54 



MONEY IN BEES IN AUSTRALASIA 



off the comb than any other bees ; blacks are the easiest. 

 A few bees may probably remain on the combs, but -these 

 are gently swept off with the brush or twig. Lift up 

 the robber-cloth and place the comb in the tank. If some 

 spare empty combs are on hand these should take the 

 place of the full ones. 



If the flow is very heavy, it is certainly an advantage 

 to place a sheet of foundation in the centre of the super, 

 when extracted combs are returned to the hive. The 

 bees will be gorged with honey after cleaning up the wet 

 combs, and the resultant wax will be used in drawing out 

 the foundation. If no spare combs are available to 

 replace the full ones, leave one or two hives without 

 combs for the day, giving them back at night. 



There is a rule that must on no account be broken. 

 If disease is present or suspected, each comb must 

 infallibly be returned to the hive it came out of. If 

 this rule is not rigidly observed, the first step toward 

 failure is already taken. 



When the tank is full (it usually takes about 3 hives 

 to provide sufficient ripe combs) it is wheeled into the 

 honey-house ready for the extracting operator. The 

 actual extracting of the combs necessitates the use of 

 certain machinery adapted to that purpose. 



UNCAPPING-KNIFB. 



FiGES 'i^i:^ 



Oil. 



LflUP 



Trble 





"Bingham" Uncapping Knife. 



After the combs of 

 honey are received into 

 the honey-house _ and be- 

 fore they are placed in the 

 extractor, it is essential 

 that the cappings be re- 

 moved. There is a special 

 tool (Fig. 28) for this 

 purpose known as the un- 

 capping-knif e ; it is made 

 on the heavy side to retain 

 the heat, and the edges 



