as the amount of 

 work to be done requires. An old wash 

 boiler would answer well enough for most 

 apiaries. The utensil of perforated tin is 

 eight inches high and ten in diameter. The 

 scoop I use would hold about a pint but its 

 very important characteristic is its sharp 

 edge at the mouth of one thickness of un- 

 folded tin. 



When ready for operation I place the 

 tank, about one quarter full of water, on 

 the stove in which I make a good Are, which, 

 of course, is to be kept up as the necessities 

 of the case may require. More water may 

 be put into the tank at the start if the 

 combs have not been prepared by soaking 

 in water, which it is better to do, as that 

 tends to prevent the cocoons taking up and 

 retaining the wax. I think it is an advan- 

 tage, also, to crumble the combs quite fine- 

 ly which may be done readily if they have 

 been stored where the temperature is quite 

 low. The comb is then put into the tank, 

 which will accommodate that from about 

 100 L. frames, or 170 Heddon frames. When 

 the contents of the tank boil and the wax is 

 all thoroughly melted it will be found that 

 there is room in the tank for considerable 

 more water. This is now added to the ex- 

 tent of about a pail full which must be cold 

 and handled with a dipper so that it may be 

 done gently and somewhat gradually. At 

 this point the boiling has ceased and the 

 surface of the lately boiling comb some- 

 what hardened so that it retains a consider- 

 able part of the added water on the surface. 

 Now I watch it, keeping up a moderate fire. 

 In a few minutes the pure wax is seen ooz- 

 ing through the crust and floiting away in 

 streams on the water. More water is added 

 now in sufficient (juantities to make the 

 rising wax harden so that it may be removed 

 with the hand. This is not a very material 

 part of the operation but it is utilized be- 

 cause in any case the water must be added. 

 During the adding of the water, which 

 must be to the convenient capacity of the 

 tank, with a little care, about half the wax 

 the comb contains may be removed in this 

 way in an almost pure condition. When 

 sufficient water has at length been added I 

 let the whole come again to the boiling 

 point. Then I put the perforated vessel in- 

 to the mass at the point where the wax 



appears to be gathering largely, turning it 

 about and working it down until it contains 

 a few inches in depth of the liquid, or I put 

 a weight upon it and let it settle and stand a 

 few minutes for the wax to gather, then, with 

 ttie scoop, which must be of a size to work 

 freely inside the perforated-tin can, I dip off 

 the melted wax from the liquid. This is best 

 done by settling the back end of the scoop 

 and letting the surface wax run in over the 

 sharp edge in front which is depressed so as 

 to get the wax without too much of the 

 water, which is dark, while the wax is trans- 

 parent. The perforated can is operated in 

 this way in five or six different places more 

 or less according to circumstances when 

 most of the wax will have been removed. 

 There is generally no particular object in 

 working it too closely, for, at best, there will 

 be a little of the wax that cannot well be re- 

 moved. I now let the mass get cold, when 

 the crust of the " bagasse " will be found to 

 contain the wax which remains. This is care- 

 fully removed and laid aside to be added 

 to the next "batch" at about the time it 

 first comes to the boiling point. This pro- 

 cess is repeated until all the comb is reduced. 

 A cover is provided for the tank and put in 

 use whenever desirable. 



After this is all accomplished comes the 

 final process for clarifying the wax from 

 the remaining impurities. For this purpose 

 a smaller melting vessel is desirable. I 

 make use of an old wash boiler. I place 

 the boiler, about half full of water, over the 

 fire and add the wax or as much thereof as 

 I safely can, and let it melt and boil. Now, 

 while it is very desirable not to let wax boil 

 more than is necessary, on account of the 

 injury done it thereby, yet some boiling is 

 necessary in order to put the impurities in 

 such condition that they will readily settle 

 below the wax. The proper stage is known 

 from the transparency of the wax which 

 may be discovered by lifting a littte from 

 time to time in the scoop. When the wax 

 thus raised is clear I let the tire go down 

 and out. In the mean time the room is 

 made as hot as possible and kept so. The 

 wax is left on the stove and sometimes the 

 vessel containing it is wrapped and covered 

 with several thicknesses of paper. All this 

 for the purpose of retaining the heat so 

 that the wax may in a liquid state as long as 

 possible to give the impurities plenty of time 

 to settle into the water below. On the same 

 account I am careful not to agitate the wax 



