462 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1919 



board, with generous space each side of the 

 escape covered by wire screen, is far better 

 than the old solid escape-board. Therefore 

 extraeted-honey producers are more and 

 more coming to use the bee-escape. If slip- 

 ped under full supers in the afternoon, by 



Most l>eekeepers uncap beginning at the bottom and 

 cutting up, the cappings hanging clear of the un- 

 capped surface because the top of the comb is tilted 

 forward gradually as the knife moves up. The cap- 

 pings in the barred should be frequently stirred and 

 punched with a stick to facilitate draining. 



the next day the combs may be taken out 

 with hardly any bees on them. No fuss, no 

 uproar, no stinging. 



If the bee-escape is not used each comb 

 may be given a sharp shake or two in front 

 of the hive, the bees falling down on the 

 alighting-board, then each side of the comb 

 given a quick brushing before placing the 

 frame in the specially prepared carrying 

 box, preferably on a wheelbarrow. (It is 

 necessary to work fast to avoid robbing.) 

 Combs should not be extracted that are not 

 at least three-fourths sealed over. The bees 

 can do the ripening of the honey cheaper 

 and better than man can possibly do it by 

 any artificial methods. There is nothing to 

 be gained and everything to be lost by ex- 

 tracting green, unripe honey, which in all 

 probability will ferment before it reaches 

 the consumer, thus killing future sales and 

 injuring the honey industry generally. 



It is not a good plan ordinarily to take 



the honey off the hive one daj' and extract 

 the next. The sooner the honey is extracted 

 after the bees are off the combs, the better, 

 for being thin by reason of its higher tem- 

 perature it extracts easier and strains faster. 

 Here lies the most important advantage of 

 the ventilated escape-board. The honey 

 above the escape is subject to the high tem- 

 perature of the hive, and does not cool off 

 as it does when a solid board is used. 



The Arrangement of the Equipment. 



An expert may extract honey with an in- 

 adequate equipment and do tolerably good 

 work, but a beginner should not attempt ex- 

 tracting _until everything is convenient. 

 Even the expert learns that time spent in 

 making adequate preparation saves money 

 in the end. 



The extractor must be solidly anchored. 

 There is no greater nuisance than that of 

 trying to use an extractor that wobbles all 

 around. If conditions are such that the ex- 

 tracting is done in a two-story building, the 

 upjier story of which is on a level with the 

 beeyard, and the lower story on the level 

 with a driveway, that is ideal. The extractor 

 may then be placed directly on the floor, 

 the gate standing over an opening leading 

 into a tank in the room below. 



A honey-pump is the cheapest substitute 

 for such an ideal condition, where the natu- 

 ral surroundings pre\'ent any such arrange- 

 ment; but the pump itself is not to be con- 

 sidered for a hand-driven extractor. There- 

 fore, we will consider the equipment for the 

 beginner who has neither of these ideal con- 

 ditions. 



The extractor should be secured to a solid 

 box of such a height as to permit a galvaniz- 

 ed pail to be placed under the gate. There 

 should be a tin tray about eighteen inches 

 square and two inches deep for the pail to 

 stand in, so that, if by chance the pail runs 

 over, the honey will be caught. It is easier 

 to empty the tray than to mop the floor. 

 However, never leave the extractor gate 

 o^jen while the extracting is going on. The 

 pail will run over, sure as fate. Wait until 

 the level of the honey has nearly reached the 

 lower bearings of the extractor, place the 

 pail under the gate and jerk the handle wide 

 open; the full stream will quickly fill the 

 pail, which can then be emptied into the 

 straining can, the gate always remaining 

 closed except when the pail is being filled. 



Between the extractor and the door should 

 stand the uncapping apparatus. A cheap 

 cracker barrel with both heads knocked 

 out, with a quarter-inch mesh screen nailed 

 on the lower end makes an excellent un- 

 capping can. A cleat nailed on each side 

 of the barrel about four inches from the 

 lower end will support it in a galvanized 

 tub. A narrow board should be nailed across 

 the top of the barrel with a projecting nail 

 point in the center on which to rest the end- 

 bar of the frame while uncapping the comb. 

 Such barrels are cheap and several of them 

 can be ])re])aied in advance at very small 

 {Continued on page 474.; 



