246 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Apk. 15 



Fig. 3 shows a 60-lb. can on the scales 

 ready to be filled. The separating-tank 

 stands on the floor, while the scales contain- 

 ing the 60-lb. cans are down in a pit, as used 

 at our Camp 23 yard in Charlevoix Co. This 

 is shown more clearly in Fig. 2, where my 

 oldest son, Delbert, who has charge of the 

 269 colonies at this location, is filling a can. 

 The principal point to be noticed is the po- 

 sition of the hands. It must be remember- 

 ed that our honey is canned while still warm 

 from the hives, so that it runs quite rapid- 

 ly. Then our honey- gates are all of the lyi- 

 inch size, so it does not take long to fill the 

 can. From the time the gate is opened un- 

 til the can is full the hands are kept in the 

 exact position shown in the cut. An excep- 

 tion to this rule is when the honey is not 

 in good condition to extract, it being rather 

 too cold, so that it runs very slowly. Then 

 the right hand is allowed to assume a posi- 

 tion of rest. The eyes are kept on the stream 

 of honey running into the 1^-inch opening 

 in the can. The weight of the left hand 

 makes the scale-beam go up at about the 

 59-lb. mark; then the gate is nearly closed; 

 and when the scale-beam is seen to start up 

 again it is closed entirely. This operation 

 seems rather long and tedious, but we keep 

 the separating-can nearly full at all times, 

 drawing out only two or three cans at a 

 time, which really does not take very long 

 with this rather large gate. This plan of 

 filling cans is the only one that we have 

 ever tried which at some time or other has 

 not gotten the start of us, run the can over, 

 making a sticky mess, and losing a lot of 

 honey. 



Let me call attention again to this Scovile 

 gate that we use. With some of the cheap 

 gates, and, in fact, with most of them now 

 in use by bee-keepers, the cut-off is flat; 

 and when the gate is opened the stream 

 shoots to one side and misses the opening 

 in the can until the gate is wide open, and 

 then, of course, they work about as well as 

 any; but when the handle is put down again, 

 the stream will be deflected to one side, thus 

 daubing the can. With this Scovile gate 

 the cut off slides squarely over the opening 

 from the top. This is a good point in itself; 

 but the main advantage is that this sliding 

 portion has a rounding opening correspond- 

 ing with the bore of the gate, so that a round 

 stream is assured whether the gate is partly 

 or entirely open. 



In working this "rapid " separating-tank 

 one must bear in mind that, if warm honey 

 from the extractor, containing impurities, 

 is poured in with the cold honey previously 

 extracted, the results will not be very satis- 

 factory. The warm honey will mix more 

 or less with the cold honey in the tank; and 

 as impurities do not separate very fast in 

 cold honey, some of the particles of comb, 

 etc., will be drawn through the gate. I have 

 called our tank the " rapid " separator to 

 distinguish it from the ordinary separating- 

 tanks that are large enough to hold the day's 

 extracting, and in which the honey is left 

 to stand over night, then skimmed ^nd can- 



ned in the morning. To operate our rapid 

 gravity separating-tank we always begin 

 with the tank empty and the separating- 

 float in place. As soon as the honey is ex- 

 tracted, and while it still has the warmth 

 from the bees, the tank is filled full; then 

 with a large spoon, what little scum and 

 particles of comb there are on the gate side 

 of the partition are skimmed off into the 

 main part of the tank. This is not abso- 

 lutely necessary; but since we want to keep 

 this side of the partition as free from im- 

 purities as possible, and since there are 

 more impurities on this side of the partition 

 the first time the tank is filled, it is better 

 to skim the first time at least. 



Our practice now is to draw but one, two, 

 or at most three, cans at a time, keeping 

 the tank as full as possible, drawing it off 

 only as it becomes too full, and when some 

 one has the time from other work to do it. 

 By this plan, while not much (if any more) 

 time is actually spent in weighing the hon- 

 ey, the tank does its part better. 



When the extracting for the day is over, 

 the tank should be left full and the fioat re- 

 moved to the uncapping- tank to drain, the 

 honey underneath being well skimmed, 

 especially that on the gate side of the par- 

 tition, as any particles on that side go into 

 the 60-lb. can with the honey. The parti- 

 tion extends to within half an inch of 

 the bottom of the can, as mentioned before; 

 and since every thing has to pass down un- 

 der it to get to the gate, the honey may be 

 drawn lower before impurities begin to come. 

 We then draw off the honey into the can 

 until there is none left except that contain- 

 ing a considerable amount of s^cum. The 

 work should be continued, even when there 

 is not enough left in the tank to fill a 60-lb. 

 can. All should be drawn off possible, the 

 cap being screwed on the partly filled 60-lb. 

 can, and this one set away to be the first 

 one filled the next morning. 



Some have had trouble with this separat- 

 ing-tank. I would suggest that all such try 

 it again, making sure to build the float of 

 heavy wood like oak, beech, maple, or birch, 

 and put the slats not further than % inch 

 apart. With this heavy float a pail of hon- 

 ey emptied upon it will not sink it down 

 very much, almost the whole contents of 

 the pail remaining on top. Gradually, how- 

 ever, the float will find its way to the sur- 

 face. The object of the float is to prevent 

 the fresh honey, as it is poured in, from dis- 

 turbing the part underneath, already partly 

 separated, so that the work of separation 

 will not be retarded. This makes all the 

 difference between rapid and slow work. 



There is some question as to how clean 

 honey must be for the market — that is, I 

 mean what portion, if any, of the scum is 

 permissible. When honey is strained 

 through cheese-cloth, and canned as fast as 

 extracted, the scum is nearly all with the 

 honey in the can. No one has objected to 

 this, especially since it has been mentioned 

 that this very scum represents the aroma, 

 bouquet, and almost, all] the elements.that 



