ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



179 



would rather talk about it in a back- 

 ward way, what amount of wax will - 

 a good wax-press leave in the comb? 

 I have not got a wax-press, but I have 

 been anticipating getting one for 

 some time. I have never been able 

 to find one that I thought it would 

 pay me to get. 



Mr. Kretchmer — Taking old combs, 

 it is almosit impossible, with any kind 

 of press, to get more than 80 per cent 

 out of the combs. Yet, if the combs 

 are not too old, a boiler wax-press will 

 take out 90, and some times 92 per 

 cent. You can repeat the process by 

 allowing the water to pass through 

 again, and, with additional pressure, 

 get more wax out. With steam it can- 

 not be done. 



Mr. Dittrich — Mr. Hershiser, with Ms 

 press, gets about 95 per cent. 



Mr. Snyder — There is a great dif- 

 ference in difCerenit kind's of presses, 

 as I have proved this past summer. 

 I had one of these German presses 

 the Jast time, and I pressed down 

 three large cheeses whicttii were made 

 up of old combs, and I was unable to 

 get any wax out of tJhose cheeses with 

 the steam presses or the German 

 press. This summer I got the new 

 Hershiser press, and out of those 

 three cheeses I got 26 pounds, 



Mr. Kretchmer — The word "Ger- 

 man" is misleading. I traveled quite 

 extensively among German bee-keep- 

 ers a year ago, and I found they all, 

 without any exception, used a boiler 

 press. 



Mr. France — ^With reference to ren- 

 dering wax, in going over our State 

 as inspector and finding a great many 

 diseased coimibs and old brood-combs, 

 I try to save for the bee-keepers all 

 I can by saving the wax. I find there 

 Is a decided difference in the princi- 

 ple of saving wax between our dif- 

 ferent presses. Those presses, using 

 the term "German wax-press," that 

 press melted slumgum into a dry 

 cbeese will not save near the per 

 cent of wax that you can in any form 

 wherein that pressure is down under 

 water. "Wax being lighter than water, 

 and in using the Hershiser press, or 

 any press involving that principle, as 

 you press it the wax comes above, 

 therefore j-^ou save quite a percentage 

 more of wax than you can with the 

 German press. Again, with the Ger- 

 man' press we lose more than half the 

 value if too much is put in at once. I 



remember one lot which we were 

 melting, and about two and a half 

 pails of the ordinary milk pails were 

 put in one press, and the cheese when 

 pressed was about four and a half 

 or five inches thick. I broke it in 

 two, and there was good cupful of 

 hielted wax in the centre wrich 

 couldn''t escape. So that this princi- 

 ple of pressure under hot water, giv- 

 ing it a chance to rinse and wash, 

 and again pressing, has a decided Ad- 

 vantage. Upon many of the farms 

 wrere they have but a few bees one of 

 the better presses' costs too much for 

 the farmer to afford to keep, so I have 

 upon the ordinary farm used such 

 conveniences as I could find, taking 

 an iron kettle and making a slatted 

 arrangement to go in near the bottom 

 of the kettle, and anottoer slatted fol- 

 lower, and putting the broken comb 

 in a sack between the two, and when 

 melted, applying a lever pressure, 

 which amounts to the same thing as 

 the screw. Iron discolors the wax, 

 and for that reason I want to get 

 it out of the iron kettle as soon as 

 I can and' let it cool in wood or tin 

 or copper. The more water used the 

 better the wax. 



Mr. Kretchmer— Another feature in 

 getting a little additional wax is to 

 take old combs and soak them first 

 before submitting them to heat and 

 pressure. In that way the water soaks 

 up the old dry cocoons, and then when 

 filled with water these cocoons do not 

 absorb as much wax. 



Mr. Dadant — I wish to add my tes- 

 timonial to the merits of the Her- 

 shiser press. We melt a great deal of 

 beeswax, and we melt residues, and 

 the Hershiser press has given us the 

 best satisfaction, but I must mention 

 one thing, most people press too fast. 

 When we make wine we press our 

 grapes, and if we press them too fast 

 we form a hard shell on the outside, 

 and the seeds and skins are brought 

 together in the pressure Press slowly 

 and let the juices escape, and as 

 you give them more room add to your 

 pressure. It is the same thing with 

 beeswax. If you press too fast you 

 will have a shell on the outside which 

 will keep the beeswax inside. It 

 will be much more difficult for it to 

 escape than if you pressed slowly al- 

 lowing it to gently come out, and 

 as it comes out keep pressing it a 



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