1935 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



295 



POWER HONEY-EXTRACTOR OPERATED BY A 

 GASOLINE-ENGINE. 



When I was in California in the spring of 

 1901 I was put into the "harness" by M. H. 

 Mendleson. He made me put on old clothes, 

 and said, " Now, you bee editor, I want you 

 to rub up against a problem, the real thing, 

 and then, perhaps, with your factory equip- 

 ments back of you, you can give us relief." 



"I am at your service," I said, and I 

 should say I was, for he put me to turning 

 the crank of a six-frame Cowan. I sweat 

 and puffed and blowed, and then I began to 

 see there was method in Mendleson's mad- 

 ness, for he had the boys working up to a 

 high pitch. Combs loaded down with thick 

 honey from the mountain sage were piled on 

 me so I did not have even a minute's rest. 

 The sweat rolled down in great streams. 



At just about the point when I was nearly 

 tired out, but would not give up, Mr. Men- 

 dleson came in with a sort of sardonic grin, 

 saying. "Say, Mr. Root, don't you think it 

 would be a good idea for you to get up some 

 sort of steam-engine to do this work ?" 



With a long breath, for I did not have 

 very much to spare, I answered feebly, 

 "Well, I should say yes." 



There was a general smile among the 

 "boys." When I protested that Mendleson 

 had not oiled his machine, which he freely 

 admitted— didn't suppose it needed oiling— 

 he said that did not alter the situation 



much, because it took a full man power at 

 best to run one of these big machines. 



Well, we have been working at Mendle- 

 son's problem of some cheap power to oper- 

 ate these extractors— something that any 

 one could handle, at small expense. Huber 

 H. Root, the youngest member of the Root 

 Co., and one who has had much experience 

 in operating gasoline- automobiles, was given 

 the job of solving the problem. He worked 

 at it off and on for several weeks, and the 

 result of his effort is shown in the accom- 

 panying illustration in half-tone. A IJ-h.-p. 

 gasoline-engine, air-cooled, such as is used 

 on motor-driven bicycles, is mounted on a 

 suitable frame connected to the extractor 

 by means of a round leather belt. The gear- 

 ing is reduced because of the high speed of 

 the engine. 



At first we thought such a motor would 

 not be practicable, as it could not be stopped 

 and started as readily as a steam-engine; but 

 this difficulty, we found, could be completely 

 overcome by allowing it to run continuously, 

 though slowly, when not doing any work. 

 The extractor is stopped by removing the 

 idler from the belt, thus allowing the- motor 

 to run alone, and applying the brake. A 

 steam-engine, too, would cost twice if not 

 three times as much as the gasoline-outfit ; 

 and, besides, it would require a great deal 

 more fuel to do the same amount of work 

 in the^same length of time. 



ROOT'S AUTOMATIC EIGHT- FRAME POWER EXTRACTOR TURNED ON ITS SIDE TO SHOW THE 

 REVERSING MECHANISM AND GASOLINE-ENGINE, 



