The Production of Extracted-Honey 297 



the baskets being close to the axis giving the greatest prac- 

 tical centrifugal force for a given velocity of the comb. 

 These are made for two and four frames and are still used. 

 The next advance was in making the reversible extractor, in 

 which the baskets are hung by one edge on pivots, so that 

 when the honey is removed from one side, the basket can 

 be turned and the other side extracted without removing 

 the combs from the baskets. From this it was a short 

 step to the automatic reversible machine in which it is not 

 necessary to bring the reels to a full stop to reverse the 

 baskets. When first inserted, the baskets are placed so 

 that in their revolutions they are pulled by their hinges. 

 After one side is empty, the speed is checked by means of 

 a brake on the central axis and the momentum of the baskets 

 throws them around on the hinges exposing the other side 

 of the comb. Soon after this improvement was made, the 

 driving rod was provided with a slip-gear so that, after 

 the reels are well under way, the gear is thrown out and 

 the reels revolve while the driving gear stands still. From 

 this point progress has been chiefly in the application of 

 power to the extractor a*nd in increase in size. We now 

 have extractors driven by gasoline or electric motors having 

 a capacity of four, six, eight (Fig. 122) and even twelve 

 frames. These large outfits are capable of handling tons 

 of honey in a season. The latest improvement is the ap- 

 plication of the friction drive in place of gears, by which 

 any speed may be obtained by changing the position of one 

 of the friction members, but the special advantages are 

 smoothness in starting and reduction of noise. Extractors 

 of all the types mentioned except the early revolving can 

 extractors are still manufactured and each type is suited 

 to certain apiary conditions. Obviously only professional 

 beekeepers need a large power outfit, but there are a great 

 many of these, as evidenced by the unexpected number 

 of sales of such equipment. It is claimed that the power 

 driven extractors clean the combs more thoroughly than 

 do hand driven machines. 



