132 



FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



the whole super is wheeled directed in- 

 to the building. 



From 75 to 85 colonies can now be 

 extracted in a day. 



We can get home with the honey in 

 time for supper and go to another 

 apiary next day. We place the escape 

 boards the day before extracting, so 

 that the bees on arrival are out of the 

 supers. In a few moments after arrival, 

 the wheelbarrow with two hive bodies 

 of 10 Langstroth frames well sealed go 

 into the beehouse by the side of boy 

 uncapping combs. These are exchanged 

 for two hive bodies of extracted combs 

 which are exchanged in apiary for more 

 full ones. 



One man at the extractor keeps five 

 of the old style uncapping knife men 

 pretty busy. Now the one steam knife 

 uncaps easily all combs, while one 6 

 frame extractor does the rest. 



As the combs go into the extractor, 

 which is bolted to the floor, the faucet 

 is left wide open on the extractor so 

 that the honey while it is warm from 

 the hives runs through a tin tube which 

 runs through the floor, to the strainer 

 and storage tank below. 



There is no one up there to watch 

 the faucets — ^and no more honey spills. 

 At the close of day your honey is ready 

 to can; one boy can quickly draw off 

 the strained honey into 10 gallon milk 

 cans to be loaded into wagons for 

 home. 



I put in the heaviest milk cans to 

 transfer the honey from the outyards 

 to the home j-arda 



I also have a tin trough under 

 cappings which conducts the honey to 

 the same tanks below. 



These conveniences in the extractor 

 have disposed of two hired men per day 

 in the yard, and it is not easy in my 

 locality to pick up anybody and every- 

 body. And my little boy thinks it is 

 fun to take care of the honey that we" 

 can extract in a day. 



Let me give you an illustration of 

 what one man is accomplishing by hav- 

 ing a bee cellar: 



The evening before he wishes to ex- 

 tract, he goes out and places his es- 

 cape boards, and he finds his bees out 

 of the supers on his arrival in the 

 morning. 



Before breakfast next morning he is 

 able to wheel ipto the beehouse as many 

 hive bodies as he can extract during 

 the day, which is about twenty to 

 twenty-five a day, with his other work. 



He is working alone, having his little 

 girl to help him. 



He has a hive lifting device by which 

 he can lift the hive body off from the 

 hive without any extra heavy labor and 

 swing it around and lower it on the 

 wheelbarrow. 



Wheeling that to the house — ^with 

 small pulleys it is hoisted to the room 

 above the cellar into the beehouse. 



A gasoline stove is lighted before 

 breakfast so that he Keeps some heat 

 up through those hive bodies. 



After breakfast he starts the engine 

 going and goes up stairs, and with a 

 steam knife and this frame reversible 

 extractor he can finish up the day's 

 work and the honey Tuns through a 

 tin tube in floor to strainer and stor- 

 age tank below. 



Mr. Rattig — How is the strainer 

 made? 



Mr. France — A round can with a par- 

 tition running to within a scant half 

 inch of the bottom. The honey'goes in 

 on one side and has to -run underneath 

 and up on the other side.- 



In this first inlet side we have a 

 tinned wire cloth by which all particles 

 or cappings are caught. 



The first strainer is about 30 inches 

 in diameter and 2 feet deep. 



Mr. Dadant — It simply goes in there 

 gradually. 



Pres. Kannenberg — What kind of wire 

 have you in front? 



Mr. France — Regular screen wire, 

 only it is tinned to prevent corroding 

 or rusting. 



There there is a faucet at the bot- 

 tom, of that gravity strainer. 



Mr. Wheeler — Do you find that grav- 

 ity strainer does the work better? 



Mr. France— So much better that I 

 have discarded the cheese-cloth strain- 

 ers; the gravity strainer seems to do 

 so much better. There are some little 

 particles that will get through cheese- 

 cloth that do not go through the grav- 

 ity strainer. 



I do not want it to s'tand too long; 

 I think if it stands too long it changes 

 the flavor to some extent — the aroma 

 that is in the honey; the longer it 

 stands the more we lose of it; and 

 when honey becomes granulated and 

 is warmed over we lose that prime 

 flavor. 



Pres. Kannenberg — Are there any 

 questions? 



Mr. Dadant — Tonight we will have 

 Mr. Mosier's paper on Sweet Clover. 



