ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION 



57 



I have had a great deal of experience 

 with it, but what experience I have had 

 I will give. It is built on the Doolittle 

 plan. I use it with a double glass as a 

 reflector to put cpmbs on, and I believe 

 that the double glass over the top will 

 produce more heat from the sun, and 

 I have no trouble to get it hot enough, 

 and I am sure it will make it hot 

 enough; so you had better handle it 

 with tongs, and it will make the wax 

 white. When it is first rendered out 

 it is a little yellow, but put it in the 

 sun and it will soon be white. 



Mr. Kimmey — This is what I have 

 been trying to get at. I find after the 

 wax is put in the extractor it does 

 not melt; new combs are all right. At 

 the bottom I find a lot of black specks 

 and sediment. I want to find out if 

 anyone had the experience of render- 

 ing it and getting it into a clarified or 

 refined state — whether you can do it 

 with the solar wax-extractor. I find 

 more or less impurities at the bottom. 

 I have been obliged to cut the bottom 

 off of the cake. I am 'not giving in- 

 formation, I am asking for information. 

 I would like to have the experience of 

 others. 



Mr. Parsons — I wish to give my ex- 

 perience. After the wax has been ren- 

 dered and run through the extractor 

 once, then fill the pan about half full 

 of water, put the wax back into the 

 extractor, run it through again, and you 

 will not be troubled with that sediment 

 in the bottom. 



Mr. Hatch — What kind of an extrac- 

 tor were you speaking of? 



Mr. Parsons — ^A solar extractor. 

 There are a great many extractors. I 

 get hold of a good deal of wax that 

 has been almost spoiled in the rendering, 

 and I find that I can get more of the 

 impurities out by putting it in a large 

 body of water and bringing it to the 

 boiling point, and let it cool as slowly 

 as possible. 



Mr. Kimmey — Do you soak it? 



Mr. Parsons — No, sir, by holding it 

 in the clear water, then take it out and 

 boil it the second time in clear water; 

 but I find that it is necessary in the 

 use of the solar extractor to use some 

 water in the pan. 



Mr. Hatch — I would like to say a 

 word on this. The first speaker sug- 

 gested that boiling it in water would 

 help to remove the impurities from the 

 wax; but this will not do up in Wis- 



consin, at all; there was certain ma- 

 terial that would run through the wax. 

 My experience has been, the sooner the 

 wax is taken off the fire after it is 

 melted, the better. I never found any 

 impurities I could not remove by the 

 solar wax-extractor. One-fourth of an 

 inch of water in the pan is sufficient, 

 and I clean out the comb, but leave a 

 little of that there; it will sift out a lot 

 of dust and finer particles. This is a 

 great help, and I say I have seen no 

 wax but what the solar extractor would 

 purify. 



Mr. Stone — I have found that the 

 best thing I can do is to place the wax 

 in a deep vessel, and keep it hot as long 

 as I can, or let it cool slowly, and more 

 impurities will come out than in any 

 other way ; and the deeper the vessel the 

 more dirt will settle to the bottom, and 

 the more the wax is cleaned. 



Mr. Coggshall — As I understand it 

 now, the bee-keepers in our part of the 

 country use oil of vitriol, of a certain 

 per cent, but I don't know what per 

 cent they use; that cleans the wax when 

 it is heated up. 



Pres. Dadant — I enter a protest 

 against the use of oil of vitriol. It will 

 not take out the impurities. 



Dr. Bohrer — I wish to join the Presi- 

 dent in advising against the use of sul- 

 phuric acids or oil of vitriol, for the 

 reason that it will burn the comb out 

 and take the substance out of it to such 

 an extent that the bees will not work 

 upon it. 



Mr. Coggshall — I have had no ex- 

 perience with it, but I understand they 

 use it in ismall quantities. 



Mr. Parsons — ^Let us hear from the 

 President on this subject. 



Pres. Dadant — I only wish to say a 

 few words. I think the great point is 

 the use of plenty of water. One of the 

 gentlemen made the remark that his 

 wax was spoiled by the water. He used 

 hard water ; take hard water in an iron 

 kettle and your wax will be black. Use 

 cistern water, and you will have much 

 better results. Don't over-boil wax, let it 

 cool slowly, and in that way you get 

 good beeswax, and by having plenty of 

 water the sediments will go to the bot- 

 tom; but don't try the plan stated, of 

 using oil of vitriol. 



Mr. Bergstrom — I would like to ask 

 a question in regard to melting the bees- 

 wax. Have you had any experience 



