BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
shortly after the two-frame Cowan was introduced in this country(1890), there came a demand from the bee-keepers of the West, who produce honey by the carload, for machines that would do the work in a still more wholesale way than even the two-frame reversible Cowan. In response to the workmanship, four and six frame Cowan machines were made. The same principle of the swinging pockets was used in a large revolving reel, as in the two-frame machines, with this difference, that all the pockets were geared together so that when one was swung around all would be moved at the same time. In late years this has given way to the
ROOT's automatic public - frame HOMY-KATRATOR--TOP view.
ous times; but they were so complicated in their action, and so likely to get out of order, that they have never become popular.
Moreover, they required a reversal of the \(lpha\)-stable of only one part for a run of rank-handle in order to bring about a change in the position of the combs. This place-d a heavy strain on the gearwork, causing breakdowns, and very often stripping the cog-wheels of their teeth. This has all been overcome in the Marbach device, because the strain incident to reversing is placed entirely on the brake-layer, reflecting all stress on the gears. Another feature of this machine is that it can be reversed while in motion: a pressure on the brake-layer slows down the reel. when, presto: the combs are dropped the other side to in the fraction of a second-so quickly, indeed. that it seems like a slight-of-hand performance.
Power-driven honey-extractors.
In some localities, where a large amount of extracting has to be done, the extractors are driven by water-motors, gasoline-engine, or any other small power. Little gasoline-motors have now arrived at such a state of perfection that they are exceedingly reliable and efficient, and in view of the fact that a steam-engine is expensive, and that a water-motor is out of the question for most localities, the internal-combustion engine, driven by the force of an explosion. It is the most available power for this purpose.
In fact, any speed desired obtained-simply by a pressure on the lever that holds the filter used to increase the tension on the belt. This form of transmission of power
## Extractor
has been tested thoroughly, and found to be a success in every way.
Where a large amount of extracting is to de done, this gasoline-outfit, together with an eight-frame extractor, will almost pay for itself in one season.
in extractor run by hand power takes a good strong man, whose services can not usually be had for less than \(pprox\)2.00 a day.
But experiments have shown that a honey-extractor driven by power will do quicker and more thorough work. It is impossible by hand power to do a clean job of extracting; and the result is, the combs go back into the hive very wet. While a good portion of this honey will be stored hack, experience shows that a large part of it will be consumed by the bees.
Right and wrong principles in exhautors.
Some of the earlier machines sold in this country, notably the Peabody, made use of a revolving can without gearing. This was a mistake. For the last twenty years extrators have been built with _stationary_ cans, inside of which the comb-bockets, reversible or non-reversible, revolve, motion having imparted by gearing so that one turn of the crank-handle makes two or three turns of the baskets.
More extracted than comb.
Some of the advantages and disadvantages of using a honey-extractor in the airy are considered under the head of Extracted Honey. That more honey can be obtained by the use of the machine than by having it stored in section boxes in the shape of comb honey, all are agreed; but all are not agreed as to _how much_ more. If it is nicely sealed over as it should be before being extracted, we do not think more than half as much more will be obtained, on an average, although the amount is placed by many at a much higher figure. A beginner will be likely to get more extracted than if he relies upon having the bees work in sections; he will also be much more apt to take away too much, and to cause his bees to starve. This last is a an unfortunate feature attendant upon the use of the machine, especially where the bee-keeper is prone to carelessness and negligence. To secure the best results with the extractor, plenty of empty combs should be provided, that ample room may be given, in case the hives should become full before the honey is rip enough to remove. If a second story does not give room sufficient, add a third for a heavy stock, during a good yield of honey.
_IHOW TO EXTRACT:_
Much will depend on whether one has a large amount of honey to be extracted, or whether he is only a novice and wishes to use the simpler and cheaper methods. If the keeps bees in only a small way, and probably will not extract to exceed a thousand pounds in a season, the ordinary Novice extractor will answer his purpose : but as he seldom foresees that he may go into the busine's extensively, it would be better to purchase the two-frame reversible extractor, as the difference in cost is very slight. One of these will save labor, do quicker work, and more of it.
Having selected the machine, it should be replaced on a box or hive-body about as large as the bottom of the cans, and about as high as an ordinary water-puli; that is to say, the extractor should be elevated high enough so that the honey-gate may empty into a com
In our point, something as shown in the above illustration. Both box and extractor should be securely anchored down. As fast as the honey is extracted it is to be drawn off pull-ful after painful, and then poured into keys, square eans, or any large receiving-vat for holding the honey. This filling and emptying of the palls may seem to involve quite a little labor; but one of the largest honey-producers in the world, Mr. W. L. Coggshall, uses identically this method.
