OR, MANUAl, OF THB APIARV. 



367 



SAVE THB WAX. 



As foundation is becoming' so popular, it behooves us all 

 to be very careful that no old comb goes to waste. Even now 

 the supply of wax in the country is scarce equal to the demand. 

 Soiled drone-comb, old, worthless worker-comb, all the comb 

 in the old hives, if we use Mr. Heddon's method of transfer- 



FiG. 180. 



Swiss Wax-Extractor. — Irom American Bie Journal, 



ring, and all fragments that can not be used in the hives, 

 together with cappings, after the honey is drained out, should 

 be melted, cleansed and molded into cakes of wax, soon to be 

 again stamped, not by the bees, but by wondrous art. 



METHODS. 



A slow and primitive method is to melt in a vessel of 

 heated water, and to purify by turning off the top, or allowing 

 it to cool, when the impurities at the bottom are scraped off, 

 and the process repeated till all impurities are eliminated. 



A better method to separate the wax is to put it into a 

 strong, rather coarse bag, then sink this in water and boil. 

 At intervals the comb in the bag should be pressed and stirred. 

 The wax will collect on top of the water. 



To prevent the wax from burning, the bag should be kept 

 from touching the bottom of the vessel by inverting a basin 

 in the bottom of the latter, or else by using a double-walled 

 vessel with hot water between the walls. The process should 

 be repeated till the wax is perfectly cleansed. 



