1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULIURE 



315 



the surest way is to get my head right over the 

 saw and look at both sides of it. For very exact 

 work I use a miter-box, and even with that I too 

 often get imperfect work. 



When sawing, never press on the tool, but let 

 it cut by its own weight. 1 find it hard to get 

 my boys to understand this; but by insisting 

 that they push the saw with the lower part of the 

 hand they do better. 



A great deal lies in the slope of the tool. If 

 held too nearly perpendicular it will be more dif- 

 ficult to follow a straight line, and, of course, the 

 wood will grip the hl:ide. On the other hand, 

 by holding it nearly level the tool will clear bet- 

 ter; but tlie cut is more of a wobbly nature. 

 Try to find the happy medium. 



To start the cut, place the edge of the saw on 

 the mark, steadying, if necessary, by grasping 

 the edge of the lumber with the fingers of the 

 left hand, and holding the left thumb-nail 

 against the blade; then give a swift upward 

 stroke, which will make a groove in which the 

 blade will run on the downward motion. Avoid 

 short niggling strokes; make long steady sweeps, 

 using no bearing-down pressure to deepen the 

 cut. Any saw that will not work without pres- 

 sure needs to be sharpened or set, perhaps both. 



The cross-cut saw is used for most ordinary 

 work; the back-saw for small pieces, and especial- 

 ly if they are of hard wood and a fine edge is 

 wanted, as it is hard to plane across the grain of 

 the wood. Besides, a tool for end planing is not 

 included in the list that has been given. 



Some may wonder why I have not included a 

 rip-saw; but, though I have one, it is seldom 

 used, for, as a matter of fact, I find it is easier to 

 rough-trim with a hatchet than to rip. Once 

 you know how, trimming is easy. First draw 

 your pencil-line, then set the bit of wood on end 

 and start a narrow cut near the edge so as to find 

 out how the grain runs. Of course, we want it 

 to run out. If all right, go ahead; if not, turn 

 the other end up. With a sharp hatchet one can 

 trim pretty close and yet avoid the line. 



Victoria, B. C , Canada. 



To be continued. 



CAPPING-MELTERS. 



Why the Beuhne Outfit Does Not Work 

 as Well in this Country. 



BY R. BEUHNE. 



Mr. E. D. Townsends article, page 23, Jan. 

 1, has at last given me the information I have 

 wanted for many months; namely, why the 

 Beuhne capping-melter does not work so satis- 

 factorily in America as in Australia. 



From correspondence received, and from what 

 I have seen in CjLEanincs, it appears that there 

 were three distinct troubles with the machine in 

 America which do not occur here when the ma- 

 chine is worked as it should be. First, there 

 was clogging of the spaces between the tubes. 

 The space should be exactly !s inch; and if the 

 machine is worked at the right temperature there 

 will be no trouble unless pieces of very old hard 

 comb go in with the cappings. Next, there was 

 failure to separate honey and wax. This is due 

 either to insufficient heat or to swamping the 



heating surface with an excessive bulk of cap- 

 pings. 



Last, but not least, there is the darkening of 

 the honey through being kept too long at a high 

 temperature in the pan of the melter. 



Now as to the difference in conditions be- 

 tween America and Australia. The temperatu'e 

 of the northern and eastern part of the United 

 States is, on the average, lower than that of Aus- 

 tralia, so that we are so many degrees nearer the 

 melting point here. Then our honey is much 

 denser, making both uncapping and extracting 

 slower, thus delivering less bulk into the melter 

 in a given time. During cool spells we do not 

 extract; or when we do, uncapping and extract- 

 ing are much slower still; and although the cap- 

 pings ate colder, the slow delivery into the melt- 

 er gives the latter plenty of time to deal with 

 them. 



When The A. I. Root Co., in their experi- 

 ments, found that the machine could not separate 

 the large bulk delivered into it they turned the 

 elbow tube upright to retain the partly melted 

 mass in the pan to give it time to melt and 

 gravitate into separate layers, drawing off the 

 honey at intervals by lowering the tube. Evi- 

 dently, instructions to this effect were sent to 

 Mr. Townsend, with the machine; and as he 

 followed these instructions the honey darkened, 

 and the overflowing wax was not clean, whereas 

 if the elbow tube had been raised only a little, 

 so that the honey is flowing off constantly, and 

 only a little in the pan, which is continually re- 

 placed, no overheating would have taken place; 

 and when, after working for an hour or more, 

 the wax overflowed, it would have been perfectly 

 clean. 



Of course, as slumgum accumulates in the re- 

 ceiving-pan the tube has to be raised a little more. 

 If the melter fails to separate with your faster un- 

 capping, a larger tube surface is necessary. We 

 do not expect five-horse-power work of a one- 

 horse-power engine, nor a two-comb extractor to 

 do the work of a four or six comb. 



Mr. Townsend is quite right, that the honey 

 should get out of the hot pan as quickly as possi- 

 ble; and the proper inclination of the elbow tube 

 does that. What is the correct adjustment de- 

 pends upon the speed of uncapping and the na- 

 ture of the material in the pan, and, like balanc- 

 ing yourself on a bicycle, it is acquired by ex- 

 perience. 



Victoria, Australia. 



[Our correspondent has very fairly shown the 

 difference in conditions between bee-keeping in 

 Australia and the northeast part of the United 

 States. This, to a great extent, accounts for the 

 Beuhne uncapping-melter proving to be less suc- 

 cessful here than in Australia. 



While Mr. Townsend and others in this coun- 

 try who tested the Beuhne machine were given 

 general directions how to operate, they were also 

 advised to test the machine very carefully, and 

 to modify the method of manipulation, provid- 

 ing the conditions would seem to warrant, They 

 were told this was a new machine, and we wished 

 to test it carefully, to determine the fact whether 

 we would dare to put it on the market in the 

 form described by the inventor. The tests showed 

 that it did not meet our conditions, and it was 



