JULY 1, 19:2 



407 



it. The}" ai-e easily made, ard not expen- 

 sive. 



It is, in principle, a Mclntyre uncap- 

 ping box combined with a melter, the melter 

 being' confined to a space of two feet at one 

 end of the box, under which is a watei'- 

 tank to be heated by a one-burner oil-stove. 



The box is 6 ft. long by 2 ft. wide, of V% 

 inch boards, 12 inches wide, nailed to 2x4 

 legs 32 inches long. The bottom is a sheet 

 of galvanized iron with edges turned up 

 from 1 inch at the rear to 3 inches at the 

 front, then turned outward 1 inch for rail- 

 ing to the bottom edge of the box. This 

 gives a drop of 2 inches from the rear to 

 the wax outlet. This pan is nailed to the 

 bottom edge of the box, and another board 

 is nailed to the legs below the iron, as 

 shown, supporting the iron bottom. At the 

 heater end there is a box enclosing the stove 

 to prevent drafts and to confine the heat. 

 A door admits of lighting the stove and of 

 removing the oil-tank for filling. 



One side of the water-tank projects be- 

 yond the box. forming a place for filling the 

 tank in which knives may be heated. 



A tAvo-inch-high partition or honey-stop 

 is soldered in V shape to the top of the 

 galvanized iron j^an, separating the drain- 

 ing space from the melter proper. At the 

 inner jjoint of the honey-stop is a hole 



where the honey draining from the cap- 

 lyings runs down into a little half-round 

 trough under the iron bottom, and thence 

 into a bucket at the side of the box. 



I use a i/4-incli-mesh wire screen over the 

 4x2-foot draining surface ; but a slatted 

 drain board may be used if desired. 



When working, the cappings fall on any 

 part of the draining surface; and as they 

 drain they are shoved along toward the 

 melter, finally being shoved off the drain- 

 ing-screen, which rests on the honey-stop, 

 separating the draining surface from the 

 melter, and dropping on the heated melter, 

 where they gTadually melt, and wax and 

 honey run down the inclined surface into 

 the wax-separator. 



About three-fourths of the honey will 

 drain from the cappings and run out of 

 the side spout, never being heated at all. 

 The remainder of the honey runs out with 

 the melted wax, and is a shade darker and a 

 bit off in flavor from being heated with the 

 dark cappings. We ke) t this heated honey 

 separate in extracting the lighter grades of 

 honey; but with the darker grades we put 

 it with that which came from the extractor 

 and draining surface. 



In uncapping 1500 lbs., about 10 to 15 

 gallons of honey will drain from the cap- 

 pings before they reach the melter. If not 



Fig. 3. — Kiikpatrick's wagon, built especially for moving bees. 



