IMPLEMENTS. 



49 



FIG. 33. 



-Williams' automatic reversible 

 honey extractor. 



HONEY EXTRACTORS AND HONEY KNIVES. 



The honey extractor (fig. 33) consists of a large can, within which a 

 light metal basket revolves. The full coinbs of honey, from which the 

 cappings of the cells have been removed by a sharp knife, are placed 

 inside the basket and after several 

 rapid revolutions by means of a sim- 

 ple gearing are found to have been 

 emptied of their contents. The combs, 

 only very slightly damaged, can then 

 be returned to the hives to be refilled 

 by the bees. If extra sets of combs 

 are on hand to supply as fast as the 

 bees need the room in which to store 

 honey, great yields can often be ob- 

 tained. A good extractor should be 

 made of metal, and the basket in 

 which the combs are revolved should 

 be light, strong, and doubly braced 

 on the outside so that the wire-cloth 

 surface, against which the combs 

 press, will not yield. The wire cloth 

 used, as well as all interior parts of the extractor, should be tinned, 

 as acids of honey act 011 galvanized iron, zinc, iron, etc. Wire cloth 

 made of coarse wire and with meshes one-half inch square is often 

 used, but it injures the surface of new combs and those very heavy 



with honey more than that made 

 of about No. 20 wire and with 

 one-fourth -inch meshes. 



For removing the wax cov- 

 ering with which the bees close 

 the full cells a peculiarly shaped 

 knife, known as an uncapping knife, is needed (figs. 34 and 35). The 

 blade, which should be of the finest steel to hold a keen edge, is fixed 

 at such an angle with the handle as to keep the hand that grasps the 

 latter from rubbing over the surface of the comb or the edges of the 

 frames. The form of knife with 

 curved point is best adapted to 

 reach any depression in the comb, 

 which, if uncapped and emptied 

 of its honey, will likely next time 

 be built out even with the general 

 surface. Dipping the knife in hot water facilitates rapid work, and 

 of course the heavier-bladed knives hold the heat better than thin- 

 bladed ones, and Tire for this reason preferred by some; also because 

 they more surely lift the capping clear from the surface of the comb. 



FIG. 34. Quinby uncapping knife. 



FIG. 35. Bingbara & Hetherington uncapping 

 knife. 



