IMPLEMENTS. © 49 
HONEY EXTRACTORS AND HONEY KNIVES. 
The honey extractor (fig. 33) consists of a large can, within which a 
light metal basket revolves. The full combs of honey, from which the 
cappings of the cells have been removed by a sharp knife, are placed 
inside the basket and after several 
rapid revolutions by means of a sim- 
ple gearing are found to have been 
emptied oftheir contents. The combs, 
only very slightly damaged, can then 
be returned to the hives to be refilled 
by the bees. If extra sets of combs 
are on hand to supply as fast as the 
bees need the room in which to store 
honey, great yields can often be ob- 
tained. A good extractor should be 
made of metal, and the basket in 
which the combs are revolved should 
- be light, strong, and doubly braced 
on the outside so that the wire-cloth ————— 
surface, against which the eombs Fic, 33.—Williams’ automatic reversible 
: : : honey extractor. 
press, will not yield. The wire cloth 
used, aS well as all interior parts of the extractor, should be tinned, 
as acids of honey .act on galvanized iron, zine, iron, etc. Wire cloth 
made of coarse wire and with meshes one-half inch square is often 
used, but it injures the surface of new combs and those very heavy 
with honey morethan that made 
of about No. 20 wire and with 
one-fourth-inch meshes. 
For removing the wax cov- 
ering with which the bees close 
the fullcellsa peculiarly shaped 
knife, known as an uncapping knife, is needed (figs. 34 and 35). The 
blade, which should be of the finest steel to hold a keen edge, is fixed 
at such an angle with the handle as to keep the hand that grasps the 
latter from rubbing over the surface of the comb or the edges of the 
frames. The form of knife with 
curved point is best adapted to 
reach any depression in the comb, 
which, if uncapped and emptied 
of its honey, will likely next time 6. 35.—Bingham & Hetherington uncapping 
be built out even with the general oa 
surface. Dipp:ng the knife in hot water facilitates rapid work, and 
of course the heavier-bladed knives hold the heat better than thin- 
bladed ones, and are for this reason preferred by some; also because 
they more surely lift the capping clear from the surface of the comb. 
4526—No. 1——-4 
Fig. 34.—Quinby uncapping knife. 
