1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



557 



is a slight shock, and one would think it 

 would rack the whole machine; but the fact 

 that it has been operating for years with- 

 out any trouble from breaking- down seems 

 to indicate that the principle is not so far 

 wrong. To build an extractor on this plan 

 involves a larger expense than that requir- 

 ed by the regular Cowan. It also necessi- 

 tates a larger can — perhaps 18 inches in 

 diameter — for the same number of pockets. 

 But Mr. Mclntyre argues that the work is 

 performed more rapidly, because the ex- 

 tractor does not have to be stopped nor even 

 slowed down. 



But I wish to refer particularly to the ac- 

 tion of power in throwing out honey from 

 the combs. Mr. Mclntyre showed me con- 

 clusively that ordinary hand-turning of an 

 extractor could not clean the combs of the 

 beautiful thick mountain-sage honey as 

 clean as can be done where pleutj' of power 

 is available. In Mr. Mclntyre's case he 

 has abundance of water from an irrigating 

 flume some 60 or 75 feet above him. All 

 he has to do is to open a valve to his water- 

 motor, and his extractor will instantly be- 

 gin its rapid whirr. No one man, nor even 

 two men, by hand power, could ever turn a 

 reel and keep it at the same high rotative 

 speed that was maintained bj' this motor. 

 Another advantage of power is that one man 

 can do the work of uncapping and extract- 



ing; for while he is uncapping the eight or 

 ten combs, as the case may be, he lets the 

 extractor spin. During all this time, as I 

 could see by looking into Mr. Mclntyre's 

 machine, a fine spray of honey was being 

 thrown. When the operator is about through 

 uncapping about half the combs necessary 

 to fill the pockets, he slips the lever B, 

 when the machine automatically reverses 

 itself, and the process of slinging honey be- 

 gins instantly from the other sides. The 

 extractor keeps on whirring while the rest 

 of the combs to complete the set are being 

 uncapped. When the machine is stopptd 

 and the combs are taken out they are not 

 exactly dry but they are clean. 



I came away from the Mclntyre apiary 

 satisfied that, in large apiaries, at least in 

 localities such as California, Texas, and 

 Cuba, if one can afford it, power is the 

 thing. 



For the purpose of driving the extractor 

 a gasoline-motor would be the cheapest ; 

 but it does not allow of a variable &Y)eQ6. ex- 

 cept at great expense. We have, therefore, 

 concluded that a small steam-engine con- 

 trolled by a throttle, and a small boiler, all 

 things considered, for the average person, 

 would furnish the best power. Water-pow- 

 er, of course, is the ideal; but where one is 

 situated as is Mr. Mclntyre there will be 

 hundreds who will have to rely on steam. 



RKSIDENCE OF J. F. M'INTYRE, VENTURA, CAL. 



