61 



out of 3 in. timber, to stand the strain, although it is perhaps not 

 necessary to have it so thick. No. 6 is a large wooden block placed on 

 the top of No. 5, when it no longer projects above the sides of the box. 

 The wheel is then screwed down on this block, which takes the pressure, 

 forcing down No. 5 on the cappings and squeezing out the honey. No. 7 

 is a little fixing for raising the box off the bottom, to enable the operator 

 to push the block of wax right through the box. Two bolts with big 

 heads are screwed into the top of the box on each side, so that when 

 No. 2 is screwed down tightly on No. 4 these bolts are in position, one 

 on each side of the lower portion of No. 2. The two No. 7 fixings are 

 then placed over the base of No. 2 and under the bolt -heads, so that when 

 the wheel is screwed up the box is lifted bodily off the bottom, when the 

 wax may be pushed right through. Each succeeding day when the 

 cappings have been pressed into solid blocks they are placed on one side 

 ready for melting down, and the honey can be run in with the extracted 

 honey, being just as pure in every particular. 



The Lenz press (Fig. 44) is a press much lighter in construction than 

 the Jacobsen, but is better for out-apiary work, being more easily shifted 

 about. It is made of i in. timber, and the sides of the box, the bottom 

 and top, are fitted with strips and perforated steel, the same as in the 

 Jacobsen press. When the block of wax is to be removed the box is 

 taken apart by loosening the thumb-screws marked No. 6 in the figure. 

 The box then comes readily apart. No. i is the top, No. 2 goes on top 

 of No. I, and several pieces marked No. 3, or as many as required, go 

 on top of No. 2 to make up the packing required as the cappings are 

 squeezed down. No. 4, of course, takes the pressure from the two 

 main screws numbered 5. No. 7 is. a tray to catch the honey, and is 

 shaped to a point in front. The whole is fixed on a stand 2 ft. 3 in. 

 high, and, although very simple, it does the work well. We highly 

 recommend this press for both large and small apiaries. 



Capping-melters and Thick-honey Reducers. 



There are a number of capping-melters on the market, and they do 

 away with the necessity for an uncapping-can. These melters require 

 to be placed over lamps or a small stove ; the combs are uncapped 

 directly over the melter, and the honey and wax is immediately 

 segregated. They are particularly valuable in apiaries where thick 

 honey is gathered by the b.ees and cannot be extracted, as a good melter 

 will rapidly demolish whole combs cut from the frames. There are 

 several different makes of melters in use in the Dominion — namely, the 

 Severin, the Beuhne, the Benton, and the Miller. 



SPRING FEEDING OF BEES. 



Lessons can always be learnt each successive season by the observant 

 man, and thus may be avoided those little mistakes which are a drain 

 upon profits, while an efficient system of bee-management will be 

 thereby evolved. Not the least important lesson to be taken from 

 previous experience is the necessity of providing stores in view of a pos- 

 sible unfavourable season. Next in magnitude to the losses of bees 

 which result from inattention to disease are those which occur in the 

 spring months through starvation. Few but experienced beekeepers 

 and those who suffer financially from losses realize how readily the fooa- 

 supply may become exhausted after breeding is in full swing in spring. 

 All beekeepers worthy of the name will take care that their bees never 

 run short of food, be it spring, summer, autumn, or winter. 



