BEE MANUAL. 



151 



of the bands arms project two inches; each being furnished with 

 a pintle, which is made to fit in the socket-pieces, and so form 

 hinges like those of a field gate. These hinges allow of the 

 baskets being turned so as to take each other's place, and thus 

 bring the opposite side of the comb to the front, after one side 

 has been extracted. The baskets turn towards the centre. 



The spindle, or journal, is a fin. round iron bar, 37in. long. 

 A short distance from the top and bottom ends are two six- 

 sided nuts. From each of the six sides of each nut the sup- 

 porting arms of the framework project; these are made of fin. 

 round iron, their ends being screwed on to the framework. 

 The lower part of the spindle works in a socket fastened on to 

 the bottom of the case, while the top passes through a curved 

 bar of iron which is screwed on to opposite sides of the case. 



Fig. 67.— COWAN'S AUTOMATIC BASKET. 



A handle lOin. long fits on to the spindle above the bar of 

 iron, and is made secure by a screw-nut. At one side of the 

 bottom a honey-tap is fastened in, and the extractor is complete. 



The only alteration I found necessary to make, after some 

 trial of the machine, was to attach a gearing with multiplying 

 power, having the driving handle at the side instead of working 

 direct from the spindle, as in the figure. This enables the 

 operator better to regulate the speed and keep the basket 

 revolving at an uniform rate. With this machine one man can 

 do nearly three times as much work as with a two-comb 

 extractor, and with but little more labour. 



Mr. T. W. Cowan, who has done much to improve apiculture 

 in England, has invented an arrangement, shown above, by 

 which the baskets of the extractor are made to turn automati- 