Some prefer to have the extractor on a higher box so that the honey-gate can stand just over the bunghole of a barrel, thus allowing the honey to go directly from the comb into the marketing-package. But this necessitates raising the extractor to a point so high in the air that it is inconvenient to work, and awkward to put in and remove the combs. It is, therefore, desirable that the machine should be as close to the door as possible on a low box. low enough so we can run the honey into the pall, or direct into square eans; but if the honey is first run into an open tin pall, its quality, and whether or not there are dead bees floating in it, can be seen before it is emptied into the regular marketing-packages.
For a strainer a cheese-eloth suck attached to the honey-gate will answer very well in a small way, although something more elaborate will have to be used where the veratconsists of a large tin funnel with perpendicular sides, having oblong V-shaped pieces of tin soldered across the bottom and up and down the sides on a perpendicular line and at regular intervals, so that when the wire-cloth basket is put inside it will be held
EXTRACTOR.
Where the production of extracted honey goes up into the earlward, or the tens of thousands of pounds, it is advisable to have an extracting-building located on a side hill, the first floor of which should be on a level with the top of the hill, and the basement floor even with the base of the hill. The combs from the hives are then to be run on a compact on a direct level with the extractor, which in this case will stand on the floor. In the room or basement below, just beneath the extractor, and communicating directly with it through a hole or pipe, should be a large storage-tank that will hold from 5000 to 10,000 lbs. of honey at a time. Into this the honey runs direct from the extractor as fast as it is taken. From this the honey will be drawn off into square eans, the latter to be loaded on a wagon at the base of the hill. The illustration next page shows somewhat how such buildings are used in California. Others use a pipe connecting directly with the honey-gate of the extractor, and leading directly to a storage-tank that is on a lower level, and off at one side. In either case the extractor is, of course, secured to the floor, and the operator is thus enabled to exert his power to the best advantage.
As to the building itself, some put up a cheap structure as shown in the illustrations; but in every ease it should be well the carradonds. While the carrying-boxes may seem very crude, yet, used in the manner in which he uses them, in connection with this small building, they give excellent results with a minimum of labor.
Two men take the combs out of the hive, and shake or brush off the bees. While one is putting in fresh empty combs from which the filled ones have been taken, closing up the hive, and opening up another one, the other carries the combs just removed in the carrier to the man in the extracting-house. The sliding door at the right is lifted, and the combs, carrier and all, are pushed inside and the door drops, shutting out all possible robbers. In the same way the empty combs are removed in another carrier from the other door at the left, and so on the process continues. The quick opening and closing of the slide doors prevents robbers from getting at the work inside. The three men thus working, changing place every nowand then to relieve the monotony, are able to take out several thousand pounds of honey in a day. As the ground is very hilly and rough at this yard, a wheelbarrow would be out of the question.
It will be noted that the tin pipe going down through the floor, connecting with the honey-gate (see cuts page 178) passes down through the yard and communicates with a large open honey-tank inside of a small building not shown. The whole arrangement, from start to finish, is unique and perfect for the conditions mentioned.
Where the ground is comparatively level, and no steep grades, a wheelbarrow or hand-cart, preferably with pneumatic tires, as described a little further along, would, perhaps, be better. Other bee-keepers make a very small extracting-house that can be lifted up on wagon-wheels, and carried from one yard to another. It sometimes happens that localities change, and then it becomes desirable to move the extracting-house.
E. F. Atwater, of Meridian, Idaho, uses a building which he can take down, load on a wagon, and set up at any spot desired.
Still others prefer a genuine portable extracting-house--that is, a house permanently on wheels; such as the one shown in the next illustration, used by W. D. Jefferson, of Safford, Arizona. Low wide-tired iron wheels are used, and a platform wide enough to extend out over and even with the outer edges of the wheels, and long enough to give sufficient room for extracting purposes, is mounted just high enough to clear the wheels. beneath the platform is a long shallow galvanized link, hanging between the front and rear axleletrees, that will hold 200 gallons. On the top of it is built a light skeleton-like structure, the upper portion of which is screened with wire cloth. This house on wheels is equipped with extractor, unappiping-knives, meapping-tunk, and all. The extractor is placed just over the tank; and as fast as the honey is thrown out it runs down into it.
The screen door is made to open outward, and the building is provided with Porter a foot-lever closing device over the hive.
The structure is large enough to take care of an ordinary day's extracting; but to provide for emergency, mother wagon has a tank holding 200 gallons mounted low so that the honey can run from the tank of the extracting-house into another tank. This extracting - wagon is drawn from yard to yard; and the honey, as fast as taken, is hauled home, leaving none at the yards where thieves can molest. On the whole, the Jefferson outfit has many features to recommend it; and in some localities, where roads are reasonably good, but where light-fingered people exist, it is the very best arrangement.
Taking the combs to the extractor.
