77ii 



<;lkanin(;s in hke cultuUE. 



Oct. 



use. Of course, the machine takes up a little more 

 room; but room out here is cheap. We keep one 

 extractor at each yard, besides an extra one at 

 home We prefer to have the 



EXTRACTOR-BASKET WITH SLOPING SIDES, 



so that, when we set in a frame against the wire 

 cloth, it will stay there and not drop over against 

 the center-shaft before we get up the motion. The 

 reason 1 make the comb-basket frame of wood, in 

 place of metal, is, that the one 1 patterned from 

 was wood, and for me I could make them cheaper 

 of wood, and I think them just as good as the 

 metal. 



HONEY FLYING OVER THE TOP OF THE CAN. 



As for the honey flying over the top of the ma- 

 chine, with our old revolving can the honey did fly 

 over the top; but the machine we now use never 

 throws honey over the top of the can. Our extract- 

 ors now have a cover over a little more than half of 

 the top, when in use, and I think the cover helps 

 to keep the honey from flying over the can. The 

 frames— that is, the combs in the frames— when in 

 the machine are two inches below the top of the 



E. FRANCE'S HONE V-EXTRACTOR. 



can; aud here 1 think that the slanting side of the 

 comb-basket has a tendency to throw the honey 

 down and thus help to keep it from flying over the 

 top. 



THE SIZE OF OUR EXTRACTORS. 



Our extractor-can is 2 feet 2*4, inches high, 22 3 i 

 inches in diameter, inside measure, across the top 

 of the can. The frame is :> feet 5J4 inches high; 

 width, 2 feet and % of an inch; 1454 inches from 

 bottom of legs to bottom of can. The lower and 

 upper bands around the frame are 5 inches wide. 

 The other two are 2 inches wide; the legs are 1 3 4 

 inches square, all pine lumber. The top of the 

 frame has a board cover, a three-cornered piece 

 that covers a little more than half of the top. This 

 part of the cover is fastened with screws to the top 

 of the frame, and the gearing is fastened to it. 

 There is a hole near the edge of this cover-board, 

 through which the center-shaft of the comb-basket 

 passes. Then we have another three-cornered 

 board, with dowel-pins, to slip on the open part Of 



the top, when the machine is not in use, to keep 

 out all kinds of dirt. 



To get something of an idea of the proper size of 

 the machine, I had my son stand by the side of it. 

 He has in his hand one of our honey-combs. He 

 holds the comb by the bottom-bar. We set them in 

 the extractor, top end down. That is the style of 

 frame that we use the most of. We have 64 colo- 

 nies in which we use two tiers of those frames. 



Our extractois hold 70 lbs. of honey below the 

 comb-basket. We have a pail 8 inches high that 

 will hold 40 lbs. of honey, made like a milk-strainer 

 pail, with one-naif of the top covered, only we have 

 a hole without the strainer. When we are at work 

 extracting we keep the pail under the faucet, 

 ready to draw honey into as often as we wish. Then 

 we have a keg* that holds 140 lbs. of honey— one 

 head out. Over the open end of the strainer-keg 

 we tie one yard of cheese-cloth ; through the side of 

 the strainer-keg, close to the bottom, we have a \V%- 

 inch faucet. We stand one of our honey-barrels on 

 end on the ground. On this barrel we place our 

 strainer-keg. As we draw the honey from the ex- 

 tractor, we pour it into the strainer keg on the 

 strainer. By the side of the barrel that the strainer 

 stands on we dig a hole about 5 or 6 inches deep, in 

 which we stand an empty honey-barrel, with a fun- 

 nel under the faucet of the strainer. We draw 

 honey from the strainer until the barrel is full, 

 when the barrel is plugged up tight, taken home 

 and put into the honey-house. The plugs are not 

 loosened, but stay just as they come from the field 

 until sold. I think the honey will keep better if it 

 is air-tight. 



A REVERSING EXTRACTOR. 



Now, what do 1 think about a four-comb extract- 

 or, and reversing extractors? It would be a great 

 saving in time to have an extractor in which we 

 could reverse the combs without taking them out 

 of the machine, and 1 should have ordered one be- 

 fore now; but our frames are of an unusual size. 

 The machine would have to be made specially for 

 our frame, and would cost more. As 1 have never 

 seen oue of them, aud don't know yet whether they 

 are a success or not, 1 don't like to invest until ] 

 know more about them. The cut in the advertise- 

 ment doebii't show any gearing, and I should think 

 the motion would be too slow. 



A FOUR-COMB EXTRACTOR. 



I don't see much advantage in a four-frame ma- 

 chine. It would take as long to set four frames in 

 a four-frame machine as it would in a two-frame ma- 

 chine, and as long to take them out; all the time 

 saved would be in starting and stopping the mo- 

 tion, and that doesn't amount to much, and the ma- 

 chine would have to be larger. E. France. 



Platteville, Wis., Sept. 16, 1889. 



Our readers will notice that friend France 

 uses a different extractor, because he has 

 out apiaries. We have made extractors al- 

 most exactly like the one described above ; 

 but we discontinued adding the heavy 

 wooden frame, because in almost every lo- 

 cality the bee-keeper can make it or buy it 

 cheaper than to pay express or freight on 

 it. Another thing, we always practice and 

 recommend arranging the extractor so as to 

 run the honey and strain it directly into the 

 bunghole of the barrel, thus saving the 

 troublesome operation of lifting it up to 

 pour it somewhere every time you get a 



