1380 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



jacketed can is just the thing for liquefying hon- 

 ey, either comb or extracted. The strainers may 

 be removed, leaving a first-class liquefying-tanic, 

 which may be used over any stove without dan- 

 ger of injuring the honey, since the hot-water 

 heat can be so nicely regulated. 



FIG. 8. — THE STRAINERS REMOVER. 

 These slide loosely in or out to facilitate the cleaning of the 

 can. At the bottom the opening is shown leading to the gate. 



were done so rapidly that too much wax ac- 

 cumulated in the pail it could be dipped off the 

 top into a shallow vessel to cool. Another plan 

 is to run the honey and wax into a large can, 

 which, when full, may be set aside and another 

 one placed under the gate of the melter. This 

 method is all right except that it is necessary to 

 have a number of cans standing around in the 

 way containing honey, with an inch or so of 

 melted wax on the top. 



The apparatus described in the May 1st issue, 

 page 559, by J. Y. Peterson, is a plan somewhat 

 similar, except that the cappings and honey must 

 flow over a long heated surface, and in our opin- 

 ion there would be greater danger of injuring the 

 flavor of the honey by such a process. It will be 

 seen in the form we have developed that much of 

 the honey can run out of the gate at the bottom 

 without becoming heated to a great extent by 

 long contact with the hot sides of the can. 



When we first showed Mr. Fowls the plan of 

 melting the cappings he was siceptical about hav- 

 ing a gasoline-stove, etc., in the honey-house, 

 thinking that it would be inconvenient to have so 

 much apparatus around; but he is now of the 

 opinion that a capping-melter is a great conven- 

 ience, and that the simple apparatus needed is re- 

 ally less extensive than that which would be need- 

 ed to hold the cappings in the old way, allowing 

 the honey to drain out. It is certainly surprising 

 how small an outfit is required to do so much 

 work. Besides melting cappings, the double- 



CAPPING-MELTERS. 



An Efficient Home-made Device for Melt- 

 ing the Cappings. 



BY HARRY LATHROP. 



I have been much interested in what has been 

 published regarding devices for melting cappings 

 when extracting. I doubt *'ery much if any one 

 can succeed in forcing bee-keepers to pay for the 

 right to use a principle which lias been common, 

 as the editor mentions, in the operation of the 

 German wax-press. 



In my experimenting I began by placing the 

 cappings in a flat-bottom can that had a faucet at 

 the bottom. I placed the can on the stove, but 

 raised it up half an inch or so by placing small 

 pieces of iron under it in order to provide an air- 

 space between the can and the sto\e. The faucet 

 being left open, and projecting over the edge of 

 the stove, the melted wax and honey ran out into 

 a pail. It worked, but not perfectly. The hon- 

 ey was somewhat discolored from overheating. 

 After reading of Mr. Mercer's plan I had the tin- 

 ner fix a melting-pan by taking a large stamped 

 tin dishpan, placing one a size smaller in it and 

 connecting them together with braces, leaving an 

 inch space between them on bottom and sides for 

 water. A half-inch copper tube reaches from the 

 bottom of the inner pan through both pans, and 

 projects eight inches. In use, this double pan, 

 with inner space filled with soft water, is set di- 

 rectly on an ordinary cheap gasoline-burner. A 

 comb-rest is provided by means of a piece of pine 

 board run through the handles of the pans. A 

 small nail driven through from below makes a 

 point to hold the frame while uncapping. The 

 stove is kept burning continuously while extract- 

 ing; and if it does not quite keep up with the 

 work it can be left burning during the noon hour 

 or after the day's work is finished. I can see no 

 danger from leaving it, but be sure that the pail 

 under the spout is large enough to hold the con- 

 tents of the pan. It works finely, and I see no 

 need of any thing better. The wax and honey 

 run out into a pail, but there is a certain amount 

 of slumgum that will accumulate in the pan. 

 This is kept from running out by means of a 

 piece of tin notched on the under side, set about 

 yi in. back of the spout. After the pan has cool- 

 ed, this slumgum can be peeled out in the form 

 of a cake, to be run through the Hatch-Gemmil 

 press if the bee-keeper is so fortunate as to possess 

 one of those desirable machines. 



Any machine devised to use any more heat 

 than I have indicated, or any plan to run the 

 honey over a larger heated space, will injure it. 

 The honey must run out freely as soon as melt- 

 ed, and one should use the minimum of heat. 

 We now have no cappings on hand to bother at 

 the close of each day's extracting. 



In producing extracted honey we tier up sev- 

 eral stories high if necessary, placing seven combs 



