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Date: | Sun, 2 Jun 1996 06:55:04 +0100 |
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Two people have asked for information so I thought it might be of interest
to a wider audience. I must point out that it is not something that can be
carried out in the kitchen and you need to be a do-it-yourself person. To
go with the press you need a container to hold ten to twenty pounds of
liquid wax suspended in a water jacket heated by gas or electricity. The
local junk yard supplied my needs for less than five pounds. An old
fashioned copper (may be a strange word in the States, a ten gallon washing
boiler used before the advent of washing machines) and a stainless steel
inner cylinder. I fitted a liquid gas ring under the copper and I was in
business. The apparatus is still going strong after sixteen years.
I purchased the press from Germany in 1980 for =A3150, around 225 dollars. =
I
salvage every scrap of wax and always have a surplus. The press is the
largest made, for deep Dadant size combs but it will make any size. We
still have to learn the commonsense of standardisation as we have five
different sizes of brood comb and five of supers. Since 1980 this press has
turned out all my needs and that of several of my fellow beekeepers. We
wire the frames and embed with a 6volt transformer.
The financial aspect. To buy foundation in England is very expensive, well
over a pound a sheet for my size of combs. I can turn out a hundred sheets
in a day without effort and make some candles along the way, all for a few
pence worth of gas. Process is simple, very little skill needed.=20
The name of the press is Herzog, quoted output 20 to 30 sheets per hour,( my
speed is nearer 20) and is now available in various sizes, Dadant =A3320,
Langstroth =A3280, around 420 dollars. This is the price quoted by local
appliance firms so might well be cheaper purchased direct.
Sid. P.
_________________________________________________________________
Sid Pullinger Email : [log in to unmask]
36, Grange Rd Compuserve: [log in to unmask]
Alresford
Hants SO24 9HF
England
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