482 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
is helpful to use the knife hot; the best plan being 
to have a pair — one standing in heated water while 
the other is in hand. The water should not boil, 
or the wax will be melted and adhere to the knife, 
delaying the operation. Some advocate making the 
cut downwards, with a drawing movement, allowing 
gravity to curl the cappings away from the knife ; 
I, and most others, prefer to make it upwards (as 
at B), turning the cappings into a receptacle, in 
Fig. 119 .— Uncappi.ng-knife and Details. 
A, Knife seen from beneath. B, Section of Comb and Knife (Scale, Sealing 
bl. Blade. C, Section of Blade. 
which is fixed on edge a thin piece of soft wood, as 
a scraper for the knife. 
Efforts are being made to produce a machine 
which shall perform the tedious work of uncapping. 
Mr. Simmins uses serrated knives, acting simulta- 
neously upon the two faces of the comb, which 
passes down between. Flat finishing is essential, 
and this is achieved by using, in an upper storey, 
thin wooden dividers (separators), with ifin. full 
interspaces. The combs in these are capped so 
evenly that the knives catch every cell. 
Mr. Hooker has recently patented an uncapping 
