STORAGE TANKS 169 



season, will nearly take the place of one man, and at much less 

 cost. The labor item is the heaviest expense with most lines of 

 productive enterprise, and any machine that will reduce this 

 expense will add materially to the net profit at the end of the 

 season. 



The same power can be made to serve for many other pur- 

 poses, such as pumping water, running the washing machine, 

 cream separator or other small machinery. The gasoline engine 

 is generally regarded as a necessity in the apiary, unless it be 

 within reach of electric power. 



Honey Pump. — The honey pump is a comparatively new 

 invention and has not, as yet, come into general use. Whether 

 its use will be advisable will depend a good deal upon the con- 

 struction of the honey house. (See Honey House.) If the 

 storage tanks are on a level with the extractor or above it, the 

 honey pump will be a time saver in the large plant. In the past 

 these new machines, like most new inventions, gave more or less 

 trouble in their operation. The machines are now perfected to 

 the point where they are run with good results. The pump is 

 attached directly to the extractor, and run by a belt attached 

 to the reel of that machine. The same power runs both and the 

 honey is pumped into the storage tank as fast as extracted. This 

 not only saves the labor of handling the pails of honey as drawn 

 from the extractor but relieves the care of watching for fear the 

 pail will be neglected a moment too long, and the honey run over 

 and be wasted. The extractor can also be fastened directly to the 

 floor, instead of upon a platform, as is necessary where pro- 

 vision must be made for a container under the honey gate of the 

 machine. 



Storage Tanks, — Tanks of sufficient capacity to hold the 

 season's crop should be provided, for it is not always advisable, 

 even if there is time, to get a part of the honey to market during 

 the season. Many bee-keepers provide a sufficient tank capacity 

 to hold the output of three or four days' extracting, and have 

 on hand a large number of sixty-pound cans in which to store 



