50 



MANUAL OF APICULTURE. 



WAX EXTRACTORS. 



A solar wax extractt,-^ is needed in every apiary; several are kept 

 running in many lar,f>e apiaries. Extractors which render wax by steam 

 are also used. Tfr.the latter class belongs the improved Swiss wax 

 extractor (tig. 36;.- This imi)lement, invented in Switzerland and 

 improved in America, consists of a tin or copper vessel with a circle of 

 perforations in the bottom near the sides to let in steam from a boiler 

 below, and within this upper vessel another receptacle — the comb 

 receiver — made of perforated zinc. Its use, as well as that of the solar 

 wax extractor, is described under the head of "Wax production." 



Within a few years wax extractors employing the heat of the sun 

 and known as solar wax extractors have come into general use (tig. 61). 

 The essential features in all the forms that have been devised are a 

 metal tank with a glass cover and usually a wire-cloth strainer, below 



which is placed the receptacle for the wax, 

 the whole so arranged as to enable one to tilt 

 it at such an angle as will catch the direct 

 rays of the sun. The effectiveness of the 

 solar wax extractor is increased by baving 

 the glass doubled, and adding also a retlector, 

 such as a mirror or a sheet of bright metal. 

 An important advantage of the solar wax 

 extractor is the ease with which small quan- 

 tities of comb can be rendered. By having 

 this machine much is therefore saved that 

 might be ruined by wax moth larv;e if allow- 

 ed to accumulate, besides serving at the same 

 time to increase these pests about the apiary. 

 The wax obtained by solar heat is also of 

 superior quality, being clean, never water-soaked nor scorched, and 

 also light in color, owing to the bleaching action of the sunlight. 



The cost of a medium-sized solar wax extractor does not exceed that 

 of the larger Swiss steam extractors, yet of the two the former is likely 

 to prove by far the more valuable, even though it can be used only 

 during the warmer months. 



Fig. 36 — Excelsior wax extractor. 



QUEEN-INTRODUCING CAGES. 



In every apiary there should be several of these on hand. The best 

 are such as X)ermit the caging of the queen directly on the comb over 

 cells of honey. A little practice will enable anyone to make very 

 serviceable and cheap cages for introducing queens. From a piece of 

 wire cloth having ten to twelve meshes to the inch cut a strip 2 inches 

 wide 5 cut this in pieces 4J inches long, roll each piece around a stick 

 to give it a cylindrical form, lap the edges, and sew with a piece of 

 wire. Then in one end of this cylinder make slits three-quarters inch 