We next come to the matter of getting the combs out of the hives, transporting them to the extractor, and uncapping them. We shall need a wheelarrow or handcart\(=\) preferably latter, for the wheels are large, and the burden is sustained entirely by the cart.
cooessiall's extracting-caint.
This, as will be seen, is nothing but a handcart without a box. The tray or bottom has cleats around the outer edges, to hold the hive bodies or supers that are placed thereon from sliding. This cart, with the supers, is run close to a hive, over the whole four, or over each one individually, may be pld or a wet cloth or clothes, the purpose of which is to shut out rubber bees that may be hovering around; for bees are disinclined to push up under _wet_ cloth.
Some prefer a light spring wheelarrow holding one or two empty hive-bodies. Mr. William Lossing, or Arizona, makes use of a foot-lever closing device over the hive.
Mr. L. E. Mercer, of California, uses a sort of two-wheel barrow with pneumatic tires, and a long box in which to receive the combs. The bicycle-tires and wheels make the vehicle much better for carrying the combs over ordinary rough ground.
getting the bees off the combs.
We next open the hive, pull out one comb and give it a rapid shaking motion in front of the entrance. The Coggshill or the German bee-brush attached to our person by means of a string will brush off the remaining bees. The frame should be
er, or by a pinch on the floor to give the right height, which is the way I do when my wife uncaps.
I know many will think this box unnecessarily large, I will tell you why I think it is not. When unempting over a round can like Dadan'ts, the cappius fall on top of those taken off earlier in the day; and when the can is half full the honey has to pass through such a pile of comppius that it takes a long time for all to run out; and when you put the cappius in the sun exterior they are heavy with honey. With this box, when a pile of cappius accumulates under the knife we take a four-tined fork and pitch them over to the other end, where they may drain for 4 or 5 days. There is a small stream of honey running out of the box all the time, day and night, during the characterizing and when the cappius go into the sun exterior they are almost dry. I think it pays well for the extra space in the box, because all the honey which goes into the sun exterior is spoiled for the market.
The TOWSNED UNCAPPING-Box,
M. E. D. Townsend, of Remus, Mieh., has made an improvement in the McIntyre unemapping-box, and we hereby submit a cut and description of it as well as a cut and description of his honey-strainer and weighing-machine:
Our McIntyre uncappius-box is made of galvanized steel, and is 4 ft. long, 2 ft. high, 2 ft. wide, as shown in the equraying. The slanted frame work at the bottom is made a little smaller than then so that it may be easily removed to be washed. As there is only a 1-inch space under this frame for honey storage, we leave the gate open all the time so that nearly all of the room in the tank is available for the storage of cappius, as it should be.
The engraving does not show the frame at the top correvity, for the long side-pieces should be close enough together so that the frames can hang between them as though they were in the hives. After the money is extracted, the combs may be placed back in this rack ; but the principal value of the arrangement consists in providing a place where the _unoxapped_ combs may be hung to drip before they are extracted, for in this way no extra apparatus is needed.
The two short pieces of the framework at the top should be- unified on the bottom of the long side-pieces about \(\Gamma_{1}\) inches from either end. It can be seen that, when the long side-pieces rest on top of the tank, the short cross-pieces fit just inside, keeping the framework from sliding either way, and yet allowing it to be easily removed when the cappius are taken out. The metal pieces containing mailpoints can be tracked on in any position to suit the convenience of the operator.
We have used many different designs of uncapping-boxes, but none seem to me quite so convenient as this McIntyre box. It will hold all of the couplings from one extracting in a jard of ordinary size. We use a six-tined short-handled fork for handling the cappius, and each morning the day escapings from the day before are pitched up toward one end of the tank, and in this way the honey from the new couplings does not have to drain through the dry ones over and over again as it would if we were to uncap on top of the couplings left from the day before. In one instance we had more empius than we could keep in the tank, and a sugar barrel with a perforated bottom was set over a small steel washout, and the dry couplings pitched into it. In this way the capacity of the tank may be said to be unlimited. The advantage of the large area of the bottom is that the honey drains out of the enpings much better if they are spread out in a thin layer than it could in a deep tank where the bottom is comparatively small.
The strainer can is elevated in order to run the honey from the gate into a 60-point can set on the scales. The gate is open all the time except when
## Extraction
inside the "chime," "There is still another plan of supporting the barrel that has the advantage of furni thing handles with which to lift the barrel, and that is to nail two slats of wood to the sides of the barrel, about four inches from the lower end. The slats are nailed to opposite sides of the barrel, at right angles to the staves, and are long enough so that the ends rest upon the upper edge of the rubber. The only objection to this plan is that the ends project out slightly beyond the edges of the tub, and are just a little in the way.
