JULY 1, 1912 



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THE ADVANTAGE OF TRIANGULAR TUBES IN 

 A CAPPING-MELTER 



BY F. A. POWERS 



Mr. F. J. Severin's capping-melter, de- 

 scribed Dec. 1, p. 722, is in the main model- 

 ed after one that I made. He has made an 

 improvement in placing the gasoline-tank 

 oft' the stove outside the building; also in 

 using a wooden block in the top of the hole 

 where the knives are heated. But in some 

 imj^ortant points the Severin machine is 

 faulty. The space between the tubes should 

 be Vs inch instead of 1/4- If the spaces are 

 larger than Vs inch, bits of cappings will 

 pass tln-ough and slide out at the spout 

 without being melted. Then the spout 

 should be the full width of the machine, 

 just a continuation of the bottom that the 

 honey and wax fall on after passing 

 through between the pipes. This makes it 

 easy to clean out the space under the pipes. 

 The triangular shape for the pipes is better 



Tin pieces to prevent bulging. ^2 in. 



than the sciuare, for the reason that the 

 cappings that pass between the pipes are 

 melted by the heat from the flat under sur- 

 face of the pipes as the cappings slide 

 along under them. 



The place where the knives are heated 

 should be larger, or extend clear across the 

 machine, so that the evaporation will not 

 lower the water so fast. The picture on 

 page 724, Dec. 1, is a pretty fair represen- 

 tation of my own machine except for the 

 changes I have mentioned. It is rather 

 larger than is necessary, as eight pipes 181/4 

 inches long are all that two gasoline-burn- 

 ers will heat, and it will take two good un- 

 cappers to keeja the water from boiling, 



even with the burner going full blast. The 

 water should never boil. 



AN UNCAPPING KNIFE THAT HOLDS THE HEAT 



To make an uncapping knife to use with 

 this machine I solder a good thick sheet of 

 copper to the flat side of a Bingham knife, 

 letting it extend to within 1-16 inch of the 

 edge, and bevel it oif. The knife will then 

 hold heat long enough to uncap both sides 

 of a comb, and the copper Avill convey it 

 to the edge, where it is wanted, 



AN INSULATED SEPARATOR. 



The lower drawing represents a wax-sep- 

 arator to use in connection with this melter. 

 It is a 10-lb. lard-can with a piece of tin 

 soldered on the inside to divide it in two 

 parts, the tin extending to within % inch 

 of the bottom. The can is inclosed in a 

 box with insulating between the box and 

 the can. This aiTangement does not injure 

 the honey if kejjt going pretty lively; but 

 otherwise the honey and wax remain in the 

 separator so long that the honey is slightly 

 injured, 



Parma, Idaho. 



A CAPPING-MELTER DESIGNED TO AFFORD 



A QUICK EXIT FOR THE HONEY 



AND WAX 



Description of Comb and Capping-melter 



BY H. BARTLETT-MILLER. 



Having been blessed one season with a 

 large harvest from about a hundred colo- 

 nies, only to discover that the honey was 

 non-extractable, and having had to leave 

 during last year all my clover honey on the 

 hives till winter, when it became as solid as 

 a board, I determined to invent an improve- 

 ment upon all the comb or capping melters 

 of which I had read. 



I had seen home-made melters — big, pon- 

 derous, and awkward. Truly they were 

 "fearfully and wonderfully made," and 

 worked — sometimes. Heat, radiated from 

 a melter, I considered intolerable to the 

 operator, besides being a source of waste. 

 Therefore as a water-jacketed wall was 

 meant to radiate heat inward in order to 

 melt honey, it must also radiate exactly as 

 much outward, resulting in unbearably 

 stuffy honey-houses. So I eliminated the 

 water-jacketed Avail. There remained only 

 the bottom, which, perforce, must be made 

 larger to offset the lost heating surface of 

 the walls. But a bottom too large meant 

 hot honey blocked from the exit till it be- 



