58 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



machine? It takes no Ivuijcf to empty 30 combe 

 than it does 3, after the machine is ready to start; 

 then if you have your machine built correctly, and 

 run by power, two minutes is enough to extract 

 the :J0 combs. How long would it take to extract 30 

 combs with a two-frame machine, run by man- 

 power? 



About reversible extractors, I do not know. The 

 Stanley, which we have, and are now using, is the 

 first one I ever used, and it is a question in my 

 mind whether it is faster than the old machine, 

 where we turned each comb separately, or not; for 

 it is not as handy to get the combs in and out as the 

 old one, and then the baskets get tangled up every 

 little while, and time is lost in getting them 

 straightened out again; so I think it is a question 

 whether they are faster or not. Perhaps after this 

 season's crop is taken I shall be able to tell you 

 more what I think of the Stanley Automatic ex- 

 tractor than I can now, for as yet we have thrown 

 out only 15,000 lbs. this winter, but we intend to 

 extract until the llrst of March. 



BREAKING COMBS. 



Would you be surprised to know that we never 

 break a comb unless it falls and strikes in some po- 

 sition that would break almost any thing? I think 

 the wire cloth the basket is make of should be fine, 

 so there will be plenty bearing surface for the comb 

 to rest against, then the comb will not stick and 

 break out of the frame when you go to remove it; 

 no trouble about the honey going through fine 

 cloth, for it will get through all right. Friend 

 Root, here is another thing: What is the objection 

 to uncapping the combs by steam? I have never 

 tried it, but I think it is just as feasible as running 

 a train of cars by steam. For large apiaries, if we 

 can uncap and extract by steam, then will the cost 

 of production be reduced to a much smaller figure 

 than it is now. You make one strong point in fa- 

 vor of the reversible machines when you say, in 

 your remarks upon friend Mclntyre's letter, page 

 841, that "the reversing device loosens the combs 

 from the wire cloth better than you can do it by 

 hand." So it does, and that is a strong point in fa- 

 vor of those machines; but for all, with fine wire 

 cloth, the combs will not stick very much. I think 

 you must be joking, Mr. Root, when you say, that 

 " an expert with a two-frame extractor will throw 

 out more honey, than one with the great big heavy 

 machines." Now, bless your heart, what do you 

 think we could do here with a two-frame machine 

 when the six-frame Stanley is not fast enough? We 

 have to get over our apiary every week, and no mis- 

 take about it, and then the strongest colonies are 

 full, and crowded for room. Well, my son (who is 

 15), and myself take the combs out of the hives and 

 extract them, and throw out from 1500 to 3000 lbs. a 

 day, right along, and still at the time I write this we 

 are not quite keeping up with the bees; they are 

 gaining on us, and we shall have to get another 

 man, from this until the first of February. Now, I 

 do believe my son is an " expert " with an uncap- 

 piug-knife, and that T can throw out as much honey 

 as a green hand, and do it well; but still, we can not 

 do it fast enough. The time spent in the honey- 

 house extracting mitst be reduced, and it can be— I 

 am sure of that. Two good active men should be 

 able to take care of 500 colonies of bees here in Cu- 

 ba, and take one hundred thousand pounds of honey; 

 then the business will pay a good interest on the 

 capital invested, but not with the slow process of 



extracting we have now. Two men can not handle 

 the honey, and keep up with the bees. You know 

 that, two years ago, or thereabout, you gave a cut 

 in Gleanings of our comb-carts. Well, we have 

 two of those carts, and they hold 30 combs each, 

 and we have a box on top that holds 8 or 9 more, 

 making all together in the two carts about 80 

 combs. We go out in the apiary and fill them, and 

 return to the honey-house and extract them in 

 twenty or twenty-five minutes, but I tell you it is 

 too slow. It should and can be done quicker. Be- 

 sides, it is very hard to work so fast, but we are 

 obliged to do it or get behind. You know it is now 

 more than six years since I came to Cuba. I went 

 back to California and stayed 18 months; but I 

 think you will agree with me, that I have been here 

 long enough to form some correct conclusions of 

 Cuba as a honey-producing country, something of 

 the possibilities, and what is required to make the 

 business a success. I will not admit to any one 

 that the business of honey-producing upon a mod- 

 ern and large scale is an experiment. 1 think the 

 business has passed beyond that; and I would say 

 to those who have their " weather eye "upon the 

 dark side of Cuban bee-keeping, " Keep cool and 

 wait results." Friend J. L. Gregg, of Tempe, Ariz., 

 has the right idea of running bees for extracted 

 honey; i. e., keep them extracted clean, even if you 

 have to extract every other day. The bee-keeper 

 that waits for his colonies to get chuck full, loses 

 one-third of his honey crop, in my opinion. 

 Havana, Cuba, Dec. 24, 1889. A. W. Osburn. 



Friend O,, your experience seems to run 

 in doing business on a larger scale than 

 most of us know any thing about. There 

 may be a few apiaries where it will pay to 

 use a small steam-engine to uncap and ex- 

 tract the honey ; but I am inclined to think 

 that most of us will have to wait for anoth- 

 er generation before we take much stock in 

 such arrangements. 



EXTRACTORS. 



A FEW GOOD POINTERS, BY W. L. COGGSHALL. 



I HAVE a Stanley reversible, and a Novice with the 

 reels, or racks, taken out, and am using them for 

 store cans (if you or any one else wants them for 

 half price, drop me a postal). In fact, they are 

 worth only what an ordinary store can is to me, for 

 I shall never use them. First and most important 

 with an extractor is, to have the combs hang as 

 they do in the hive. It requires a great deal of 

 time to take a frame by the top-bar and then by 

 the end, and lower it into the extractor 18 inches 

 instead of 9, as you would have to do with the 

 Langstroth frame. 



Second. Have the extractor large enough to hold 

 three-fourths of a barrel under the reel, and then 

 you will have to strain but very little of the honey 

 —two or three pails at the last end. 



Third. The extractor should be high enough to 

 admit a pail under the honey-gate (3-inch gate). 



Fourth. The extractor should be fastened to the 

 floor, and bolted to the side of a building, so it will 

 be impossible to move it one-sixteenth of an inch. 



Fifth. When the honey is brought in, set it on a 

 level with the extractor. 



Sixth. Have a capping-dish by its side. 



Seventh. Have the honey-gate on the other side, 

 directly under the handle of the extractor. 



