A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to the Interests of Honey Producers. 

 $L00 A YEAR. 

 w. z. HUTCHINSON, Editor and Proprietor. 



VOL. XVIIL FLINT, MICHIGAN, APRIL 15, 1905. NO. 4. 



BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



^HE A, I. Root Co. is now g-etting 

 ^ out some new, automatic, reversi- 

 ble, honey extractors, and furnishing' 

 small g'asoline engines to run the 

 larger sizes. Scattered over the coun- 

 try are many of the old style, two- 

 and four-frame, automatic, reversible 

 Cowan extractors. Some of these are 

 furnished with a brake, but it must be 

 operated by the hand instead of the 

 foot, and none of them are furnished 

 with a"slip-gear, " by means of which 

 the reel can be allowed to revolve free 

 from the friction and rattle of the 

 gearing. 



Last fall, when visiting Mr. James 

 Heddon, of Dowagiac, Michigan, I 

 took a photog'raph of his honey ex- 

 tractor which he has changed over and 

 improved on the points which I have 

 mentioned. In the first place, the cen- 

 tral shaft, that carries and supports 

 the reel, is lengthened and extended 

 down through the bottom of the ex- 

 tractor, and runs in a bearing- fastened 

 to the floor. The extractor is securely 



fastened to a platform about a foot 

 in height. Beneath this platform is a 

 brake that is arranged as follows: 

 Two wooden wheels, perhaps a foot in 

 diameter are placed below the extractor, 

 the shaft passing through their centers. 

 The upper wheel is firmly attached to 

 the shaft; the lower one is fastened to 

 the upper side of the inner end of a 

 piece of two-inch plank, perhaps 2^ 

 feet in length, the plank resting upon, 

 and turning on a fulcrum, or pivot, 

 placed upon the floor underneath it, at 

 about its middle. The outer end of the 

 plank projects slightly beyond the 

 platform upon which the extractor 

 stands. If the foot is placed upon the 

 outer end, the inner end tips up, after 

 the fashion of a teeter-board, and 

 brings the two wooden wheels together 

 with great force, stopping the reel as 

 quickly as it is possible without doing 

 some injury. To hold the extractor in 

 place, and allow this pressure to be 

 exerted, a piece of timber, perhaps six 

 inches square, extends from the floor 



