2UU 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



hives, but there comes a time during this 

 mt)nth wheu that advice would be changed 

 aud that time is towards the close of the 

 white clover and basswood season. Watch 

 carefully for signs of the approach of that 

 period and before it comes rush off all cases 

 that are completed. Take this course be- 

 cause it can then be done without interfer- 

 ence from robber bees, and therefore with 

 much less labor. When the honey How is 

 excellent bees will pay no attention to honey 

 in comb whether sealeU or not, when the 

 yield is only fair they will take honey from 

 unsealed cells, but will not take the trouble 

 to uncap honey, so that when the honey flow 

 is fair or better, finished comb honey may 

 be removed and freed from bees without the 

 use of tents, bee-escapes or other contrivan- 

 ces. At such a time simply drive the bees 

 down from the completed cases with two or 

 three puffs of smoke, remove the cases, re- 

 place the cover, and set the cases on end, on 

 the top of the hive, flush with the front of 

 the hive or a little more. Give them two or 

 three puffs of smoke, when the remaining 

 bees will begin running down the front of 

 the hive to the entrance and the honey will 

 soon be entirely free from them except per- 

 haps now and then a robber looking for an 

 open cell of honey. What remains should be 

 removed promptly on the cessation of the 

 white honey season for it will very soon 

 receive injury in its appearance after that 

 time. All the bees cannot be conveniently 

 gotten out of this lot without piling it ui> 

 open to the light under a tent, or in a room 

 having an exit for the bees, but no entrance, 

 or in some other of several well known ways. 

 Of course no reader of the Review will ever 

 think of removing honey from the hive by 

 pulling out of the case one section at a time 

 and brushing the bees off it with a feather 

 and replacing it with an empty one. 



After the honey is off the hive it is highly 

 important that it should be well cared for. 

 I pile it up on end, i. «., put the cases on 

 end so as to be fully open to the circulation 

 of the air in a warm dry room — the warmer 

 and drier the better so that it is not warm 

 enough to cause. the wax to yield. Unless 

 one allows the wax moth to breed extensively 

 about the premises I think there need be no 

 fear of its doing injury to the comb honey. 

 I never knew any injury from this cause 

 when disposed as I have indicated above. I 

 coTiaider it important also that it be allowed 

 t< reiiKiin in the cases until it is to be put 



on the market. It is better there than in- 

 closed in shipping crates, besides the comb 

 is more liable to injury than when it becomes 

 thoroughly ripened and the weather some- 

 what cooler. 



It is always timely in warm weather to 

 utter a warning against the danger of injury 

 to coml)s from the wax moth. They may be 

 safely kept for a time in a very cool cellar. 

 If kept where it is warm they must be kept 

 separated an inch or more and where the air 

 has free circulation, but on hives where bees 

 can care for them is the best place of all. 



Lapeek, Mich. June 21, 1893. 



A Mammoth, Solar and Furnace-Heat, Wax 

 Extractor. 



B. O. AIKIN. 



" Profit iir loss verj' often turn on those things 

 which maybe saved, but which oft are wasted." 



kAST year w e 

 made a port- 

 able, solar, wax 

 extractor. Its size 

 was ;{ x G feet. It 

 could be wheeled 

 into the honey 

 house to load or 

 unload it ; shifted 

 to face the sun ; or 

 moved about for 

 any purpose. Be- 

 tween the effects of 

 heat aud moving, the lumber became split 

 and warped until it refused to do good work. 

 Better lumber and workmanship would have 

 remedied this trouble. As it was, we got 

 about ;500 pounds of wax through it and then 

 did not get all melted. 



In order to get the best results the refuse 

 should be allowed to drain for days, yes, 

 even weeks. So we decided to rebuild aud 

 make some improvements. We will try and 

 make plain our new solar extractor and show 

 the advantages it possesses. We will make 

 some rude drawings to illustrate it that will 

 be much better than a lengthy description in 

 making it plain to the reader. 



Cut No. 1 is the ground plan. The walls 

 and partitions are of brick set on edge. A 

 small furnace is arranged to give heat from 

 b'^neath when desired. The partition divid- 



