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118 



NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



that is the best way for the younger 

 •bee-keepers to learn. 



President York — I was glad for one 

 thing: That Mr. Holtermann said he 

 came because he wanted to come. I 

 notice Dr. Miller said he w^as forced to 

 come. We never want to force a Cana- 

 dian to come over into the United 

 States, although they want to get us 

 to come over and settle in their coun- 

 try! 



Dr. Miller — Before this is closed I 

 want to ask three questions: 1st, How 

 many persons prefer mostly question - 

 box? 2d, How many prefer mostly pa- 

 pers? 3d, How many prefer half and 

 half? 



Pres, York — How many prefer most- 

 ly questions, raise your hands? (Tiwen- 

 ty.) How many prefer mosty papers, 

 raise your hannds'? (None.) How many 

 prefer an equal quantity of questions 

 and papers, raise your hands? (Five.) 



Clarifying Black Beeswax. 



"How can black wax be clarified?" 



Dr. Miller— Can it? 



Dr. Macklin — I asked that question. 

 I had some wax come in that was 

 as black as my hat, and I clarified it, 

 but I don't know whether I did it the 

 right way. I used sulphuric acid. I 

 melted up in a large can about 20 

 pounds of it; after it was boiled I set 

 it on the back part of the stove and 

 left it for a half an hour, and poured 

 in sulphuric acid, slowly, a few drops 

 at a time, until it got to be what I con- 

 sidered clear and then I let it settle, 

 and took it off. I got 19 pounds. 



Dr. Bohrer — ^What amount of sul- 

 phuric acid did you use to the amount 

 of wax in the kettle? 



Mr. Macklin — I had 21 pounds of wax 

 in the first place, and used six ounces 

 of commercial sulphuric acid. 



Mr. Holtermann — How did that wax 

 get black? 



Mr. Macklin — I bought it of some 

 one, and suppose it was rendered in 

 an iron kettle outdoors. 



Mr. Wilcox — Once I tried to clarify 

 dark wax, and it turned black instead 

 of white. I used sulphuric acid; we 

 finally concluded that the reason was 

 that there was iron in the water in 

 which it was boiled. 



Mr. Baldridge — What sort of a ves- 

 sel did you have your wax in when 

 you clarified it? 



Mr. Wilcox — An old, can I found, 



made of galvanized iron. It was per- 

 fectly w^hole when I started operations, 

 but when I got through the bottom was 

 eaten full of holes; but I managed to 

 get the wax out of it. 



Dr. Miller — Suppose, Mr. Dadant, 

 that I have some of that black wax; in 

 other words, suppose that Mr. Mack- 

 lin wanted to send some to you. Would 

 you rather he would first clarify it in * 

 that way with the acid or send it with- 

 out clarifying? 



L, C. Dadant — Send it without clari- 

 fying, and let us do the purifying. The 

 use of acid is always objectionable, 

 for making comb foundation the bees - 

 do not like it. It might take a good 

 deal of light wax to bring the color 

 of that up, but we hardly ever run 

 across very black wax, and we can use 

 a very little sulphuric acid in purify- 

 ing that black wax by our method, and 

 get it clear, while the bee-keeper uses 

 six or seven times as much, especially 

 if he follows the directions given by 

 some manufacturers of comb founda- 

 tion. 



Mr. Andersort — Would you allow him 

 as much for that black wax as you 

 would for the lighter color? 



Mr. Dadant — ^We could not, because 

 the light, clear wax we use for making 

 surplus foundation, and that is worth 

 more than for brood foundation. We 

 would use that wax for brood founda- 

 tion. 



Dr. Miller — I think you don't quite 

 get Mr. Anderson's question: Take that 

 same wax — suppose he had sent it to 

 you, black, without clarifying, you 

 would allow him a certain .price. Sup- 

 pose he clarifies with acid, and sends it 

 to you, will you give him more for it? 



Mr. Dadant — I would pretty nearly 

 have to give him more for light wax, 

 but it would be under protest. You 

 can tell wax that has been clarified by 

 acid, unfortunately, by the smell, and 

 we tell them not to do it again. 



Mr. Holtermann — There is one point 

 there. The gentleman lost two pounds 

 in weight, so you could afford to get a 

 little less per pound and get as much 

 out of it. 



Mr. Macklin — The question has not 

 been really answered yet. 



Pres. York — It may be a trade secret, 

 though. ' 



Mr. Kannenberg — Mr. Barkemeier 

 tried it; may be he can tell something 

 about it. 



