The Production of Extracted-Honey 
299 
as it leaves the extractor. For small operations, it may 
simply be run through a cheese-cloth bag, greater surface 
being given by supporting the cheese-cloth on wire netting 
(Fig. 123). Another type is known as the gravity strainer. 
In this, the honey runs into a tank with a partition having 
an opening at the bottom through which the honey can pass 
to another compartment. No honey flows from the outlet 
until it fills the strainer to the level of the upper outlet and 
most of the larger foreign particles rise to the top in the 
first chamber allowing the honey to pass off relatively free 
from foreign material. Gravity strainers are widely used 
and can readily be made to any desired capacity. They 
are usually combined with 
a strainer of cheese-cloth 
(Fig. 122) to get out more 
of the impurities. 
Storage lanlcs. 
From a strainer of any 
type it is advantageous 
to run honey into a tank 
so that particles that pass 
the strainer will have an 
opportunity to rise to the 
top, the honey always be¬ 
ing drawn from the bot¬ 
tom. Many beekeepers, 
however, run honey di¬ 
rectly from the strainer 
into cans or barrels. The 
extra settling in the tank not only removes more small 
particles of wax, but allows air bubbles to escape and also 
allows any surplus water to evaporate in dry weather. 
Large tanks of a capacity of several tons are often used by 
California beekeepers (Fig. 124). If the tank is outside 
the extracting house, it should be covered tightly to keep 
out robber bees as well as dirt. Outdoor tanks are not 
Fig. 124. — Honey storage tanks. 
