EXTRACTING WAX. gt 



CHAPTER VI. 



In no respect is the contrast between the old and new 

 systems of bee-keeping more striking than in the relation of 

 each to the bees'-wax, which is one of the products of the 

 apiary. Formerly the bees were obliged to secrete all the 

 wax in the hive, and at the end of the season a great part, if 

 not all, of this wax was extracted ; but there was not much 

 demand for it. Now it might almost be said that the bees 

 have their combs ready built for them, so convenient are the 

 sheets of comb foundation, and so little trouble is there in 

 drawing them out into combs. Shortly stated, the case is 

 that forrherly wax was produced in. considerable quantities, 

 while there was very little demand for it, while with the ' 

 movable comb system the quantity produced is very sniallj 

 while the demand for wax for tnaking foundation is very 

 great, so that it has to be largely imported, both here and in 

 the United States, from Africa, Mauritius, ; Jamaica, -and 

 many other places. ■ - > : - 



Although good combs last for several seasons, there will 

 always be more or less odds and ends from which' the wax 

 should be extracted, not only becaiise it iS a marketable 

 commodity, but also to avoid giving harbour to the wax 

 moth, an insect which sometimes does a good deal of harin 

 to corribs containing pollen. One of the .best means of ex- 

 tracting wax in a small apiary is the Gerster extractor, which 

 costs about fifteen shillings. It consists of a box of per- 

 forated zinc (in which the combs to be operated on are 

 placed), which fits into a casing of tin, which in turn fits 

 into a vessel containing water. The apparatus is placed 

 over a brisk fiire, and the steam from the boiling water melts 

 the wax, which runs through the perforated zinc, and out of 

 a nozzle at the side. The objection to this extractor is, its' 

 slowness, but it is very much cleaner to use than any other. 

 A very good plan, where a copper is available, is to cover a 

 hoop with straining canvas, and place it in the copper -with 

 the combs under it. The copper is filled with water, and 

 the fire is lighted under it. As the wax melts it passes 

 thrpugh the canvas, and floats on the surface of the water. 



