1!H)!( 



GLEANINCIS IN MKK CULTURE 



405 



der the cappino- in such a way that the edge 

 makes a di-awiiio- or sMdin<>: cut, and the cap- 

 pinirs undet" whicli the knivt's are passinu- 

 are liekl in phice and can-led t'orwai'd by the 

 uncut portion between tlie knives until the 

 extreme rear jxiints of the cutting edges are 

 reached, when they drcij) away and can not 

 again come in contact with the comb. 



The extreme angle at which the cutting is 

 done prevents the edges of the knives oe- 

 coming clogoed; and any loose particles of 

 wax ai'e carried through the small opening 

 between the knives into the large oval open- 

 ing, where they work themselves clear, thus 

 preventing any clogging at this point, and 

 vet the rear points of the cutting edges over- 

 lap the same path in such a way that a com- 

 |)lete severance of the cappings is assured, 

 besides providing an excess of metal for 

 grinding away in sharpening, thus prolong- 

 ing the use of the knife. 



The kniv.es are made slightly concave on 

 their inside faces to prevent suction and 



ii»i. .). — 1111. i\.\i\i-,D Kl 



In the lower part of this view, thin slices are shown, 

 mutilatint; the cells. 



friction, besides adding strength and rigidi- 

 ty to the blade. 



As a test of the work they would do in 

 some of the thick heavy honey which gives 

 so much trouble in hand uncapping, I kept 

 some frames of well-ripened clover honey 

 for several hours in the refriijcrator, then 

 uncapped tliem without any difficulty what- 

 ever. The only difference I could see was 

 that the cappings broke up into smaller 

 pieces than those from the warmer combs; 

 and it was necessary to let them warm up 

 before they could be extracted. 



The combs used in testing the machine 

 which I made last winter, and the ones from 

 which these photos were taken, were saved 

 over from last summer and fall; and while 

 some of them had from one-fourth to one- 

 half the honey candied, 1 had no trouble in 

 uncapping them, so I think I am safe in 

 claiming that the machine will uncap any 

 honey which can be extracted. 

 This is the only form of knife which I tried 



that would 

 work well on 

 striking a 

 patch of un- 

 capped comb. 

 Two differ- 

 ent machines 

 with one 

 straight knife 

 on each side 

 would work 

 perfectly on 

 combs which 

 were all cap- 

 ped, but upon 

 striking a 

 patch of un- 

 capped comb, 

 the knives 

 would clog 

 and tear the 

 comb ; and, 

 while they 

 were of a sim- 

 pler construc- 

 tion than this 

 machine, I 

 had to discard 

 them on that 

 account. 



I had some 

 combs built 

 out, but not 

 capped over 

 lastfall, which 

 were extract- 

 ed as dry as 

 possible, and 

 stored away 

 without being 

 cleaned up by 

 the bees; and 

 in testing the 

 machine this 

 spring I ran 

 these combs 

 with this small 

 quantity of 



.iMUVKU. 



cut from new empty comb without 



