188 MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 



CHAPTER XII. 



EXTRACTING, AND THE EXTRACTOR. 



The brood-chamber is often so filled with honey that the 

 queen has no room to lay her eggs, especially if there is any 

 neglect to give other room for storing. Honey, too, in brood- 

 combs is unsalable, because the combs are dark, and the size 

 undesirable. Comb, too, is very valuable, and should never 

 be taken from the bees, except when desired to render the 

 honey more marketable. Hence, the apiarist finds a very 

 efficient auxiliary in the 



HONEY EXTRACTOR. 



No doubt some have expected and claimed too much 

 for this machine. It is equally true, that some have blun- 

 dered quite as seriously in an opposite direction. For, since 

 Mr. Langstroth gave the movable frame to the world, the 

 apiarist has not been so deeply indebted to any inventor as to 

 him who gave us the Mell Extractor, Horr von Hruschka, of 

 Germany. Even if there was no sale for extracted honey — 

 aye, more, even if it must be thrown away, which will never 

 be necessary, as it may always be fed to the bees with profit, 

 even then I would pronounce the extractor an invaluable aid 

 to every bee-keeper. 



The principle which makes this machine effective is that of 

 centrifugal force, and it was suggested to Major von 

 Hruschka, by noticing that a piece of comb which was twirled 

 by his boy at the end of a string, was emptied of its honey. 

 Herr von Hruschka's machine was essentially like those now 

 so common, though in ' lightness and convenience there has 

 been a marked improvement. His machine consisted of a 

 wooden tub, with a vertical axle in the centre, which revolved 

 in a socket fastened to the bottom of the vessel, while from the 

 top of the tub, fastenings extended to the axle, which projected 



