1430 



GLEAXIXGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



done. Any way. it cau-sed the apiarut some 

 worry, much lalior. aud about 75 pieces of 

 tin to undo the mischief done. 



THE IMPROVED UNCAPPING-KNIYES. 



AVhy Tliey Sliould Be 3Ia(le Narrower 



Some Pertinent as well as Practical 



Suffffestions. 



BY C. W. DATTOX. 



In respect to those long uncapping-knives 

 descrilied on page 987 I would say that they 

 are going to till a "long-felt want." at least 

 in my case. Unless you make some two or 

 three inches longer we shall have to get them 

 made to order. Most of the knives in use 

 are too thick and too wide. This makes 

 them too heavy. If you notice gras.5-scythes 

 you will notice some short heavy-hladed ones 

 and others long. slim, aud light. One kind 

 is for dodging about among fruit-trees, ber- 

 ry-bushes, and fence-corners, while the other 

 is for cutting a wide clean swath in the open 

 field. A grain-cradle scythe is still heavier 

 and wider l^ecause it carries the grain. This 

 idea of a honey-knife carrying the cappings 

 was gotten up lieforc present capping-boxes 

 were devised — when the cappings were to Ite 

 bestowed in any convenient small dish that 

 happened to be at hand. A good barlier 

 shaves with what is termed the "heer' of 

 the razor. An uncapping-knife partakes of 

 the manner of manipulation of both the ra- 

 zor and the scythe. The narrower the coml) 

 the better the long knife will work; or. to be 

 more exact, the better the worker can work 

 it. Some razors are wide of blade. It is for 

 the same purpose — to "catch the cappings."' 



To gather cappings of honey on a knife 

 takes strength, and also strength and time to 

 get them oti" the knife. I^veu when the cap- 

 pings slide across the blade and drop off it 

 wastes strength, so it wants a knife with a 

 narrow blade. The narrower and lighter 

 the blade the less it gets in the way of the 

 capping. 



My extracting-combs are only 4J inches in 

 depth, and still I want the long knife — not 

 because a long knife is more necessary on 

 wide combs than narrower, but because the 

 narrower the coml« are. the better the knife 

 will work, or can he manipulated. 



Now, we start with the heel of the knife 

 to cutting the cap])ings at the lower edge of 

 the comb as it is held upon end over the cap- 

 ping-box. holding the knife at an angle of 

 45 degrees, the point dijiping downward. 

 Bring it upward by a drawing, saw motion. 

 The strength required in this comes mainly 

 from the muscles of the arm. and is restful 

 to the wrist. When the knife has j^rogressed 

 upward halfway of the coml). drop the heel 

 downward and push the ])lade upward in the 

 opposite 45-degrees angle until it I'eaches the 

 upper edge of the coml). 



Our present knives ai"e two inches wide, 

 but you can see that a l)lade H or 1^ inches 

 wide held on this 45-degrees angle presents 



a wider surface than the two-im-h blade held 

 straight across. 



There is another point here that should he 

 understootl. The comb should he hekl by 

 the left hand, on end, resting on the frame 

 of the ca])ping-box. As the knife cuts and 

 progresses, and varies its speed of move- 

 ment, the com!) is leaned to the right, and 

 back again, and repeated, about as much in 

 motion as the handles of a bicycle over a 

 rough road. If this movement is well 

 ganged, barely the edge of the capping will 

 adhere to the side of the knife, and will go 

 down into the capping-box about as contin- 

 uously and unln'oken as a sod furrow leaves 

 the mold-lioard of a plow. It needs this cap- 

 ping to adhere to the side of the knife, a 

 small amount to hold the knife steady, and 

 it also indicates how deep the edge of the 

 knife is running: Imt there is no weight of 

 ca])ping to be supported by the wrist or 

 thumb. When there begins to be some 

 weight felt, lean the coml) slightly to the 

 right: then when the weight is nearly all off. 

 lean the comli to the left. After uncapping 

 a few tons l\v trying to adhere to these di- 

 rections, one strangeness after another will 

 disappear until it requires no thought what- 

 ever, and then the speed can be increased 

 almost beyond belief. The thinner the blade 

 the lighter, and the more delicate the touch, 

 and. conseiiueutly. the thinner the cappings 

 can be gauged, unless one chooses to uncap 

 as thick as Mr. Town^end does, where it 

 leaves the cells only | inch deep. I leave 

 the combs in the hives until they are entirely 

 sealed over, but not until after the harvest is 

 over anil the honey is exceedingly thick and 

 waxy: but then the heated knife works as 

 well as ever. The heated knife necessitates 

 rapid movements. But uncapping as thick 

 as Mr. Townsend does Avould soon cool a 

 knife. I see no iise for two cutting edges, 

 and woukl prefer the back edge to ))e like 

 that of a putty-knife, for divesting the frames 

 of lirace and Inirr comics. The sharp edge 

 of a knife often dips in and slivers the wood. 



The shanks should go clear through the 

 handle, and have a threaded nut on the end. 

 In ilry climates like the arid regions of the 

 West the shanks soon become loose in the 

 wood: a little honey gets in. and makes con- 

 stant trouble. 



I have used the light and heavy bladed 

 knives side by side for years, and always 

 preferred the lightest, or thinnest and nar- 

 rowest. As for the two cutting edges, one 

 always goes without grinding, because it is 

 never used. But we keep a wide-edged put- 

 ty-knife near with which to remove the burr- 

 combs and wax from the frames. But it 

 makes an extra movement to lay down one 

 knife and pick up another. But suppose the 

 other has been mislaid, then what? A waste 

 of time enough to scrape two frames. 



But the worst mistake is to get into the 

 habit of snipping with the point of the knife. 

 Start in with the heel and end with the heel. 

 It is as good as if the knife were two inches 

 longer, because it is doing work by a prelim- 

 in:iry motion while the ujain cutting part of 



