124 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
sequently, then, if it is intended to “mould 
it” in the vessel used for melting, let it stand, 
or, if the moulds to he used are basins or deep 
dishes, let it be carefully ladled into them and 
there stand until cold. The result will be a 
bright yellow wax, such as they have never 
seen before. The buyer will get a wax which 
his wholesale man will run after eagerly and 
pay a good price for, and all for the simple 
details noted above. The Australian and New 
Zealand settlers send home a good deal of good 
wax, but the colours are invariably a dirty 
white or a brownish yellow (both undesirable 
colours,) which means that it has been spoilt 
in the melting, and seldom the bright yellow, 
“so much admired.” If they wish, therefore, 
to excel in this industry they have only to 
adopt a water bath to melt it and sulphuric 
acid to clear and throw down any particles of 
dress that may be suspended in the hot wax, 
and wo shall have Britons all the world over 
take the lead in one of their earliest manu- 
factures as they have in nearly all their later 
industries. — Queenslander, 11th Dec., 1886. 
The Apiary. 
By Apiarian. 
It has often occured to me that one reason 
why the modern system of beekeeping is 
unlikely to become rapidly universal, is that, 
at first sight, it seems as if the expense of such 
adjuncts, as the honey extractor, &c., is dis- 
proportionate to the advantages to be gained 
therefrom. That this idea is erroneous I do 
not for one moment doubt, but still I feel it 
would be an advantage if some method of 
working with frame hives could be devised 
which would dispense with the necessity of 
extractors and other utensils. It goes without 
saying that such a plan would never be very 
remunerative, and that as the proportion of 
extracted honey is always in excess of comb 
honey, so by doing away with extracting, one 
of the principal sources of profit would be done 
away with. However, I believe that when 
once beekeepers have replaced their gin-case 
hives with bar or frame hives, the other things 
would soon follow as a natural course, because 
it, would be seen that the system would soon 
pay for the extra machinery required. I 
therefore propose to try and show that even 
with merely the bare hives the modern system 
would be a distinct advantage. I can quite 
see that I have set myself no easy task, but 
I will endeavour to make the matter perfectly 
clear. And first let me endeavour to clear away 
some of the usual objections that are raised by 
those who are unacquainted with the use of 
frames to the adoption of the new style of hives. 
The expense, it is said, is much greater than can 
be regained by the use of them. The old boxes 
or gin-cases cost little or nothing, and require 
no time or labour to get ready for use. I 
grant that, but I would desire those who argue 
in this way to remember that frame hives, 
when once ready, are always ready ; that 
with ordinary care they should last for many 
years. Well then, put against the time that 
framed hives take in preparation, the yearly 
labour of getting boxes ready, and further the 
tedious and decidedly unpleasant task of 
drumming the bees out, or horribile diclu 
smothering them, the labour of cutting out the 
combs, straining the honey, rendering the 
w'ax, &c. — put, I say, these several operations 
on the other side and I am not so sure that 
the box system will be found the quickest. 
I find that it is not generally understood 
by those who are unacquainted with our 
system, that everything is available year after 
year, that even the combs arc capable of being 
used time after time. One of the commonest 
observations made to me by visitors, is — 
“ What a long time it must take you to make 
all these things.’’ Yes, but I answer, they 
are to last me for a long time, for many years, 
I hope. The same answer would apply to the 
objection, that it takes up too much time. I 
do not find it so. It certainly affords me a 
most delightful recreation, but all the work of 
preparation is done during the winter on wet 
days, when nothing else can be done. Having 
I trust satisfactorily disposed of these objec- 
tions, I now proceed to show that the frame 
hives can be advantageously adopted, even 
where it is not intended to procure extracting 
and other machinery. I will for the sake of 
clearness divide my reasons under four heads. 
1. Knowledge of bees. 2. Diseases of bees. 
3. Regulation of swarming. 4. Feeding, 
building up of weak colonies. 
1. Knowledge of bees. — No one will deny 
that it must be an advantage to us to know 
as much as we possibly can about the habits 
and relations of bees. The same rule holds 
good in this case as in all others where we 
have to do with living creatures. If we desire 
to succeed with them, we must know some- 
thing about their organisation and manner of 
life. Now, I would ask my readers what did 
we really know about bees until the discovery 
of bar frames and the resulting increased 
means of observation. Take up any of the 
works on bees published prior to that dis- 
covery, and it is perfectly ludicrous how 
little they positively knew about their habits. 
The beekeepers of olden times seem to have 
stumbled upon some correct facts, but as a 
rule their suppositions, for they were nothing 
more, were altogether absurd and incorrect, 
as, for instance, the old idea that a swarm of 
bees could be raised by the decomposition of 
