Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Lewis" ornamental (jbservatoiy hive. 



pings ofT one side. Of course, the knife 

 alone will not go down as fast as though it 

 were pushed a little, but still it does good 

 work. In fact, while it will not do all my 

 uncapping entirely by itself, it makes the 

 work mucla more pleasant. 



The worst trouble that I have had is that 

 I have to wait a few minutes for the steam 

 to be generated; but I find plenty to do in 

 this time, as I have the cases to open and 

 the tops of the pails to pry out. so that, be- 

 fore I get ready, the water is Vioiling hot and 

 the knife ready for use. On i^age 272, May 

 1, Mr. O. B. Metcalfe says that he has trou- 

 ble in generating steam enough, and he 

 finds some kind of boiler having Hues nec- 

 essary. I have never had this difficulty; 

 but it may be that the honey has a great 

 deal to do with it. On one occasion I had 



the stove turned up too high; anil the can, 

 in which I was generating the steam, burn- 

 ed. I use a one-burner gasoline-stove and 

 a five-gallon can for the boiler, and I have 

 never yet failed in having all the steam I 

 wanted. I put in about a gallon and a half 

 of water. 



On page 451, August 1, Mr. Crane says 

 that, while the steam knife works finely, it 

 leaves a thin scum of wax over the cells; 

 and when the honey comes from the ex- 

 tractor, this thin scum will go right through 

 the strainer and then rise to the top of the 

 honey in the can. I have never had any 

 such trouble as this, although I have ex- 

 tracted several thousand pounds this year, 

 all of which was uncapped with a steam 

 knife. 



The heat from the stove does not bother 



The insiile lias the same dimensions as an ordinar.v ten-frame hi\ c. and the sides are uf glass. 



