4% 



r'HE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



top of the strainer, comes into play. 

 The 'honey i^uns down the sides of the 

 can, and 'then rushes in its impetus 

 from all sides to the center of the can, 

 where, warm from the comb, every 

 ■feature, impetus, and warmth bein.a: 

 lialcen advantage of, it is forced throug-h 

 a strainer of wire cloth and a fine 

 quality of cheese cloth over it. The 

 scum naturally keeps to the top; finer 

 particles are drawn down; but when- 

 ever the strained hone\' outlet is closed 

 it begins to gravitate toward the top 

 of the honey, and finally, when the ex- 

 tractor is emptied, almost all of it will 

 rest on the bottom of the can between 

 the extractor-can wall and the strainer. 

 • The first thing in the morning, this, 

 with a fiat-ended scoop, is collected 

 and emptied through the gate. In this 

 way I have used the strainer, without 

 further cleaning, day after day, or 

 until f/nr/ extracting was finished and 

 everj'thing thoroughly cleaned as every 

 extractor should be. I used to remove 

 the cloth each day and wash it. This 

 I did by placing the baskets and arms 

 in a position to give the most room to 

 get down, then slip on a long pair of 

 print sleeves and remove and readjust 

 the cloth. There is no great difficulty 

 about this, but I found it unnecessary. 

 It may be fairly asked, "Why not 

 cover the entire distance across the 

 can with a strainer?" By this method 

 the straining surface is not increased. 

 Again, the scum must all settle on the 

 strainer — a very objectionable feature; 

 and, next, a very important feature in 

 my system, and which is anew feature 

 also, is that if, for any reason, we have 

 to extract honey very thick through 

 cold, etc., artificial heat can be ap- 

 plied to the straining and unstrained 

 honey, and kept applied until it passes' 

 out through the rubber hose K. This 

 can be done to the degree required by 

 putting a coal-oil or gasoline stove 

 under that portion of the extractor bot- 

 tom which has above it unstrained 

 honey. The metal bottom being an 

 excellent conductor, if needed it can 

 heat the entire can, and the hone3' be 

 made sufficiently warm for every emer- 

 gency. My son Ivar has attended to 

 using or not using, raising, or heating, 

 covering the fiame as required as he 

 turned the extractor. For this idea I 

 am indebted to a young man, a student 

 of mine, Arthur Feather. The hone}', 

 as will be seen in the illustration, is 

 drawn ott' through the pipe (i, which 

 runs from inside the strainer to the 

 outside of the can, where it is connect- 



ed with the pipe K, which is raised 

 when the fiow is to be shut off, and 

 lowered when in use. A moment does 

 the act. 



The drawing is not quite correct. 

 The outlet from the inside of the strain- 

 er should not be direct!}' under the 

 cone, but a little to the side. We have 

 various lengths of this rubber hose, 

 with joints, so the honey can be con- 

 ducted at various distances. No one 

 need watch the larger tanks, and they 

 can be shut off when about but not 

 quite full, or the boy who handles the 

 extracting combs, if a barrel is to be 

 quite filled, watches them to the last 

 moment. 



Another advantage I find in the 

 strainer is that, in the old s\'stem, fine 

 strings q{ honey are constantl}' passing 

 through the air, carr^'ing that air 

 into the honey, and producing a 

 froth somewhat like the white of an 

 G^y^ and air beaten together. This 

 scum does not form with my strainer, 

 because the honey as seen by the letter- 

 ing, flows unbroken through and out. 

 It has been argued that the froth is 

 foreign matter, such as wax particles. 

 The froth, doubtless, will have this if 

 the strainer used is not perfect, and the 

 same care tnust be used in propcrlj^ 

 adjusting the cloth as with other 

 strainers. It is well to bring the cloth 

 right under the edge of the inverted 

 wire-cloth strainer as well as using 

 rubber bands, L. L . 



This extractor can, perhaps, be im- 

 proved. Several who have not useil it, 

 and therefore speak simply from 

 theory, have tried to do so and failed. 

 These features, however, must be re- 

 tained: 1. A strainer insideof a honey- 

 extractor; 2. Two outlets through the 

 can, one for the strained honey, the 

 other for the ejection, from da}' to day, 

 of the scum which accumulates; 3. A 

 portion of the unstrained honey to 

 reach the bottom of the can before 

 straining, this to enable the applica- 

 tion of artificial heat when needed to 

 allow the main portion of the scum to 

 settle on the bottom of the extractor 

 instead of the strainer; and, lastly, to 

 allow a side-surface as well as top-sur- 

 face through which the honey can 

 strain. 



In this system of str;iining. the honey 

 is exposed to the air for the least time, 

 and tlie aroma is retained if the honey 

 is at once stored in air-tight vessels, 

 which, in this system, it can be, as it 

 is strained as it comes from the extrac- 

 tor. In straining in the ordinary way, 



