THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



205 



clean out the slum-gum from the melter, 

 necessitates the stopping- of work until 

 the cappings are melted. This, however, 

 is not so serious a matter, as we usually 

 do this just after dinner, or after the 

 day"s work, when uhe cappings are likely 

 to be all melted, thus causing no delay. 

 Taking it all in all, there is a considerable 

 more work connected with the cappings 

 melter, than with the Mclntyre box, and 

 this at the busy season of the harvesting 

 of the crop of extracted honey. 



The advantages of the melter are, the 

 finishing up of the work as we go along, 

 and securing, in marketable shape, the 

 eight per cent, of honey that is usually 

 left in the cappings; and, as far as I can 

 see. the 15 per cent., or more, of honey 

 that goes through the melter with the 

 cappings is the equal of that that has not 

 gone through the melter, and is worth in 

 the market, likely. 25 per cent, more 

 than the eight per cent, that is left in 

 the cappings after the Mclntyre box has 

 done its work. 



We expect, however, with our larger 

 Mclntyre boxes, giving us more drainage 

 surface, and by the use of a little more 

 care in chopping the cappings fine, to 

 bring this eight per cent., now left in the 

 cappings, down to, say, five or six per 

 cent. This will not be so serious, es- 

 pecially as we save this honey at wax- 

 rendering time, after the season's hurry 

 is over. 



This brings me to the point where the 

 cappings melter has come to stay, ;. e., 

 tne removing in marketable shape, of the 

 honey from the cappings; honey that 

 was formerly thrown away. The man- 

 agement is something as follows: After 

 all the honey has drained from the cap- 

 pings in the Mclntyre box, they are 

 forked into cracker or sugar barrels and 

 shipped home, where they are run 

 through the cappings melter at leisure, 

 thus separating the honey from the wax. 

 In two years, S45.00 worth of honey has 

 been secured in this way; honey that had 

 previously been dumped out with the 

 wa*'er in rendering wax. During these 

 two years about one-third of our honey 



was put through the melter as we 

 extracted, had this amount been added 

 to the above, this sum would have been 

 swelled considerably. At the lowest 

 estimate, we have been throwing away 

 $30 00 a year in honey, that we now 

 save with the cappings melter. 



In commenting upon the cappings 

 melter, I said that, as far as I could see, 

 the honey secured with the melter was 

 equal to that secured where the Mclntyre 

 or other uncapping tank was used, with- 

 out heat. 



I question, however, whether it is quite 

 as good, and on these grounds: In melt- 

 ing the cappings after they have been 

 drained of all but about eight per cent, 

 of the entire crop of honey harvested, 

 we find that this eight per cent, of honey 

 is quite inferior to the main crop, and, as 

 I have previously said, brings only about 

 75 per cent, of the price secured for the 

 main extracting, and goes for baking or 

 manufacturing purposes. 



If the honey that goes through the 

 cappings melter in the ordinary way, as 

 when the cappings fall from the uncap- 

 ping knife, in extracting, is discolored as 

 is the honey taken from the cappings 

 after draining through the Mclntyre box, 

 it would seem as if the whole crop would 

 be somewhat tainted, but, being dis- 

 tributed through the whole crop, it is 

 not noticeable. 



The cappings melter used for the last 

 two years is shown at the right, in the 

 frontispiece of the May Review. It is 

 made of galvanized steel, is 22 inches 

 long, 14 inches wide and 10 inches deep. 

 Two and a half inches of the depth is 

 used for the water tank at the bottom, so 

 the tank proper is only 7^ inches deep. 

 The square opening at the back end, is 

 for filling the tank with water. At the 

 front end, near the bottom, is a gate for 

 the honey and wax to run out. Longi- 

 tudinal of the melter, at the inside bottom, 

 will be noticed three A-shaped, or in- 

 verted troughs. These troughs are 

 notched along their entire length, on both 

 edges and are called channel irons, and 

 are to preserve an opening for the melted 



