1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



153 



knowledge been published before. If 

 it has I would be obliged to any 

 reader for the reference. All ex- 

 tractors are built for moving about 

 without "taking down" in any way, 

 and have had to suffer in some 

 points on that account. To make 

 them for permanent installation ad- 

 mits of a complete review of extrac- 

 tor construction with a view to re- 

 vision. 



What are the essential parts of an 

 extractor? Among them are baskets 

 for the combs, a reel to whirl them, 

 supports for the reel, a screen to in- 

 tercept the flying honey and a reser- 

 voir to retain it until drained away. 

 For convenience, hand extractors 

 were built in a tin can which com- 

 bined reel-support, honey-screen and 

 reservoir. Power extractors are 

 built the same way. To overcome 

 vibration caused by uneven loads, 



the beekeeper nails this can down 

 and wires it down and sometimes 

 braces it from the ceiling, and it con- 

 tinues to be a flimsy tin can which 

 is no proper support for a real 

 machine. The honey collects in 

 the bottom and cannot be fully 

 drained out without tearing _ the 

 whole machine from its moorings. 

 One would not expect to find a 

 power machine in any other indus- 

 try so little removed from its hand 

 prototype. 



The comb-basket reel might well 

 have its upper and lower bearings 

 fixed in a steel frame on a concrete 

 base, rigid enough to resist all vibra- 

 tion after ordinary care is taken to 

 balance uneven combs. The honey 

 screen and reservoir is an entirely 

 separate matter, and does not need 

 to be a complete can at all; so long 

 as it catches flying honey and con- 



The Leaf Principle is used in these 

 Specially constructed Hives of an American Beekeeper, made to be turned over for examination. 



ducts it along channels which will 

 drain automatically and completely 

 into the pump chamber. The latter 

 might be built like a wax-honey sep- 

 arator to keep floating wax and 

 honey from the pump. 



I would use a battery of small reels 

 in preference to a large one. They 

 have greater centrifugal force, start 

 and stop easier, and while one is 

 stopped, fewer baskets are idle. The 

 force of vibration from an uneven 

 load in a small reel is less. A num- 

 ber of small reels could be placed in 

 one set with only single partitions 

 between them. 



The Honey Pump 



I am thankful our building is on 

 level ground so we can pump honey 

 from the extractor to storage with a 

 clear conscience. So many recom- 

 mend gravity systems, but they all 

 involve stair climbing or lifting 

 combs or supers, which is work for 

 the beekeeper. The pump lets the 

 •motor do it, and that is always 

 cheaper. The only effect of the pump 

 is to hasten granulation or if run 

 when not full to cause foam by 

 churning. The latter is easily pre- 

 vented and the former is an advan- 

 tage when selling granulated, and 

 does no harm when the honey is to 

 be heated for bottling. 



The Honey Room 



Ranged around the wall in the 

 honey room are the store tanks to 

 which the honey is pumped through 

 galvanized iron piping with rubber 

 hose on the end for distribution from 

 tank to tank. The capacity of these 

 tanks suits the day's work so that 

 night will not find one only part full. 

 We have enough for at least three 

 days extracting, as that is a mini- 

 mum time for honey to "steele" be- 

 fore skimming and filling. They are 

 on stands about three feet high, so 

 that filling can be done on a table in 

 a comfortable position. Pails as 

 filled are crated uniformly and 

 stacked in the shipping end of the 

 honey room next the garage, where 

 they are convenient to load into the 

 truck for shipment. 



Besides having plenty of light and 

 capacity for two cars, the garage has 

 a floor drain and running water for 

 washing and will be equipped with 

 small work bench and proper tools 

 for all except the most difficult ad- 

 justments and repairs. 

 Things Every Central Apiary Build- 

 ing Should Have 



There are many points on which 

 beekeepers will differ in the matter 

 of apiary buildings and equipment : 

 but certain things everyone should 

 have are : 



1. Cheerful rooms with high ceil- 

 ings, large windows close together, 

 and plenty of electric lights where 

 the latter are available. 



2. A power plant, gasoline or elec- 

 tric, connected by convenient line- 

 shaft to extractors, honey pump, saw, 

 emery wheel and whatever other 

 power machines may be used. 



3. Steam for uncapping, wax ren- 

 dering, liquefying, feed making, 

 cleaning, and perhaps for heating the 

 building to make inside work inde- 

 pendent of weather conditions. Ques- 

 tion: How about a steam engine for 



