To Color Beeswax.—To color bees wax, add bright palm oil. Or as a sufficient quantity of palm oil to col or adulterates the wax, color with annotto in the proportion of about 4 ounces to 100 pounds of wax, accord ing to the color required. Shave the annotto in 3 to 4 quarts of soft wa ter, to which add about I pound of wax, let boil until the water is evapo rated and the wax is of a deep orange color. Melt the remainder of the wax, and stir in the colored wax until the proper shade is produced. Test from time to time by cooling a little on a glass plate.
Bottle Wax.— To make wax for sealing corked bottles and similar purposes, melt together 6i ounces of black rosin, ounce of beeswax, and ounces of fine ivory black.
Or for red wax, substitute ounces of Venetian red or red lead for the ivory black.
Or mix 1 pound of beeswax, I pound of rosin, pound of tallow. Color with red or yellow ocher or other coloring matter. Melt and stir together.
Or for white wax, substitute bleached wax for beeswax and color with Spanish white.
To Test Adulterated Wax.—Bees wax is sometimes adulterated with spermaceti or Japanese wax. To test for Japanese wax, cover a sample with concentrated solution of borax and bring it to a boil. Beeswax is insoluble in this solution, but Japa nese wax dissolves and forms on cooling a milky-white sticky coating.
Imitation of Beeswax.—Melt to gether 14 pounds of yellow rosin, 7 pounds of suet, 1 pound of turmeric, 2 pounds of potato flour and mix and form into cakes before it cools. If the color is too bright, add a little ivory black. Rub each cake when cold with flour.
Or 8 pounds of yellow rosin, 4 pounds of pure mutton tallow or stearin, and pounds of palm oil.
Or substitute i pound of turmeric in place of palra oil.
Or place I ounce of pure annotto in I quart of water. Bring to a boil, stir in 5 pounds of mutton suet or stearin, ICI pounds of yellow rosin, stir and boil until well mixed and colored. Pour into molds to cool. Dust the cakes when cold with corn starch.