1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



555 



ANOTHER VISIT WITH CHALON FOWLS 

 DURING THE EXTRACTING SEASON. 



Some Farther Improvements in Capping-melters. 



BY H. H. ROOT. 



Our readers will recall that two years ago 

 we spent considerable time with Mr. Chalon 

 Fowls at Oberlin, Ohio, helping him extract 

 and experimentingwith various new luelters. 

 Our report of these experiments was given 

 in the Nov. 15th issue for 1908, page lo75. 

 We have been continuing the work this 

 year, and Mr. Fowls now believes that he 

 has almost an ideal equipment for rapidly 

 extracting honey. On account of the some- 

 what crowded extracting-room it was almost 

 impossible to locate the camera so as to get 

 good interior views, but they serve to show 

 something of the arrangement of the appa- 

 ratus. 



Mr. Fowls still uses his gasoline-engine, 

 or, rather, his daughters use it, for they do 

 perhaps the larger part of the extracting. 

 This engine, by the way, although having 

 been used for pumping water, off and on, 

 during the winter months, is as good as new. 

 New batteries have been put in two or three 

 times, of course, and one new spark-plug 

 bought. Fifteen minutes' work in tighten- 



FIG. 1. — THE MODIFIED PETERSON CAPPING-MELTER AS USED AT 



OBERLIX. 

 The long pan under the table has a double bottom, the space between filled 

 with water kept hot by the stove underneath. The wax and honey run out oJ 

 the trough, away from the heat, in the shortest possible time. 



ing the bearings, etc., made the engine run 

 even better than ever. 



This year we have been making some ex- 

 periments with a capping-melter made after 

 the Peterson plan, first described page 559 

 of the May 1st issue, 1908. Some modifica- 

 tions have been made from the original plan, 

 for the purpose of simplifying the outfit and 

 enlarging its capacity. Fig. 1 shows the 

 melter in position under the uncapping-ta- 

 ble. There is nothing to the melter except 

 a long shallow pan with a double bottom, 

 and a trough opening from one end to allow 

 honey and melted wax to run out, this end 

 of the opening being about an inch lower 

 than the other end, into which the cappings 

 fall. An opening into the water-space is 

 left at the upper end, large enough for a cou- 

 ple of knives if one desires to use a knife 

 kept hot by hot water. This opening is also 

 for the i)urpose of filling the melter with wa- 

 ter. A two-burner oil-stove stands beneath 

 the melter at the lower end, and the hot wa- 

 ter heats thoroughly the large surface repre- 

 sented by the bottom of the pan. The cap- 

 pings and honey, no matter how fast they 

 drop from the combs, even when two are un- 

 capping, begin to slide directly toward the 

 lower end: and by the time they pass out of 

 the trough the wax is melted. The honey and 

 wax are not confined at all, and they pass 

 away from the 

 heat in the small- 

 est possible time. 

 We have found 

 that this construc- 

 tion of melter does 

 not darken even 

 the whitest bass- 

 wood honey in the 

 least. 



If two uncap- 

 pers are working, 

 both burners of 

 the stove should 

 be used; but if 

 there is only one 

 operator, one of 

 the burners may 

 be turned down, 

 or possibly turned 

 out altogether. 

 The large surface 

 presented affords 

 a capacity for 

 melting cappings 

 large enough for 

 the most exten- 

 sive producer. 



The illustration 

 shows further that 

 the top of the ta- 

 ble is so construct- 

 ed that there is 

 room for a large 

 number of un- 

 capped combs 

 over the melting- 

 pan, the honey 

 that drips from 

 them being thus 



