1%S 



GI.EANIN(^.S IN BEE CULTURE. 



1375 



FIG. 1. 



-MR. AND MRS. CHALON FOWLS, OF OBERLIN, OHIO, AND THEIR FAMILY OF GIRLS WHO DID 

 PRACTICALLY ALL OF THE WORK IN EXTRACTING THE CROP OF NEARLY TEN TONS. 



CAPPIN G-ME LTERS. 



Further Particulars in Rt gard to Melting 

 Cappings as they Drop from the Combs; 

 an Introduction to the Home and Apiary 

 of Chalon Fowls, Oberlin, Ohio. 



BY H. H. ROOT. 



From time to time in our columns mention has 

 been made of capping-melters — that is, uncap- 

 ping-cans arranged in connection with heat so 

 that the cappings are melted as they are sliced from 

 the combs, leaving nothing at the end of a day's 

 work but the honey, the melted wax, and the 

 small amount of refuse. During the past season 

 we spent considerable time in developing an ap- 

 paratus that would be practicable for all bee-keep- 

 ers; and since it was evident that no plan of this 

 kind could be given a fair test on a small scale we 

 appealed to Chalon Fowls, of Oberlin, Ohio, who 

 very kindly offered us the use of his extracting- 

 house during the time that he was extracting his 

 crop of nearly ten tons of honey. The cappings 

 from the entire crop were run through a capping- 



melter, although several different constructions 

 were used before the final form was decided on. 



Mr. Fowls' daughters, with the help of the 

 gasoline-engine, do practically all of the extract- 

 ing. The up-to-date method is followed of leav- 

 ing the honey on the hives until the flow is about 

 over and then hauling it to the home yard to be 

 extracted. This plan gives the very finest honey 

 that can be obtained, and permits the use of bee- 

 escapes to get the bees out of the supers. These 

 escapes are put on, and all the full supers are re- 

 moved easily and quietly a day or two later with- 

 out disturbing the bees in the least. Thf honey 

 is hauled by wagon to theextracting-house. where 

 it is extracted load by load as it is brought in. 

 Very often the honey was so cold when it was ex- 

 tracted that it was thick and waxy; but the dimbs 

 were left in the extractor until thecells were com- 

 paratively dry. ■ When turning an extractor by 

 hand, it is very hard to do thorough work unless 

 the cold honey is warmed by artihcial heat. 



The building in the background of Fig. 1 is 

 the extracting-house, the interior of which is 

 shown in Fig. 2. When fast work is being done, 



