K XT R A ('TO 11. 



180 



EXTIl ACTOR. 



how sucli buildings are used in Culifovuia. 

 Others use a pipe connecting directly 

 with the honey-gate of the extractor, and 

 leading directly to a storage-tank that is on 

 a lower level, and off at one side. In either 

 case the extractor is, of course, secured to 

 the floor, and the operator is thus enabled 

 to exert his power to the best advantage. 



As to the building itself, some put up a 

 cheap structure as shown in the illustra- 

 tions; but in every case it should be well 



IIONKY-IANKS OX A LK\ KL LUW'KU '11Ia:N 



EXTRACTING-TANK, NEAR BUK- 



BANK, CALIFORNIA. 



battened, and bee-proof. The doors should 

 swing outward, so as to let the bees escape 

 that get inside. The windows should be 

 provided with wire screens having bee-es- 

 capes. 



Mr. E. W. Alexander, of Delanson, N . Y., 

 one of the most extensive bee-keepers in 

 the world, uses a small extracting-house that 

 certainly has some features to recommend 

 it. It is just large enough to receive a four- 

 frame extractor, a man to operate it, an 

 uncapping-box, and space to receive the 

 fresh combs as they come in and those that 

 go out. The combs are carried in comb- 

 carriers, which arenothing more nor less than 

 hive-bodies rigged up with a convenient 

 iron handle as shown. Mr. Alexander has 

 something like 700 colonies, all in one apiary, 

 and his crops of honey annually go up into 



the carloads. While the carrying-boxes may 

 seem very crude, yet, used in the manner 

 in which he uses them, in connection with 

 this small building, they give excellent 

 results with a minimum of labor. 



Two men take the combs out of the hive, 

 and shake or brush off the bees. While one 

 is putting in fresh empty combs from which 

 the tilled ones have been taken, (dosing up 

 the hive, and opening up another one, the 

 other carries tlie combs just removed in the 

 carrier to the man in the extracting-house. 

 The sliding door at the right is lifted, and 

 the combs, carrier and all, are pushed inside 

 and the door drops, shutting out all possible 

 robbers. In the same way the empty combs 

 are removed in another carrier from the 

 other door at the left, and so on the process 

 continues. The quick opening and closing 

 of the slide doors prevents robbers from get- 

 ting at the Avork inside. The three men thus 

 working, changing place every now and then 

 to relieve tlie monotony, are able to take out 

 several thousand pounds of honey in a day. 

 As the ground is very hilly and rough at 

 this yard, a wheelbarrow would be out -of 

 the question. 



It will be noted that the tin pipe going 

 down through the floor, connecting with the 

 honey- gate (see cuts page 178) passes down 

 through the yard and communicates with a 

 large open honey-tank inside of a small 

 building not shown. The whole arrange- 

 ment, from start to finish, is unique and per- 

 fect for the conditions mentioned. 



\\ here the ground is comparatively level, 

 and no steep grades, a wheelbarrow or hand- 

 cart, preferably with pneumatic tires, as 

 described a little further along, would, per- 

 haps, be better. Other bee-keepers make a 

 very small extracting-house that can be lift- 

 ed up on wagon-wheels, and carried from 

 one yard to another. It sometimes happens 

 that localities change, and then it becomes 

 desirable to move the extracting-house. 



E. r. Atwater, of Meridian, Idaho, uses 

 a building which he can take down, load on 

 a wagon, and set up at any spot desired. 



Still others prefer a genuine portable ex- 

 tracting-house — that is, a house permanent- 

 ly on wheels; such as the one shown in the 

 next illustration, used by W. T>. Jefferson, 

 of Safford, Arizona. Low wide-tired iron 

 wheels are used, and a platform wide 

 enough to extend out over and even with 

 the outer edges of the wheels, and 

 long enough to give sufficient room for ex- 

 tracting purposes, is mounted just high 

 enougli to clear the wheels. Beneath the 



