1910 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



ORION'S CAPPING-MELTER, 



591 



Made from a Single Sheet of Galvanized Roofing 

 Iron. 



BY PERCY ORTON. 



The three ilkistralions show a capping- 

 inelter that I have been using for two sea- 

 sons. It is made from one whole sheet of 

 galvanized iron roofing. I cut the sheet, 

 which was 96 inches long, in two pieces of 

 equal length, and made two pans 18X40 

 inches. The upper pan, as seen in Fig. 3, 

 slips into the lower one, and projects about 

 two inches beyond the lower pan as an out- 

 let for the honey and wax, the lower pan 

 being soldered to the upper one at this end. 



Fig. 2 shows that, by projecting the upper 

 pan beyond the lower one, I get a space 

 large enough at the back end of the melter 

 to hold two honey-knives to heat in the hot 

 water of the lower pan. 



Fig. 1 shows the melter in running condi- 

 tion, and my son, Master Darius Orton, age 

 9, who is a very good helper for his age. 



This melter will hold 30 Hoflfman frames, 

 and is useful in warming up combs of hon- 

 ey in cold weather. Two uncapi ers can 



FIG. 2. — INTERIOR OF ORTON'S CAPPING- 

 MELTER. 

 Two shallow pans were made of a single sheet of 

 galvanized iron, and the upper pan soldered to the 

 lower, leaving a space lor hot water between. 



FIG. 3. — UNDER VIEW OF CAPPING-MELT- 

 ER, SHOWING THE UPPER PAN PRO- 

 JECTING BEYOND THE LOWER 

 ONE. 



work, and the machine will take care of the 

 ca])pings; or if one does not care to extract 

 more than 50 hives a day it will hold the 

 cappingsso that they may drain over night. 



The cost of the galvanized iron, solder, and 

 lumber, was about S1.75, and I did the work 

 myself. I find after two seasons' use it is a 

 very handy machine. It does not injure 

 the honey, and produces very fine wax. 



Northampton, N. Y. 



[Reference to the illustrations on pages 

 555, 556, Sept. 1, shows that Mr. Orton, two 

 years ago, hit upon almost the identical 

 construction of melter which we have been 

 using this summer. We can endorse all that 

 he says. — Ed.] 



NEW COMBS NOT NEEDED FOR THE PRO- 

 DUCTION OF FINE LIGHT HONEY. 



BY W. H. RAGAN. 



In answer to Mr. Leon C. Wheeler's arti- 

 cle, page 482, Aug. 1, I will say that I am a 

 l)roducer of extracted honey, and I find it 

 no trouble to produce fine light-colored hon- 

 ey in old combs. And so far as honey be- 

 ing capped over in old combs before it is 

 thoroughly evaporated, I doubt it very 

 much, for I have kept such honey a year or 

 more with no sign of fermentation. All of 

 my honey is sold under a guarantee. I have 

 been in the business about ten years, and 

 have never had a dissatisfied customer, and 

 have never had to make good a sale. The 

 only advantage new combs have over old, 

 that I can see, is that they are transparent, 

 which enables one to sort the light from 

 the dark honey more readily. 



The demand for my honey has always 

 been greater than the production, and I have 



