THE WAX PRESS 201 
wash boiler and to skim the wax from the surface of the water. 
Sometimes the combs are placed in a burlap bag and thrown in 
the boiling water. Sticks are used to punch the bag and to stir 
it about in the hot water. While a certain amount of wax will 
be secured in this manner it is very wasteful and from one-fourth 
to one-half of the wax will be lost unless the refuse is rendered 
again by some plan. 
Small bits of comb are often placed in a pan in the oven. 
The pan is partly filled with water and the hot wax dipped off or 
the combs are laid on a screen through which the wax will run 
while the waste will remain on the screen. The wax is some- 
times left to harden in the pan and the cake lifted out when cool. 
While rendering by some of these crude methods is better 
than wasting the wax the amount wasted will shortly pay for a 
good press. 
The Wax Press.—No satisfactory way to get all the wax has 
been found without the use of some kind of press. Some may 
think that they are getting all the wax because the slumgum or 
refuse is apparently free from it, but the chances are that when 
rendered with a good outfit this shamgum would produce from 
fifteen to twenty-five per cent more wax. 
A man who understands mechanics and is handy with tools 
can readily construct a wax press, though there are good ones to 
be had in the market. The principal requirements are great 
pressure applied when the mass is hot, and that there be plenty of 
water mixed with the melted combs to insure that the wax will 
run freely. Many of the outfits in use have some provision for 
the use of steam to keep the whole thing hot when the pressure 
is applied. It has been found of late that the press need not 
be heated if the work is done when the weather is warm or in a 
warm room, providing that the material is boiling hot when 
dipped into the press. 
Many different plans for making presses for this purpose have 
been described in the bee journals but the essential requirements 
are the same. Some are round and some square but with pressure 
