APKli., 1918 



GLEANINGS IN B K E C U li T U R E 



213 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



AT VERY LITT LE COST 



A Wisconsin Beekeeper Tells How He Provided an 

 Extracting Equipment 



In this era of extraordinary conditions 

 forced upon us for universal safety, it be- 

 hooves every one to produce and save to the 

 utmost of his ability. In this endeavor the 

 beekeeper is on the firing line and taking a 

 leading part to help down the hydra-headed 

 monster that would dominate the world. 



With prices of honey high and soaring 

 and the market getting bare, it is safe to pre- 

 dict that honey values the coming season 

 will reach an altitude above anything ever 

 known in history. Especially may this be 

 expected for extracted honey. With this 

 prospect of advanced prices in this division, 

 many changes from comb to extracted will be 

 made this season. For the benefit of the 

 small and medium producer contemplating 

 such a move, but hesitating on account of 

 the expense the change would entail, I offer 

 the followTing plan of a cheap and effective 

 home-made equipment, that I devised and 

 used the past season to my complete satis- 

 faction. 



Briefly stated, my equipment consists main- 



ly of three sugar barrels and an extractor. 

 I selected good sound barrels and paraffined 

 the lower half of each thoroly, having pre- 



Colien's home-made uncapping-can, which is an 

 ordinary sugar barrel waxedi on the inside up to 

 the .screen. Tlie cappings fall on the screen and 

 the honey drains thru into the lower part where it 

 is drawn off into square cans. 



Colien's honey strainer. 



viously bored a %-inch hole just above the 

 bottom of each one and fitted with suitable 

 plugs to hold or draw off the contents. Two 

 of these barrels I fitted with wire screen 

 tacked inside just below the center of each 

 to hold and catch the cappings. One of these 

 I arranged for an uncapping tank by nailing 

 a 2 inch strip of lumber across the top at 

 about one-third the distance from one side. 

 This strip was provided with a sharp pointed 

 nail to project upward about an inch to re- 

 ceive and hold the frame while uncapping. 

 The third barrel I arranged with wire screen 

 sunk in at the top and tacked all around to 

 serve as a strainer and receiving tank. This 

 barrel I set up on a platform just high 

 enough to allow the placing of a 60-pound 

 honey-can underneath for filling. To fill, 1 

 put the opening right under the hole in the 

 barrel and loosen and draw the plug gently 

 upwards along the barrel and the honey 

 flows nicely into the can without a drop of 

 waste. The honey being thick, there is no 

 spurt from the hole but an "even flow straight 

 down into the can. The work is of such a 

 simple nature that any one can do it, and, 

 aside from an extractor, such an equipment 

 costs less than a dollar for material- 

 Manama, Wis. E. E. Colien. 



