1908 



GLKANIXiS IN BEE C'ULTURF. 



1431 



the blade is held in resei've for future use. or 

 we will use all the length of the knife's edge 

 and still lack, and need to put in an extra 

 point-cut or give a heavy square cut against 

 the edge. 



Chatsworth. Cal. 



[If you will send a wooden model of your 

 ideal "knife we will have an illustration of it 

 made to submit to our readei's for discussion. 

 In the mean time you have given us some 

 good suggestions that bear all the earmarks 

 of being fresh from the field. This is a gootl 

 field for discussion, and we hope others of 

 our practical men will be able to help us clear 

 up this problem. Perhaps it would be well 

 to have two or three styles of uncapping- 

 knives, each knife adapted to the kind of 

 frame used, as well as the individual notions 

 of the users of the implement. — Ed.] 



A LONG UNCAPPING-KNIFE. 



l'neapping-knive?> Cold a's. Hot: Two Tons 



of Honey Uncaj)i)ed in One Day by 



One Person. 



BY J. < . BALCH. 



In Gle.\nin"GS for July 15 I was impressed 

 with E. D. Towusend's description, p. 936, 

 of your longer honey-knife. While I have 

 been pai'tial to the Bingham honey-knife for 

 a cold knife, I do not know whether it will 

 be any better to have it longer or not: Init 

 where a person has from 100 to 500 colonies 

 or upwartl. and a heavy honey-fiow. as they 

 had in California in 1897, the Bingham is not 

 long enough nor heavy enough. I do not 

 think there is anyone man who could uncap 

 two tons of all .sealed honey in a day with a 

 Bingham, either long or short, either as a 

 cold or a hot knife : but I knew a lady in 

 Ventura Co. (and you know her throiigh 

 Raml)ler), Mrs. W. T. Richardson, of Moore 

 Park, who often uncapped two tons of honey 

 in from eight to ten hours with a hot knife. 

 It was made just like a bowie-knife— sharp 

 on both edges, twelve or thirteen inch blade 

 beveled on both sides, and very thick metal, 

 to hold the heat. She used two knives. 

 While she used one the other was in a boiler 

 of hot water, directly in front of her. Just 

 across was the uncappiug-tauk, which was 8 

 ft. long. 14 in. wide, and 3 ft. deep, with a 

 2 X 2-inch cleat across the center of the un- 

 capping-tank, with a spike driven through 

 the center of the cleat from the bottom, so 

 that it stood at least two inches above the 

 cleat, and was sharp enough so that, when 

 you set a frame of honey on the spike in the 

 center of the eml of the frame, the weight of 

 the honey would hold it so it would not slip 

 otf: and with one downward stroke of the 

 knife the cappingswere all taken off smooth: 

 then a simple turn of the wrist, another 

 downward stroke of the knife, and it was set 

 aside and another frame taken from easy 

 reach on the left, autl treated the same way. 

 She uncapped deep, Init not always clear 

 down to the frame, but deep enough to re- 



move all the cappings and unevenness of the 

 comb. There were two helpers with her in 

 the honey-house — one to handle the combs 

 and one to turn a four-frame reversible 

 Cowan extractor, and two in the apiary. 

 The writer took all the honey from the 

 hives, and the other wheeled it to the hon- 

 ev-housc and returned with the empty combs. 

 "Ferndale. Wash.. July 25, 1906. 



[I notice that you speak of Mrs. Richard- 

 son applying the stroke of the knife down- 

 ward in uncapping. A majority of the pro- 

 ducers of extracted honey work the knife 

 upward. 



After visiting extracting-yards Avhere the 

 hot knife was used for uncapping and others 

 where the cold knife was usetl, I have come 

 to the conclusion that in a great majority of 

 cases, at least, the application of heat is a 

 great advantage: anil I am not sure but it 

 would pay well in every case. Especially is 

 it an advantage where the honey is thick. 

 The hot water washes the knife, and at the 

 same time heats it enough so that it does not 

 take nearly the muscular strength to force 

 the keen edge through the cappings or comb. 

 —Ed.] 



«t« 



OUTDOOR WINTERING. 



A 3I()difloation of tlie Plan Described in the 

 Feb. 15th Issue. 



BY W. T. DAVISON. 



Last fall, when I l)egan packing my bees 

 for winter, I found that my shed was no: 

 long enough to pack them all in, so I began 

 to plan some easy way to pack seven colonies 

 that I had out in front of my shed. These 

 hives are standing on what I call trestles, 

 made by driving some large stakes in the 

 ground and nailing some 2x6 pieces to each 

 row of stakes running east and west, the 

 hives facing the south, so I placed the hives 

 just the right tlistance apart, then took some 

 three-foot boards I had and laid a board 



down between each hive fiat on the trestles. 

 The south ends of the boards are just even 

 with the front ends of the hives, and the 

 north end extends out one foot further north 

 than the hives do. Then I drove some stakes 

 in a row at the north end of these boards. 

 These stakes can l)e six or eight feet apart. 

 I nailed a broad plank to the south side of 

 these stakes. The lower edge ef this plank 



