HONEY EXTRACTORS. 131 



It will be necessary to put tin washers in the 

 bridges to strengthen the hold of the spindle. 

 They could be li in. in diameter, beaten saucer- 

 shaped, with a hole in the middle, through which 

 the spindle passes. After it has been soldered to 

 the bridges these washers could be placed over the 

 point, and attached both to the spindle and 

 bridges. It would be well to have the holes a 

 little small, and to turn out the edges until the 

 spindle can pass through. This will give a firmer 

 hold to the solder than the mere thickness of the 

 tinplate could afford. 



For the cylinder itself, get a tinplate 55 in. by 

 26 in. ; the top and bottom should be wired with 

 i in. wire, and the edges turned over to form a 

 joint. The sheet is then to be bent into a cylinder, 

 and the joint made and soldered. A piece is next 

 to be cut for the bottom, and the edge turned up 

 i in. all round. The bottom, however, should 

 be slightly, say i in., larger than the diameter of 

 the cylinder, as it is to be placed in it in a sloping 

 position, so as to allow all the honey to drain out 

 of the cylinder through a treacle valve, which is 

 placed in the lowest position (see Fig. 115). This 

 valve can be obtained from dealers in hive furni- 

 ture. The flange of the bottom will be turned 

 down, and firmly soldered to the sides of the 

 barrel. The centre of the bottom being ascer- 

 tained, a bearing for the lower end of the spindle 

 can be soldered in place either before or after the 

 bottom has been fixed ; the under surface of the 

 bearing is to be filed to an angle to suit the 

 bottom, so that its top surface is horizontal. 



A couple of bands of hoop iron, J in. thick and 

 Ij in. wide, riveted to the edges under the bead, 

 greatly strengthen the cylinder. To the top one, 

 attach the bolts (Fig. 124), which hold the bar 

 forming the top bearing for the spindle, one of 

 the bolts breaking the joint of the hoop. The bar 

 is fastened with fly nuts or hexagonal nuts. This 



