APRIL 1, 1913 



229 



room; and on the other side of the wall up 

 in the extracting room is mounted the hon- 

 ey-extractor, and from it the honey runs 

 through pipes in the wall into the tanks 

 below, from which it is bottled, canned, or 

 barreled. The uncapping-tank also rests 

 against this wall, and the honey passes from 

 it to the tanks in the same manner. 



A similar house is constructed and equip- 

 ped for bulk-comb-honey production. The 

 honey-tanks stand up on two strong pieces 

 of timber with sufficient upright pieces of 

 the same material to support the tanks, 

 which are well braced, leaving it all open 

 under and around the tanks. 



If we are fixing up the packing-room for 

 packing bulk honey we erect a platforai 

 near the end of the frame, on which the 

 tanks rest, next to the steps. The supers of 

 honey are brought from the extracting- 

 room, where the honey has been graded. 



SLIDING SHELF AND TROUGH. 



Next in importance is the trough, which 

 is zinc-lined, or made water-proof, with a 

 honey-gate at the rear end. The bottom is 

 so put in as to be about two inches on the 

 decline to it. This trough is movable, and 

 rests on timbers so it can be moved up or 

 down a few inches to suit the lieight of the 

 vessels to be fiUed. It rests about tliree or 

 four inches back under the honey-gates of 

 the tanks. The cans to be filled can be 

 passed just under them on sliding shelf No. 

 3. About two inches from the top of this 

 trough, on either side, is nailed a sti'ip 

 ly^ X 3 in., and sliding shelves No. 1, 2, 3, 

 and 4 rest on this strip. These shelves are 

 foi'med on rims made of one-inch lumber 

 about 3 in. wide, which just fit down be- 

 tween the strips on the trough, leaving 



in'^ 



SLIDING SHELF M 



AND 



T R O U G H 



w 



about 1/4 in. of play; and on either side of 

 these rims, even with the top, is nailed a 

 strip 13-16x11/2 (??e diagi-am). This forms 

 the slide, and on top of this is nailed the 

 shelf, which makes it just a little above the 

 top edge of the trough, and they can be 

 lifted out or moved along in it as may be 

 most convenient. The honey that may ac- 

 cumulate on these shelves can be scraped 

 off or it will run off into the trough. 



Now, regarding the use of these shelves 

 on wliich all our bulk comb honey and most 

 of our extracted honey is packed, shelf No. 



1 is covered or made of slats on wliich the 

 supers of chunk honey are placed, one at a 

 time, at the right of the packer, who stands 

 in front of shelf No. 2. Tliis shelf has a 

 heavy zinc covering over it, on which frames 

 of honey one at a time are placed from No. 

 1, and the honey is removed by passing a 

 sharp knife around close to the frame. The 

 frame is then removed and placed on the 

 frame-rack over the tanks, to di'ain for a 

 while. The honey is then cut in strips the 

 size that will best fill the utensils through 

 their moutlis endwise. Thus wider strips 

 may be placed in a larger-mouthed vessel, 

 and smaller for small ones. The strips of 

 honey are lifted from the shelf by passing 

 the blade of the knife under them one at a 

 time, and placing them in the vessel until 

 neatly filled. The can which is being filled 

 is held with the left hand, and then is set 

 on shelf No. 3. This is the duty or task of 

 packer No. 1. 



Shelf No. 3 is covered with fine screen 

 twice double, which passes all the way 

 around the frame. It is drawn very tightly 

 and is nailed securely. Then the strips on 

 either side, upon which it slides, are nailed 

 on. 



Packer No. 2 passes the vessels thus fill- 

 ed, one at a time, on this shelf under the 

 honey-gate, where they are filled with ex- 

 tracted honey, after wliich they are set on 

 shelf No. 4, which is covered solid with a 

 board. Here the honey is sealed and label- 

 ed. Any honey that may be on the outside 

 of the cans is cleaned off, and they are put 

 «n crates ready to be nailed up. This is the 

 duty of packer No. 2, and these two pack- 

 ers put up nearly 2000 lbs. per day. 



Shelf No. 2 has a slightly oval surface, 

 so the honey oozing from the cut comb will 

 run off; and when it does not, it is quickly 

 removed by passing the blade of the knife 

 over it. 



Shelf No. 3 has a smooth surface. All 

 the honey that may drip from the cans, 

 which is usually a considerable amount from 

 both the honey-gate and the work of pack- 

 er No. 1, will pass doAvn through it into the 

 trough. 



All the best extracted honey is run into 

 tank No. 1, and is packed with the fancy 

 comb honey in glass vessels. The darker 

 grades of extracted honey are run into tank 

 No. 2, and are packed with the off gi-ades 

 of comb honey in tin vessels. Also the hon- 

 ey from the uncapping-tank nins into this 

 tank. When we are filling cans at tank No. 



2 we an-ange the sliding shelves about it in 



