1376 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



FIG. 2. THE IXblDE OF THE EXT RACTING- ROOM. 



The honey is strained into round cans holding 75 pounds each. These are stacked up around the walls of the building. 



two of the young ladies do the uncapping while 

 the third handles the combs, and loads and un- 

 loads the extractor, etc. As soon as the empty 

 combs are taken out of the extractor they are re- 

 placed in the supers ready for the next year. At 

 the extreme left the capping-melter is shown with 

 a pipe at the bottom, conveying the wax and hon- 

 ey into a large pail on the floor. This particular 

 melter was made square, as it was at first thought 

 that the square form was the better. Over it an 

 empty super was placed on which the cross-pieces 

 were nailed to hold the frames while the combs 

 were uncapped. The uncapped combs were plac- 

 ed directly in a large can in which a coarse screen 

 was supported several inches above the bottom 

 on which the combs rested. The honey that 

 dripped down from the combs was thus always 

 out of the way; and when too much honey accu- 

 mulated the screen was removed and the honey 

 poured directly into the straining-tank. 



As will be noted, the honey was drawn from 

 the bottom of the extractor into a pail and pour- 

 ed directly into an Alexander strainer shown on 

 page 27, Jan. 1st Gleanings for 1906. Mr. 

 Fowls found this arrangement for straining the 

 honey the best and most convenient of any kind 

 he ever tried. When the fine wire cloth of one 

 pail is clogged with bits of cappings until the 

 honey does not run through rapidly, another 

 strainer is set over the can while the first one is 

 cleaned with a flat stick or knife. 



The honey is drawn from the bottom of the 

 straining-tank directly into round cans which 

 hold 75 pounds. A piece of paper is laid over 

 the top, and the tin cover crowded down. These 

 cans, as shown in the illustration, are stacked up 

 around the edge of the room. The photograph 

 was taken when about half the crop was extract- 

 ed. Toward the end of the season the cans were 

 piled up nearly to the ceiling. This plan neces- 

 sitates considerable lifting; and Mr. Fowls, for 

 another year, is planning to run the honey direct- 

 ly from the extractor through a tin pipe into a 

 tank in the basement of his home. 



The out-apiaries are located along the electric- 

 car line east and also south of Oberlin. One of 

 these yards is shown in Fig. 3. It will be noted 

 that a high board fence is built along the west 

 side in order to shelter the hives from the cold 

 winds in the winter. The apiary is located in 

 an orchard. In this view, by the side of the hon- 

 ey-house, is shown a Boardman hive-carrying 

 cart which Mr. Fowls has found to be very useful. 



Although trips can be quickly made to any of 

 the yards on the cars, the honey is hauled back 

 to the extracting-house by wagon. 



A very ingenious arrangement is shown in Figs. 

 4 and 5 for catching the drip from the supers. As 

 will be seen, a large tray just the size of the wag- 

 on-box was made, the edges of which are turned 

 up about an inch. This is placed in the bottom 

 of the wagon, and the supers piled on it. Since 



