428 HONEY PRODUCTION. 



ands of trees fell under his ax, to yield the sweets that they 

 contained. This rough-and-ready bee-keeping, or rather 

 bee-kiUing, produced comparatively large quantities of 

 honey ; but, as this honey was nearly always badly broken up 

 and mixed with pollen, dead bees, and rotten wood, it be- 

 came customary to boil the honey, so as to force the impuri- 

 ties and the wax to rise on top with the scum. Hence the 

 cheap, liquid, dirty and opaque strained honey, dark in 

 color and strong in taste. By the side of this unwholesome 

 article, a little fancy comb honey was sold, that led to a 

 national preference for comb honey. 



But in view of the cost of comb to the bees (223), in honey, 

 time and labor, it was earnestly desired by progressive bee- 

 keepers, especially after the invention of the movable frames, 

 that some process be devised to empty the honey out of the 

 combs without damaging the latter, so that they could be 

 returned to the bees to be filled again and again. 



749. In 1865 the late Major de Hruschka, of Dolo, near 

 Venice, Italy, invented " JZ Smelatore," the honey ex- 

 tractor. 



It happened in this wise: He had given to his son, a 

 small piece of comb honey, on a plate. The boy put the 

 plate in his basket, and swung the basket around him, 

 like a sling. Hruschka noticed that some honey had been 

 drained out by the motion, and concluded that combs could 

 be emptied by centrifugal force. 



This invention was hailed, in the whole bee-keeping world, 

 as equal to, and the complement of, the invention of mova- 

 ble frames ; and it fully deserved this honor. 



750. As soon as we heard of the discovery, we had a 

 machine made. It was not so elegant as those which are 

 now offered by our manufacturers. It was a bulky and 

 cumbersome affair ; four feet in diameter and three feet 

 high ; yet it worked to our satisfaction, and we became con- 



