216 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Pig. 3. — Two of Mr. Holtermann's helpers removing 

 honey. One holds the frame, and the other 



uses a brush in each hand. 



tank. My object in having these large 

 tanks was to do away with previous loss of 

 time in changing the filling from one small 

 tank to another or from one barrel to an- 

 other — to strain the coarsest foreign sub- 

 stances, such as wax, out of the honey, and 

 do the rest of the straining by gravitation, 

 ski mmi ng the honey when the separation 

 had taken place. For filling, also, a large 

 tank, where one can fill into smaller pack- 

 ages for a 3000-lb. run, is a gain in time. 

 The pressure is better, and thus the honey 

 may be forced out more rapidly at the open 

 gate. With a barrel, for instance, oAving to 

 the pressure from the honey above, the first 

 half of the barrels fills more readily than 

 the second. No strainer that can be utilized 

 can be found that will strain honey at the 

 rate of 1000 to 1500 lbs. per hour, and be 

 fine enough to remove the finer specks of 

 wax, etc. One may not see these specks 

 when the honey is liquid; but when the 

 honey is granulated nice and white, they 

 show at once like dust on the surface, and 

 are very objectionable to the uninitiated, 

 such as the average consumer of honey. 

 The twelve-frame extractor worked well. 



There is no trouble in extracting with it 

 11.000 to 15,000 lbs. of honey in a day. 



Fig. 1 shows one of our apiaries, July, 

 1912, which produced sufficient honey to fill 

 three of these large tanks and six or seven 

 hundred additional i^ounds. The hives shoAvn 

 are the twelve-frame Langstroth. We tier- 

 ed up supers until the close of the wliite- 

 honey flow, when all was extracted, but not 

 a comb was taken from the brood-chambers. 

 There were brood-chambers so filled with 

 brood (yes, I must confess my lack of fore- 

 sight) that several colonies actually starved 

 to death for want of food during my ab- 

 sence of several weeks after the honey-flow. 

 (T have no queens to sell. Many beekeep- 

 ers have as good queens as I have if they 

 would only overcome their prejudices and 

 give their queens a chance in the twelve- 

 fi'ame brood-chamber.) 



MOVING. 



A question might be asked as to the prac- 

 ticability of moving this extracting-outfit 

 from one apiary to another. In this matter 

 I was most agreeably surprised. Fig. 2 

 shows the outfit on a wagon. We took the 

 twelve-frame extractor, turned it on its side, 

 and rolled it tlu'ough the honej^-house door, 

 turning it again to its normal position and 

 pushing it up a plank upon the wagon. 

 The engine shown in the same engraving is 

 the small one; but the larger one can be 

 loaded more readily than the extractor. 

 The other implement on the wagon is the 

 uncapiDing-tank standing by the driver of 

 the horses. 



My outfit cost more than I expected ; but 

 I am well satisfied with it. It is a great 

 convenience and labor-saver. 



Speaking to the young men who spent 

 the season with me learning beekeeping, I 

 said, " If I had been asked at the outset to 

 buy a 3y2-horse-power engine with which 

 to extract, I would not now have a power 

 outfit ; but by taking two steps the cost was 

 broken to me by degi'ees, and I yielded." 



We found a difficulty in connection with 

 pumping the honey — the belt slipped. A 

 remedy has been found, however, and I have 

 no hesitation in recommending a power out- 

 fit for extracting; but I have no use for the 

 plan of hauling home combs of honey to be 

 extracted. The honey can be extracted in 

 the time which it would take to haul the 

 combs to a central station and back again. 

 Also, where there is any danger of foul 

 brood it is much more liable to be spread 

 by changing or canying combs from apiaiy 

 to apiary. Of coui*se, if there is no extract- 

 ing place it is a different matter. If I 

 wanted to keep myself busy without ade- 



