HONEY PRODUCTION. 121 



Extracting. 

 Having cleared the frame super of bees, remove it 

 while the combs are warm to the room in which the 

 operation of extracting is to be carried on. Now lift 

 out a frame, stand it on end, and, commencing at the 

 bottom, shave off the cappings with a long, sharp, 

 uncapping knife (Fig. 39) that has been heated in a 

 can of hot water or special knife-heater. The knife 

 should be drawn along with an up-and-down saw-like 

 movement, and by holding the upper end of the frame 

 forward the cappings will hang in a sheet from the 

 comb and fall into a dish below, or into the can of 



Fig. 39. 



the comb-holder, if such a useful article is used. 

 Both sides of the comb must be uncapped and then 

 the frame placed in one of the cages of the extractor. 

 To balance it, and make the running easy, another 

 comb similarly prepared is put into the opposite cage. 

 It will be recollected that in a previous chapter the 

 upward pitch of the cells was referred to, and this 

 peculiarity must not now be ignored ; in fact, if it is, 

 the work of extracting will not be satisfactory. When 

 putting a frame into the cage of the extractor it 

 should be so placed that the bottom bar moves roimd 

 first, when the cages are set in motion. The honey 

 will then be thrown out in the direction in which the 

 cells are built. The wheel, or handle, attached to the 

 spindle round which the cages revolve, must then be 



