Feb. 9, 1899. 



AMERICAN DEE JOURNAL, 



85 



Mr. Adains^Mv average has been very little, rang-ing- 

 from 10 to 134 pounds— the total average being 40 or SO 

 pounds. 



F. Rauchfuss — 12,'3 pounds was the average surplus of 

 Colorado last vear. and it was an average season. Only 

 practical bee-keepers will obtain the results mentioned by 

 those who have answered the question. Many colonies kept 

 by farmers and others do not j-ield anything, which reduces 

 the general average. 



H. Rauchfuss — Last fall I was requested to take off the 

 surplus from a yard of 36 colonies. I obtained a total of 

 three untinisht sections. 



F. Rauchfuss— The yield is largely due to management. 

 The highest average reported last year was 118 pounds. 

 Some colonies in that man's neighborhood yielded nothing ; 

 many not a quarter as much. 



Mr. Rhodes — I know the man. A number of apiaries in 

 that neighborhood did not produce a pound. The average 

 per colony must be very low. 



BEST WAV TO STOP ROBBING. 



Question — What do you consider the best way t(j stop 

 robbing ? 



A lengthy discussion ensued. The method of contract- 

 ing the entrance, closing with a bunch of grass, and sprink- 

 ling with water at intervals of one or two hours was ad- 

 vised ; also, that of trapping the robbers by an inverted 

 shipping-case on top, and letting them go at night. These 

 methods were criticised as being suited to well-dispositioned 

 bees, but not generally successful. The advice was also 

 given to drive out all the bees with .smoke, and close the 

 hive up, as a colony that is robbed is not worth much, be- 

 ing weak or queeniess. To this it was replied that it was 

 not good policy to close up a hive that is being robbed, as 

 in two or three mintites the robbers will attack neighboring 

 hives, and that it was better to leave a small quantity of 

 honey and let them clean it out. This was in turn criticised 

 as being dangerous advice to give to the shiftless bee-keeper 

 near Boulder, and not g-ood for the small bee-keeper, as it 

 educates bees to rob. The best method is to remove the 

 cause. Weak or queeniess colonies, or those having combs 

 broken down, are the ones usually robbed by the thrifty 

 colonies. A lot of extracting-supers exposed will cause 

 robbing, and .sometimes supers above bee-escapes. It is 

 contagious, and very hard to stop after g^etting fairly 

 started. In .small cases, when the bees are not on a regular 

 rampage, a change of position, or a wet blanket, will do 

 good. 



EVENING SESSION. 

 Miss Mary C. Porter read a paper entitled. 



Extracting Honey. 



It is not my intention to give any prescribed rules for 

 honey-extracting, for every bee-keeper has l;is individual 

 way. The underlying principle is that b^' centrifugal force 

 the honey is thrown out of the comb. 



Extracted honey .seems to me to be a more useful and 

 attractive as well as more concentrated form of honey, from 

 the absence of wax. For this reason it may be put to man)' 

 uses unsuitable to comb honey. 



The machine used, called an extractor, consists of a 

 cylinder in which a wire basket is hung, of such a .shape 

 that the extracting-combs may be easily rested therein. 

 The first extractor we used had room for but two frames, 

 and these were lifted out and turned ; but for two seasons 

 we have used a " Cowan Improved," which holds four frames, 

 and these turn automatically, saving much time, tho requir- 

 ing more strength to propel it. 



Perhaps the best way to tell you how we extract is to 

 describe a day in the honey-field. To do a day's work one 

 must rise early and be in the field — on a sunny day — by 9 

 o'clock. The first thing- for us, as our yards are all some 

 distance from home, is to load. We carry extractor, cap- 

 ping-box, knives, tools of other kinds, a small oil-stove, 

 smokers, and our lunches, for we have a whole day's work 

 before us, and the out-door work produces a wonderful 

 appetite. 



Our force consists of four per.sons, two to take the 

 honey from the hives and carrj' in, two in the shop to un- 

 cap and extract. Arriving at the field of action the .smokers 

 and stove are lighted, water to heat the knives is heated 

 (by the way, this water is excellent to make honey-vinegar), 

 the extractor and capping-box are set up, and then we 

 are ready. 



When the hone)- is well capt over, two experienced per- 

 sons are required to uncap, and even then the extractor is 



not run to its fullest capacity. Now the capping-box : Ours 

 is a water-tight box in which aresu.spended two deep sieves. 

