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Is this unusual item related to beekeeping?

20K views 117 replies 51 participants last post by  DanielD 
#1 ·
This item belonged to the father (who was a beekeeper) of a seventy year old friend, so it might be fairly old. We're trying to figure out what it is and he thought it might be related to beekeeping. The only opening on it is the hole with the sliding door. Anyone recognize it?




 
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#65 ·
It's a wax melter and applicator.

Get a small fire going, fill each reservoir with wax, then apply wax to a flat surface with the wick.

You could wax a thin sheet of wood for foundation that way, before you could order foundation from a catalog.

There are two reservoirs with wicks so you can alternate them as one gets cool or runs out of wax.
 
#71 ·
"Don't ya think there would be some wax residue, even after all this time? And the door on the large resevoir, why is it on the bottom near the wide base? That's curious."

I can't tell if the wicks contain any wax residue, or if there is any wax left in the two side reservoirs.

The 'large reservoir' is the stove. The heat source. You put in your wood, or coal, light it up, and open or close the air inlet. The hole is for low air inlet, while if the door was up, it would allow for full air. I suspect that there's a hole on the top back of the stove to let the smoke out.

You could tilt out the side resrvoir with a stick and coat your wood foundation sheet that way.

I kinda think that the eyelets are turned upside down since it would make removing a reservoir full of hot wax a little tricky.
 
#90 · (Edited)
I can tell you exactly what it is, and has been. about a weeks entertainment for some of the guys on here, and that's the best description Ihave for it :)
I doubt it held liquid in the main chamber with the type of door it has on it.
The way the 'hangers' are shaped indicate to me that it is in the position in the picture that it was designed to be used in.
With the door so close to the ground I'd say it's for something that is close to the ground, like a snake or mouse or something, if indeed it is a critter keeper/trap.
It has no handles for carrying, so... hmmm
Any mounting apparatus on the bottom or rear of this unit?
Anything on the other sides that we aren't seeing?
Maybe it's a device designed to distract people while some snake oil sales man does his dirty business :)
What are the actual dimensions on this thing ?
What diameter is the door opening actually? The rocks around it make it appear to not be too large.
 
#91 ·
I heard back from the owner of it, I had asked him if he could smell anything in the tube, here is his reply:

"I took another look at the tin container which has nothing printed on it anywhere. There is no odor in it, the hole is a bit less than one-half inch in diameter and is too small to see anything inside."

I still think it's related to beekeeping or maybe some other insect, mostly because of the size of the hole, but as someone here already stated, I also think it could be someone's invention that never got mass produced.
 
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