The Townsend Bee Book 55 
cappings left from the day before. In one instance we had more 
cappings than we could keep in the tank, and a sugar-barrel with 
a perforated bottom was set over a galvanized steel washtub, and 
the dry cappings pitched into it. In this way the capacity of the 
tank may be said to be unlimited. The advantage of the large 
area of the bottom is that the honey drains out of the cappings 
much better if they are spread out in a thin layer than it could in 
a deep tank where the bottom is comparatively small. 
The cost of the tank alone is about $4.00, the freight making 
it perhaps $5.00. We use the Perfection 114-inch gate, which costs 
75 ets. If the woodwork should cost $2.00, the entire expense of 
the tank complete would be about $7.75, and we think we have a 
much better and cheaper arrangement than a wooden box. 
The honey as it comes from the extractor is drawn off into a 
14-quart pail. We never make the mistake of leaving the extract- 
or-gate open all of the time, for it is too easy to forget and allow 
the pail to run over, making a big mess on the floor. In order to 
avoid this waste of honey we at one time went to the expense of 
having shallow pans made to catch the overflow in case we forgot. 
We now allow the pail to remain inverted over the strainer until 
the reel of the extractor begins to ‘‘ swim ’’ in the honey in the 
bottom of the extractor. We then draw off a pail of honey with- 
out letting go of the gate; for when the honey is warm it does not 
take one-fourth of a minute to fill the pail through the large gate, 
and there is no risk of running the pail over. There is also the 
advantage that the pail may be draining during the time when 
another pailful is being extracted. 
The strainer tank is of galvanized steel, and holds 15 or 20 
gallons of honey. A heavy wire selvage is put around the top to 
stiffen it; and as this wire is on the outside it is easy to fasten on 
the cheese-cloth strainer, which is held in place with a small rope 
drawn tight by being twisted with a stick. This cloth strainer 
must, of course, be fastened very firmly or it will go down into the 
can when a pail of honey is emptied on to it. At the bottom of the 
strainer-tank is a 114-inch Perfection gate through which the 
honey always runs in a round stream which is just right for filling 
the 60-pound screw-cap cans. Most of the other gates throw the 
stream to one side during the time they are being opened or closed, 
and some of the honey is, therefore, daubed over the side of the 
zan. All this is avoided by using the Perfection gate, which throws 
a round stream, no matter how wide it is opened. 
The strainer-can is elevated in order to run the honey from 
the gate into a 60-pound can set on the scales. The gate is open 
