774 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



inch and ii half from tlie center of the 

 spindle. It may be desirable to have this 

 end-bar further removed from the center of 

 motion ; but experiment alone can determine 

 this. Now, every thing in the extractor is 

 supposed to revoh'e. except the outside cir- 

 cle, i. e., the can. Let us suppose that the 

 reel is revolved in the direction of the arrows 

 A, A, A, etc. The centrifugal force is 

 immediately exerted toward the top-bar of 

 each of the frames. This force causes the 

 honey to press toward the sides of the cells 

 which are nearest the surrounding can. 

 This will cause the honey to be forced to 

 the mouth of each cell, to be spilled out- 

 ward, and to be sent off at an angle, or to 

 jump from cell to cell until it passes off 

 beyond the top-bar. There are two forces 

 operating with and against the centrifugal 

 force. The first is the force of inertia, 

 and the other is that of gravity. On one 

 side of the comb, inertia operates in conjunc- 

 tion with the centrifugal force; i. e., the 

 cells flee away from the honey, leaving the 

 latter to spill off, say in the direction of the 

 arrows G and C. On the reverse side of the 

 comb the cells traveling faster will have a 

 tendency to retain the honey. But in stop- 

 ping and starting, this force is equalized, and 

 hence made practically inoperative, as af- 

 fecting the result of the centrifugal force. 



To test the matter practically, the fore- 

 man made a diagram as shown above, and 

 the tinners very soon had an extractor con- 

 structed on this principle. I could hardly 

 wait until the combs were brought in from 

 the apiary. In order to give the extractor a 

 hard test, I specially requested our apiarist to 

 select combs with thick and well-ripened 

 honey, and he was most successful in this 

 part of the programme. Although the ex- 

 tractor is made to hold six combs, we (the 

 foreman, the tinners, and myself) could not 

 wait to have six uncapped and put in the 

 can. As the honey was so thick, the uncap- 

 ping was a slow operation. No sooner had 

 the two combs been placed in the extractor 

 than the machine was set to whirling rapidly. 

 Did the honey fly out V Oh, yes ! It spotted 

 the sides of the can, but, contrary to my 

 highest expectations, it did not throw the 

 honey out quite as clean as 1 desired to see 

 it, although both sides of the comb wei'e 

 pretty well emptied simultaneously, without 

 any reversing of motion. On removing the 

 combs I discovered that practice very nearly 

 confirmed theory; the direction which the 

 honey took showed either that the centrifu- 

 gal force was so much greater than that of 

 inertia that the latter had but very little 

 effect on the result, or, what is more prob- 

 able, that it was entirely compensated by 

 the retarding of motion. In fact, the honey 

 was emptied about as well from one side as 

 from the other, irrespective of the line of 

 motion. After revolving the combs to as 

 high a speed as I dared to in the hastily con- 

 structed leel, I then placed them in an ordi- 

 nary extractor. The combs were emptied a 

 little cleaner. I say a littJc, for it was only a 

 small trifle. You will please bear in mind, 

 that these combs had been in the surplus 

 apartment of two or three very strong colo- 

 nies ever since the honey had been gathered, 



which was in the latter part of June. I feel 

 quite confident that, if the combs of honey 

 had been just allowed to seal over, every 

 drop of the honey would have been thrown 

 out. But there are some, like the Dadants, 

 who allow their honey to become very thick 

 before extracting. Berhaps further experi- 

 menting will make it possible to extract this 

 honey also. 



ITS ADVANTAGES, IF A SUCCESS. 



Now, then, I will try to sum up some of 

 the advantages that might be made in favor 

 of this extractor. First, the most important 

 is, honey can be extracted from both sides 

 simultaneously, without reversal of motion. 

 Second, a greater number of combs, for the 

 same expense on a machine, can be emptied 

 of their contents in less time than by the old 

 plan. Third, an extractor on this principle, 

 to hold 4, 6, 8, or 10 frames, can be made for 

 considerably less money than similar extract- 

 ors now on the market for extracting the 

 corresponding number of combs. Fourth, 

 as so many combs can be extracted at once, 

 the apiarist can afford more time to let 

 the combs drain of the honey which may cling 

 to the edges of the cells. 



Now, please understand that the foregoing 

 advantages are made only on the assumption 

 that the principle shall prove to be a success. 

 In my mind it has not quite done it as yet, 

 although so near it that I feel encouraged to 

 test the matter a little further. 



Let us now consider some of the defects 

 that seem to be developed so far. It will 

 require a larger and heavier extractor, con- 

 sequently it will cost a little more. Secondly, 

 it will demand a higher rate of motion, and, 

 consequently, more power. Third, it may 

 not do the work as clean as the old style. 



HOW TO TEST THE 3IATTEK FOR YOUK- 

 SELVES. 



I doubt not that some of our subscribers 

 w^ould like to test the matter a little for 

 themselves, without going to any great 

 expense. You can do it after a fashion in 

 this way : Take a cup of water and set it 

 down on the bottom of the revolving reel 

 in an ordinary extractor. Give the extractor 

 a few turns, and you will see how quickly 

 the water is thrown out. After having done 

 this, perform the same experiment, only 

 using a bottle of water, uncorked, and you 

 will find that the water will shoot out of the 

 neck of the bottle until the latter is half 

 emptied, the reason of which is apparent. 



IS THIS IDEA NEW^? 



I would hardly dare to say that this idea is 

 new, for it seems that, as long ago as 1874, 

 Mr. Cowan used and put into actual practice 

 a similar extractor; but because it broke 

 down the combs, he abandoned it. The 

 principle seems to have slumbered until our 

 German friend, Mr. Buhne-Lauben, brought 

 it forth to the ])ublic. Your humble servant, 

 catching on to the idea, had the wood-cut 

 copied by photo-engraving, and the same 

 inserted in Gleanings. Dr. Miller, catch- 

 ing on a little further than I had, suggested 

 putting the combs in as shown in the fore- 

 going diagram, so the principle is not neces- 

 sarily new, but an old one resurrected. It is 



