210 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



latest frames for the extracting combs. 

 are %-inch wide clear around. Then we 

 space IX -inch from center to center; 

 this gives us combs so thick that with 

 these narrow frames and a long Bingham 

 uncapping knife, we can, by cutting deep, 

 uncap a whole side of a Langstroth comb 

 at one stroke. This deep uncapping trims 

 these combs down to about an inch thick. 

 This item of additional wax secured is no 

 small consideration, but the main point is 

 the superior quality of the honey secured 

 in these thin combs, and I cannot see as 

 this drawing out of the combs each year 

 costs anything in particular, and we do 

 get some more wax. We see that our 

 nine-inch-long-blade Bingham uncapping 

 knife is sharp, take a frame of honey in 

 the usual way, place it on end, resting it 

 on two sticks above the uncapping tank. 

 With the left hand near the top, the frame 

 is held in a convenient position until we 

 get our knife started at the bottom end. 

 We start in clear across the comb, as we 

 expect to uncap at least 90 per cent, of it 

 the first time over. We hold the knife so 

 that the bevel on the under side is in line 

 with the comb. This will throw the lower 

 edge of the knife off, away from the 

 comb, nearly an inch. Now, as we start 

 upwards, drawing the knife slightly end- 

 wise, we begin to push the top of the 

 comb to the right until it stands perpen- 

 dicular. We go clear through the whole 

 length of the comb at one cut. If we do 

 a good job, the uncapping will be done, 

 except some spots in an uneven comb. If 

 the comb is held right, and the knife like- 

 wise, as has been explained, the cappings 

 will not touch the comb after being cut 

 off, but will go directly into the tank be- 

 low, and a few touches here and there 

 finish the work. 



With 1^4 -inch spacing we get great 

 fat combs of honey, and then we run our 

 uncapping knife deep, cutting the comb 

 clear down even with the frame, and there 

 is rarely ever a conib so uneven but the 

 knife will uncap it the first time over. It 

 is possible to uncap much faster, and 

 there are less combs to handle. 1 do not 



think it would be putting it too strong to 

 say that two. ten-frame upper stories, 

 with eight combs in, can be uncapped as 

 quickly as one with ten combs in, and then 

 the eight combs can be extracted in one- 

 fifth less time. 1 can not conceive of a 

 more puttering job then trying to uncap 

 narrow-spaced combs in thick top-bar 

 frames. Before we began to use wide- 

 spacing in the upper stories, it took two 

 of us most of the time to do the uncap- 

 ping, if we made any headway. Now, 

 since we adopted wide spacing, Delbert 

 alone, can uncap all the honey a four- 

 frame extractor can handle. Probably 

 the worst mistake made in uncapping, is 

 to hold the comb at such an angle that 

 the cappings, after being cut ofT, fall back 

 on the comb, necessitating going all over 

 the comb a second time to scrape off the 

 loose cappings, thus consuming more time 

 than it took to uncap in the first place. 

 Then others, when they have run their 

 knife, say, one-third the way over the 

 comb, or when they think they have all 

 the cappings their knife will hold, stop 

 and scrape their knife on the uncapping 

 tank, in fact it does seem as if some peo- 

 ple in trying to uncap honey, spent half 

 their time scraping and cleaning their 

 knife. The only time a knife needs clean- 

 ing is when one has been so bungling as 

 to get some particles of comb daubed 

 over the edge of the knife. 



A RACK FOR HOLDING UNCAPPED COMBS 



Imagine a hive body 20 inches wide, 

 without sides, with legs at each corner, 

 made of %, 3-inch strips nailed on the 

 outside of the ends, even with the top and 

 long enough so as to make it the right 

 height for convenience. The ends, instead 

 of being solid boards, are made of strips 

 two inches wide, 20 inches long and % of 

 an inch thick, without rabbets, then, down 

 on the legs, eleven inches from the top, 

 will be nailed more of the strips, and on 

 top of these strips four more will be nailed 

 at equal distances apart. These last are 

 to set the dripping pan on. More braces 

 can be nailed on lower down if necessary. 



