296 THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW 



lower end of the smaller can, we stretch cheesecloth and tie it 

 firmly. When ready to begin extracting we set the smaller can 

 into the large tank, letting the cheesecloth rest on the bottom of the 

 main tank for the time being. The honey from the pump, or the 

 extractor, in case the extractor is located overhead, is piped into 

 this inner can. If the honey is poured into the tank from a pail it 

 is advisable to use a wooden float to break the force of the current 

 downward. As the work progresses the honey will gradually per- 

 colate through the cheesecloth at the bottom into the main tank 

 outside, the level in the two cans always remaining the same, or 

 practically the same. In case the bottom of the m.ain tank is flat 

 it is better to support the inner can by means of two sticks, one 

 nailed on each side of this inner can near the top and resting on the 

 upper edge of the main tank, the sticks being nailed at such a point 

 that the cheesecloth will be two or three inches from the bottom of 

 the main tank. When the level in both the inner and outer cans 

 has nearly reached the top, the honey may be drawn off at the bot- 

 tom into cans. 



It the honey is to be bottled it should be heated first and bot- 

 tled while hot in order to get rid of a large proportion of the air in 

 the honey and also to delay granulation. It may be proper to re- 

 mark at this time that honey that has passed through a honey 

 pump, other things being equal, is likely to granulate rather more 

 quickly than honey which has not yet been pumped. This ten- 

 dency to more rapid granulation is not very marked, however, un- 

 less the pump sucks some air through a leak on the intake side — 

 that is, between the pump and the extractor. It can readily be 

 seen that if this is the case the capacity of the pump is not only 

 reduced, but the amount of air introduced into the honey, even 

 though slight, and churned up with it, so to speak, is quite conduc- 

 ive to granulation. The process of extracting the honey from the 

 comh introduces some air unavoidably. In any case, however, heat- 

 ing is about the only way to expel bubbles of air. 



In drawing off the last of the honey from the gate at the bottom 

 of the main tank when the work is over, some time should elapse to 

 facilitate the clarifying of the honey on the gravity principle, so 

 that the cheesecloth will not have to be depended upon too much. 

 Then when the tank is finally emptied the cheesecloth will strain the 

 last of the honey without clogging up to any appreciable extent. We 

 have found that this combination of the gravity principle and the 

 cheesecloth strainer permits the use of one cheesecloth without 

 cleaning, longer than any other plan that we have ever tried, for the 



