Improvements in the Manufacture of Artificial Honey-combs.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Apr., 1893-Accepted, 17th June, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Artificial Honey-combs.
We, GEORG BERNHARD AUGUST JUNG, Teacher, of 15 Breitestrasse, Hirschen-
dorf, near Eisfeld, Thüringen, and ERNST CAMMER, Duke's Chief-ranger, of
Hildburghausen, both in the Empire of Germany, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The building of the natural honey-combs costs the bees weeks of hard work.
In order to save the bees this trouble, and to allow them at the same time to make
use of the time which would have been spent for building the honey-comb, for
other purposes, it is advantageous to substitute the natural boney-comb by an
artificial one, as in practice it has been found that the bees place the pollen of
flowers just as willingly into the artificial as in the natural honey-comb. Several
of the artificial honey-combs, made of wax and closely imitating the natural
honey-comb, are hung parallel to each other in the bee-hive. But in making use
of the artificial honey-comb the following defects have been observed.
The high temperature prevailing in the bee-hives often causes the honey-combs
to elongate and to bulge so that some of the bulged-out parts of several honey-
combs stick together and thus prevent the working bees from feeding a number
of the young which are developed in these cells stuck together and which therefore
die off.
The honey is usually separated from the wax by means of centrifugal machines,
into which the honey-combs are placed after having been previously provided with
a suitable frame so as to allow the centrifugal action to force the honey out of the
cells. The unavoidable disadvantage in connection with this treatment is that the
honey-combs break and it becomes necessary to stick the broken parts together
with paper or other suitable material. Now it has been found in practice that the
bees avoid these mended parts which therefore become useless.
The object of the present invention is to overcome these great disadvantages by
inserting in the middle, between the two sides of the honey-comb, a corrugated
core of sheet metal or other suitable material to resist the strain and prevent the
bulging-out or elongating and breaking of the honey-combs.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 represents an apparatus for the manufacture of the improved artificial
honey-combs.
Figure 2 shows a plan of a honey-comb.
Figure 3 is a section on the line x-x of Figure 2, in which a (Figures 2 and 3)
represents the corrugated core while 6 b represent the cells.
These artificial honey-combs are manufactured by the apparatus hereinafter
described and illustrated at Figure 1.
A vessel d containing water is supported by brickwork above a fire-grate c, a
second vessel e containing wax being placed inside the vessel d. The water in the
vessel d, being suitably heated, causes the wax in the vessel e to melt and keeps it
at an even temperature. A number of loose rollers, 113, are provided, some
above and some inside the vessel e, for the purpose of guiding the strengthening
sheet. The rollers 12 14 are kept constantly wet, so as to prevent the corrugated
sheet coated with wax in the vessel e from sticking to the said rollers. Another
vessel, f, containing water and provided with an internal roller g, is used for the
purpose of cooling the wax coating adhering to the corrugated sheet and to prepare
it for the formation of the cells, for which purpose the rollers are provided
with suitable indentations in their peripheries for forming the cells.

page_text: The process is carried out in the following manner :-
The corrugated sheet k (intended to form the core) is rolled on the loose roller i
and is fed over the roller i and enters the vessel e where it becomes coated with a
layer of wax, which, on its way to the roller 12, becomes cooled in consequence of
the slow movement of the apparatus. As previously mentioned the roller (2 is kept
wet so as to prevent the wax from adhering to the said roller. The metal sheet k
is again caused to enter the wax bath by passing under the roller 13 when the first
wax coating is increased to the required thickness. The metal sheet then passes
over the roller, which, as aforesaid, is kept wet, and thence under the roller g
situated in the cooling vessel f in order to cool the wax thoroughly. The metal
sheet, thus coated on both sides with a layer of wax, is now ready to be stamped
with cells, which is done by passing it through the pressure rollers h ', whereby
the unbreakable honey-combs are pressed into the form illustrated in Figures 2
and 3.
It is obvious from the foregoing description that this new kind of honey-comb is
very strong, while the apparatus shown in Figure 1 is simple in its construction and
sure in its working, which are very important features.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. An artificial honey-comb having an internal resisting core made of corrugated
sheet metal or other suitable material and adapted to suit the requirements of bees,
substantially as herein shown and described.
2. The process of manufacturing artificial honey-combs as above claimed in
which a strip of the required length and width of the strengthening sheet is fed
by suitable rollers and passed once or several times through melted wax heated
by means of hot water and thence through a cooling vessel, after which it is passed
between a pair of pressure rollers which form the wax into the form of honey-comb
cells, substantially as herein shown and described.
Dated this 21st day of April 1893.