48 



BEES FOE PLEASUEE AND PEOFIT. 



Fig. 31 A, Extractor ; b, Cages of Extractor. 



As soon as all the combs from the first hive have been 

 extracted, they should be returned, and those from the next hive 

 extracted. The cappings may be 

 collected and melted down for bees- 

 wax in a " wax extractor " (fig. 32), 

 .ctj^_^ — -siai which may be obtained from any of 



I jT ~^B the dealers. The lower part of the 



wax extractor must be filled with hot 

 water and put on the kitchen stove 

 to boil. The cappings or old honey- 

 combs that we wish to melt down 

 should be placed in the perforated 

 metal basket in the top part of the 

 wax extractor, and when the water in 

 the lower part boils, the wax melts 

 and drips slowly out of the spout at 

 the side, A pie-dish, half full of 

 water, must be stood below this spout 

 to cateh the clear beeswax as it runs off. 



Fig. 32.— Wax Extractor. 



Storing Combs in Winter. 



In the autumn, when all the honey gathering is over for 

 the season, and when all the combs have been extracted, they 

 should be placed behind the dummy-board of some weak stock 

 (the dummy having been previously raised slightly to enable the 

 bees to pass under it), for them to clear out, after which they 

 should be done up in brown paper, half a dozen in a parcel, 

 with a few small pieces of camphor to keep away the wax moth. 