 These are hung within three inches of the bottom, and on a 

 good day, at noon, about 30 pounds of good, clear honey are 

 drawn oft". The comb rests across the box lengthwi.se of 

 the sieve, and we find it a great improvement over the can 

 with a board across it, which we formerly used ; the cap- 

 pings drain so well, and so much honey is saved which 

 would otherwise be greatly darkened by the solar extractor. 



The honey having been uncapt, the frames are care- 

 fully scraped, which we find a g-reat advantage in using the 

 Cowan extractor, as otherwise the bur-combs, propolis, etc., 

 make the baskets gummy, and greatly hinder the work. 

 Then in storing is it not much better to put away clean, 

 well-scraped combs and frames than those covered with a 

 season's wax, propolis and bur-combs ? 



The next step is extracting proper, which, if the honey 

 is at the proper temperature, is very easily accomplisht. 

 The person who extracts soon learns from experience about 

 how much turning each set of combs requires, how to bal- 

 ance the combs to prevent undue jarring of the machine, 

 and subsequent loss of combs, and how fast to run the ma- 

 chine to make all the honey fly out. 



. When the honey comes from the extractor, it contains 

 particles of wax and candied honey, which rau.st be re- 

 moved. To accomplish this we have found a wire strainer 

 very useful. The wire is about 32 mesh, and the honey 

 passes through very easily, leaving candied honey, wax and 

 bits of comb behind. 



One thing that should be remembered by every bee- 

 keeper, is that the honey-house should be kept neat and 

 clean, and handy— that is, have all things in order, with a 

 place for everything, and everything in its place. 



Another year may we all be successful, and succeed in 

 producing a good crop of the finest honev. 



M.^RY C. Porter. 



Mr. Pease — Don't .small bits of wax go through the 

 strainer ? 



Miss Porter — We do not find it so. 



F. Rauchfuss — Don't you re-strain when liquefying ? 



Miss Porter — Yes, and then we use a much finer 

 strainer, an 80 mesh. 



Mr. Porter — Couldn't the Cowan extractor be improved ? 



F. Rauchfuss — I saw a ball-bearing Cowan at the Omaha 

 Exposition. A brake would be an improvement. 



Mr. Martin — The Cowan is not geared high enough. 



F. Rauchfuss— I reported to the Root Co. a year ago 

 about that. I did not examine the gearing of the extractor 

 at Omaha. I have had experience with low gearing with an 

 extractor three feet in diameter. It would not throw out 

 satisfactorily'. 



Pres. Aikin — How many have had experience in extract- 

 ing in November ? 



Mr. Pease — I have, and I don't want any more of it. 



Mr. Porter — Three years ago I extracted sections in 

 November by using artificial heat. 



Pres. Aikin — I have been planning to have enough ex- 

 tra extracting-supers to hold the entire crop, so that I can 

 store it all in a building in the comb. I would go to the 

 out-apiaries in the morning- and come home with a load of 

 honev. It is not hard to smoke bees out if there is a cham- 

 ber beneath for them to run into. I would have a room 

 equipt for heating on the second floor, closed and tight, the 

 heat being generated in the basement. I have found that 

 for late extracting the temperature must be high, and kept 

 there 24 or 36 hours, and the last three or four hours it 

 should be close to 100 degrees. I would take one case out of 

 the room at a time and extract it, letting the honey run into 

 a tank in the room below. The worst diffculty is with 

 honey candying ; but the plan does save lots of labor in the 

 busy season. I cannot make a definite report of the plan. 

 It is largely yet in the experimental stage. The basement 

 might be built so a team and load of honey could drive right 

 in, and a few extracting-supers at a time loaded on a simple 

 elevator, and pulled above. 



Mr. Porter — In using escapes, I had one clogged by one 

 bee, and all the bees in that oxtracting-super were dead. 



Pres. Aikin — I wfiuldn't trust the Porter escape. I 

 would have a little room at each apiary, with a wire-screen 

 window-escape, where the supers would be carried in from 

 the hives and allowed to remain a short time before loading 

 on the wagon. Two persons can take off a ton of honey in 

 a few minutes. I would do no shaking of combs. Some- 

 times the outside bees will find their way in through a 

 screen escape. In that case I would extend it up a consid 

 able distance, or use a double one. 



