64 MONEY IN BEES IN AUSTRALASIA 



form ; this jelly-like consistency militates against its 

 removal from the combs with the centrifugal extractor, 

 and Scottish apiarists handle it with a specially 

 constructed press. Australasian bee-keepers fortunately 

 have little difficulty with the honey of the native plants, 

 though some seasons the dark nectar secreted by the tea- 

 tree (L. lanigcrum) will refuse to leave the comb except 

 for a few small pieces the size and shape of the cells. 

 When the apiary is situated near considerable areas of 

 tea-tree the trouble becomes acute. (See under head of 

 "Honey."). 



POWER EXTRACTORS. 



Where the produce of the apiary runs into tons of 

 honey per annum, the power-driven extractors become 

 a necessity. The large machines are very strongly made, 

 and the reel carrying the baskets is suspended from ball- 

 bearings located just under the geared cogs. The band 

 brake and slip gear are illustrated in Fig. 37. The 

 extractors (Fig. 36) manufactured by the Root Co. of 

 U.S.A., are remarkable for a unique and simple method 

 of reversing instantaneously the four, six, or eight 

 baskets of the various machines. As stated above, the 

 reel is worked on a ball-race, and a band brake is attaclied 

 to the top of the reel. Each of the baskets have what 

 is practically half a cog wheel on the top of the hinge, 

 and an arm connected to the centre of the reel extends 

 over the hinge. The underside of this arm directly over 

 the half-cog is in mesh with it. The arm is pivoted 

 midway to the reel, and after speeding up, a pressure on 

 the brake lever causes the arms to move to the right or 

 left as the case may be, and so reverses the baskets 

 without stopping the machine. 



The slip gear is modelled after the free-wheel of the 

 bicycle. When speeded up a lever is pulled down, which 

 forces the bevelled driving cogs out of gear, permitting 

 the reel to run "free-wheel" on the ball bearings. The 

 large-sized honey-extractors are rather too heavy for 

 hand-power, and the low cost of working an oil engine 