## Capping-Melters
The unenapping arrangements so far described have been merely receptacles for holding theappings and allowing the honey to drain out, the couplings themselves being rendered into wax at some later time. During the last year or two in California and other parts of the country considerable interest has been shown in devices that would melt the couplings as they dropped from the honey-knife and at the same time separate the wax and honey.
One of the most practical forms of these equiping-melters is that shown herewith..As will be seen it consists simply of a can with in a can, the space between being filled with water kept hot by means of a gasoline or blue-flame kerosene-burner underneath. At the bottom of the inner can is a tube extending out through the water-jacket to a "te" on the outside, and around this exit, on one side of the inner can, semicircular screens are arranged to prevent the unmelted capplugs from passing out of the gate--a coarse one to catch the heavier particles and a fine one to stop smaller particles not caught by the other. There is room for one or more uncapping-knives to hung down into the hot water between the two cans, as shown, so that if one desires to use the hot knife he may do so with no extra attachment for heating. When in actual use a cross-arm with a nail-point as shown or a large wooden box may be set over the top of the can with flaring bottom through which the cupings drop into the can beneath. This box provides a somewhat more convenient place to work and gives more room besides, and is to be preferred to the cross-arm.
Experience has shown that the gate at the bottom of the melter should be left open all the time so that the honey may pass out as quickly as possible. In this way the danger of overheating it is greatly lessened; in fact, if the work is properly done, there need be no overheating of the honey, the temperature of the honey ordinarily running from the gate being such that the finger is not burned if held in the stream for ten or fifteen seconds.
Many have believed that such an apparatus in an extracting room would be objectionable on account of the heat, but it has been shown that the heat is so largely used in warming the honey and melting the wax that but little radiates out into the room.
The stream of honey and wax from the melter may be run directly into a pair or can; and as soon as this one can is full it may be set aside and an empty one put in its place. In a few hours' time the layer of wax on top of the honey will have hardened enough so that it may be lifted off and the honey poured through the regular strainer together with that from the extractor. Or, the receiving can may be provided with a gate at the bottom so that the honey may be drawn off at intervals as fast as the can becomes full. In this way the layer of wax remains permanently in the can until the next day, when it is lifted out before beginning work.
## Extractor.
The most convenient plan, however, for the machines can be obtained direct from disposing of the hot honey and wax that run from the melter is to have the stream pass directly into an Aikin honey and wax separator, a diagram of which is shown herewith. The wax being lighter than honey floats on the top of it and may be drawn off when it reaches a certain level. If desired. The honey being heavier than the wax settles to the bottom and runs down under the division in the can and from thence up and out of the honey outlet as indicated.
We have found that this separator works well in every way except that the wax has a tendency to chill somewhat, and to overcome this difficulty we enclose the separator in a non-lax-tail-line-switch a funnel through one end to allow the honey and wax to run in from the melter. The wooden box confines the heatenough so that there is no chilling of the wax, and by the next morning all the wax may be lifted off in one solid cake, which needs only scraping on the bottom to make it in good shape for market. The quality of the wax secured in this way is very good, being practically equal to that secured from a solar wax-extractor.
The capping-melter shown in the engray is 15 inches in diameter and 16 inches high, and the water-jacked holds about a half of water. This is about as large a melter as can be operated over a single-burner gasoline-stove. If more capacity is needed it would be advisable to use an oval-shaped melter, perhaps of the size of a large wash-boller, and a two-burner stove.
The value of a capping-melter is at once apparent, for it is impossible with ordinary methods to get _all_ of the honey out of the earplings : and besides the honey saved, there is a great saving in time and labor, the wax being automatically rendered in good shape for market as fast as the honey is extracted. In an apiary of any size this saving of honey and labor will soon pay for an outfit of this kind. Almost any tirsmith can construct a melter as described, of heavy tin, or the machines can be obtained direct from dealers.
Besides melting cappings, these double cans are excellent for liquefying candled honey on a small scale. On account of the water-jacket there is no danger of burning the honey, and that which liquefies runs out immediately so that it is not subjected to the heat longer than is really necessary.
UNcapping-knives.
There are two forms of uncapping-knives used. One, the Novice, has a thin flexible blade, made of steel. The other, the Bingham, has a thick flat trovel-shaped unyielding blade having edges beveled on the under side. The first mentioned will do uncapping, and is very handy for scraping bottom-boards or removing burr-combs on the inside of the hive. Being thin and flexible it will fit curved surfaces; but for uncapping only it is in no sense to be compared with the Bingham.
An improved form of the Bingham knife is shown in the next illustration. The shank connecting the knife and the blade has circular projections on each side forming a part of the shank, and folded at right angles so as to afford a good solid strip to the thumb and fore finger. As the blade is on a different plane from the handle, one can get a better grip, and a closer one to the blade, itfollowing.