278 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[June, 



much over fifteen cents per pound, deducting 

 expenses, or about )i<7."50. No prudent bee-lieeper, 

 however, will sell all his honey. He ought to 

 keep, in reserve for contingencies, about ten 

 pounds for every hive wintered. 



The average price for honey sold is about 

 nineteen cents net per pound. Strained honey 

 sells for about one-third less than nice honey in 

 the comb. 



The sales from my apiary, during the present 

 season, figure up as follows ; 



For honey |3,180 00 



For queen bees and stocks 1,151 00 



Add to this, 



For honey remaining unsold 750 00 



Value of sixty stocks which I wintered 



more than the season before 600 00 



Strained wax on hand, 200 lbs. @ 30 cts. 61 80 



15,742 80 



The value of surplus stocks is no guesswork. 



I sold a few days ago, to two parties, two 

 hundred and forty (240) colonies of bees for 

 shipment to Utah, for |2,450; but these sales 

 have to be counted with the present season's 

 business. 

 • The help I employ is the following : 



A hired man the year round at about $350, 

 board included. Four children from eleven to 

 eighteen years old, during swarming time. They 

 would cost me, if strangers, about $100, board- 

 ing included. 



To this has to be added the outlay for hives, 

 honey boxes, exjienses for keeping a horse and 

 wagon, postage for queen bees shipped by mail, 

 and sundries. Not keeping account of these, I 

 cannot tell exactly how much they amount to. 

 Perhaps five hundred dollars (|500) would cover 

 the whole. 



I keep my bees principally in three locations, 

 from three and a half to six miles apart, until 

 after swarming time, when I scatter them still 

 more. The greatest number of stocks I ever 

 had in one location was three hundred and 

 ninety-three (393). I find, however, that the 

 yield of honey from such a number averages less 

 than from a smaller number. One hundred 

 colonies in one location is all that can be kept 

 without materially injuring the yield of honey 

 by single stocks. At three miles' distance, 

 another hundred could be kept, and so on. 



The Italian bees are favorites with me. I 

 keep them exclusively. 



Respectfully yours, &c., 



Adam Grimm. 



Jefferson, Wis., Jan. 12, 1871. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



How to make a Honey Extractor. 



Several correspondents have lately made in- 

 quiries about honey extractors. I will give you 

 a description of mine. I first made one with a 

 wooden frame and wooden shaft, with wire cloth 

 sides against which to lay the combs. This 

 frame was made of a size suitable to hold a Lang- 

 stroth frame set up endwise, say ten inches wide 



and eighteen inches deep, and made to revolve in 

 a barrel. This worked perfectly well, but a friend 

 wanting it, I parted with it, and made another 

 on a different plan, using no wire cloth, no 

 woodwork and no barrel. I wanted especially 

 to be able to hang the fi-ames in the extractor 

 precisely as they hang in the hive. This would, 

 of course, require a holder larger in diameter 

 than a barrel. I bought a tub measuring twenty- 

 four inches across, and had it lined with zinc, 

 some sheets of which I happened to have on 

 hand (tin would answer as well) ; and as the tub 

 was too shallow (only twelve inches deep), I had 

 the zinc extend up above the sides three inches, 

 making the depth fifteen inches. In the middle 

 of the bottom solder a tin or zinc tube, three- 

 quarters of an inch in diameter and four and a 

 half inches high, to hold the foot of the shaft in 

 place, and to keep the honey away fi'om it. 

 Through the side of the tub, and near the bot- 

 tom, bore an inch and a quarter hole, cut out 

 the zinc and solder in place a tin tube or spout 

 for draining off the honey into bottles. Mine is 

 made just large enough to receive a common 

 molasses faucet, which works well. 



The framework which holds the comb and re- 

 volves with it, consists, 1st, of a shaft made of a 

 piece of quarter inch gas pipe, eighteen inches 

 long, plugged at the lower end with a piece of 

 iron, turned or filed to a point, on which the 

 whole framework turns. 2d, two pieces of flat 

 bar iron, say eighteen inches long, an inch and 

 an eighth wide, and one-eighth of an inch thick. 

 Bore a hole in the middle of each of these pieces, 

 just large enough to pass the gas-pipe shaft 

 through. These two pieces are made of pretty 

 stiff iron, so as to be strong enough to hold up 

 the rest of the framework, and also the heavy 

 combs that are to be emjDtied of honey. The 

 rest of the frame is made of white wire clothes- 

 line (thanks to Novice for the idea), requiring 

 of it for my machine twenty-eight feet. Cut off 

 two pieces, each five and a half feet long, and 

 straighten them. Twelve inches from one end 

 make a right-angled bend ; at eighteen inches 

 from this, make another ; at twelve inches, an- 

 other ; and again, at eighteen inches, another. 

 Solder the extra six inches along the first side. 

 We have now a rectangular wire frame twelve 

 inches long on two sides, and eighteen on the 

 other two. Bend the other piece of wire in the 

 same way, and solder as before. Now cut twenty 

 pieces of wire, each ten and a half inches long ; 

 straighten them ; then bend a quarter of an inch 

 (in a vice) at each end, at right angles, i-j . Lay 

 one of the rectangular frames on a table, and 

 hold the other exactly ten inches above it. That 

 is precisely the position in which they are to be 

 fastened together, and this fastening is accom- 

 plished by soldering the twenty pieces, at inter- 

 vals of two inches apart between the eighteen 

 inch sides, — ten on each side. These upright 

 wires take the place of wire cloth in other ex- 

 tractors. You can use wire cloth in this if you 

 prefer. I like wires better. Now fasten the two 

 pieces of flat bar iron to the middle of the twelve 

 inch sides, by soldering, or by turning the ends 

 of the bars over the wires and clinching them, 

 one to the lower pair, and one to the upper pair. 



