1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE C^ULTURE 



699 



GASOLINE-ENGINES IN THE APIARY 



Their ^'alue to the Bee-keeper; How Used 



for Running: Extractors: the Cost of 



Maintenance. 



BY H. H. ROOT. 



Extracted honey is produced on a very 

 lai'ge scale in this country and several others. 

 The astonishing number of bee-keepers who 

 number their colonies by the thousand sex'ves 

 to show the magnitude of the industry. 

 Many ai'e l)eginning to use large extractors 

 driven by gasoline-engines. One who is not 

 in possession of all the facts often wonders 

 how it can be possible that honey can be 

 produced on so large a scale 

 that an engine would be need- 

 ed; but we can name nearly a 

 dozen producers to-day who 

 no longer run their extractors 

 by hand. It is needless to say 

 that these men have found it 

 paid them well. Considering 

 the tirst cost of the 

 engine, however, it 

 may be that, if the 

 bee-keeper used 

 this engine for no 



a second of time. After new combs are in, 

 the tightening of the driving-belt speeds up 

 the reel in about two seconds. The extra 

 time saved keeps the combs revolving just 

 that much longer, which means that the cells 

 will be left dryer of honey. The fact that 

 the work is much easier need hardly be men- 

 tioned. The breeze created by the rapidly 

 revolving reel is suthcient to make the hottest 

 extracting-house quite cool, which makes the 

 work a real pleasure instead of a drudgery. 



Now that the gasoline-engine has reached 

 svich a high state of perfection, small steam- 

 outfits are almost unknown among farmers. 

 A steam-engine with a boiler is a complicat- 

 ed and expensive outfit — expensive in the 

 first cost and in the cost of maintenance. 

 Except where as much as 30 horse-power is 

 needed, gasoline-engines are much more 



FIG. 1.— A ONE-HOKSE-POWER AIR-COOI.ED GASOLINE-ENGINE CONNECTED TO EKillT-FRAME 



EXTRACTOR. 



For economy of floor space and convenience of the levers this arrangement is perhaps the best. 



other purpose than to extract honey, he 

 would be paying a pretty high price for his 

 power; Imt we shall show in this article that 

 the expense of running the engine, including 

 gasoline, oil, and repairs, and the interest 

 on the investment, is not nearly so great as 

 the expense of hiring a man to do the work. 

 But the engine may be used for many dilTei'- 

 ent kinds of work, so that the lai'ge produc- 

 ers will find that it pays many times over 

 to buy an engine. 



Cleaner work can be done with a power- 

 driven extractor, both on account of the 

 greater speed and because the combs can be 

 kept revolving until the vei'y instant that 

 they are to be stopped, when the l)elt may 

 he loosened and the V)rake applied, bringing 

 the reel to a standstill in a little more than 



practical. They are simpler and cheaper, 

 easier to operate, and easier to move; and 

 they can be much more (}uickly started, as 

 there is no time lost in waiting to get up 

 steam. 



Some believe that the gasoline-engine will 

 soon be replacetl l)y alcohol-engines. The 

 chances are, however, that it will be several 

 years ))efore alcohol will be as cheap as gas- 

 oline. But even if alcohol does come into 

 general use, it can l)e used as well as gaso- 

 line in the same engine. In some cases a 

 different carburettor will have to be substi- 

 tuted for mixing the fuel with the air; but 

 even this change would l)e trilling, as the ex- 

 pense would Ijeliut a very little. For a com- 

 plete discussion of the use of alcohol and gas- 

 oline in farm engines our readers are refer- 



