CHAPTER XII.EXTRACTING, AND THE EXTRACTOR.
The brood-chamber is often so filled with honey that the queen has no room to lay her eggs, especially if there is any neglect to give other room for storing. Honey, too, in brood-combs is unsalable, because the combs are dark, and the size undesirable. Comb, too, is very valuable, and should never be taken from the bees, except when desired to render the honey more marketable. Hence, the apiarist finds a very efficient auxiliary in the
No doubt some have expected and claimed too much for this machine. It is equally true, that some have blundered quite as seriously in an opposite direction. For, since Mr. Langstroth gave the movable frame to the world, the apiarist has not been so deeply indebted to any inventor as to him who gave us the Mell Extractor, Herr von Hruschka, of Germany. Even if there was no sale for extracted honey—aye, more, even if it must be thrown away, which will never be necessary, as it may always be fed to the bees with profit, even then I would pronounce the extractor an invaluable aid to every bee-keeper.
The principle which makes this machine effective is that of centrifugal force, and it was suggested to Major von Hruschka, by noticing that a piece of comb which was twirled by his boy at the end of a string, was emptied of its honey. Herr von Hruschka's machine was essentially like those now so common, though in lightness and convenience there has been a marked improvement. His machine consisted of a wooden tub, with a vertical axle in the centre, which revolved in a socket fastened to the bottom of the vessel, while from the top of the tub, fastenings extended to the axle, which projectedfor a distance above. The axle was thus held exactly in the centre of the tub. Attached to the axle was a frame or rack to hold the comb, whose outer face rested against a wire-cloth. The axle with its attached frame, which latter held the uncapped comb, was made to revolve by rapidly unwinding a string, which had been previously wound about the top of the axle, after the style of top-spinning. Replace the wooden tub with one of tin, and the string with gearing, and it will be seen that we have essentially the neat extractor of to-day. As the machine is of foreign invention, it is not covered by a patent, and may be made by any one without let or hindrance. A good machine may be bought for eight dollars.
Fig. 58.
Fig. 58.
The machine should be as light as is consistent with strength. It is best that the can be stationary, and that only a light frame be made to revolve with the comb. It is desirable that the machine should run with gearing, not only for ease, but also to insure or allow an even motion, so that we need not throw even drone larvæ from the brood-cells. The arrangement for exit of the honey should permit a speedy and perfect shut-off. A molasses gate is excellent to serve for a faucet. I should also prefer that the can hold considerablehoney—thirty or forty pounds—before it would be necessary to let the honey flow from it.
In case of small frames, like the ones I have described as most desirable to my mind, I should prefer that the rack might hold four frames. Mr. O. J. Hetherington has found that winding the rack with fine wire, serves better than wire-cloth to resist the combs, while permitting the honey to pass. The rack should set so low in the can that no honey would ever be thrown over the top to daub the person using the machine. I think that a wire basket, with a tin bottom, and made to hook on to the comb-rack (Fig, 58,a, a) which will hold pieces of comb not in frames, a desirable improvement to an extractor. Such baskets are appended to the admirable extractor (Fig, 58) made by Mr. B. O. Everett, of Toledo, Ohio, which, though essentially like the extractor of Mr. A. I. Root, has substantial improvements, and is the cheapest, and I think the best extractor, that I have used or seen.
Fig. 59.
Fig. 59.
I have tried machines where the sides of the rack (Fig, 59) inclined down and in, for the purpose of holding pieces of comb, but found them unsatisfactory. The combs would not be sustained. Yet, if the frames were long and narrow, so that the end of the frame would have to rest on the bottom of the rack, instead of hanging as it does in the hive, such an incline might be of use to prevent the top of the frame from falling in, before we commence to turn the machine.
The inside, if metal, which is lighter and to be preferred to wood, as it does not sour or absorb the honey, should beeither of tin or galvanized iron, so as not to rust. A cover to protect the honey from dust, when not in use, is very desirable. The cloth cover, gathered around the edge by a rubber, as made by Mr. A. I. Root, is excellent for this purpose. As no capped honey could be extracted, it is necessary to uncap it, which is done by shaving off the thin caps. To do this, nothing is better than the new Bingham & Hetherington honey knife (Fig, 60). After a thorough trial of this knife, here at the College, we pronounce it decidedly superior to any other that we have used, though we have several of the principal knives made in the United States. It is, perhaps, sometimes desirable to have a curved point (Fig, 61), though this is not at all essential.
Fig. 60.
Fig. 60.
Fig. 61.
Fig. 61.
Although some of our most experienced apiarists say nay, it is nevertheless a fact, that the queen often remains idle, or extrudes her eggs only to be lost, simply because there are no empty cells. The honey yield is so great that the workers occupy every available space, and sometimes even they become unwilling idlers, simply because of necessity. Seldom a year has passed but that I have noticed some of my most prolific queens thus checked in duty. It is probable that just the proper arrangement and best management of frames for surplus would make such occasions rare; yet, I have seen the brood-chamber in two-story hives, with common frames above—the very best arrangement to promote storing above the brood-chamber—so crowded as to force the queen either to idlenessor to egg-laying in the upper frames. This fact, as also the redundant brood, and excessive storing that follows upon extracting from the brood-chamber, make me emphatic upon this point, notwithstanding the fact that some men of wide experience and great intelligence, think me wrong.
The extractor also enables the apiarist to secure honey-extracted honey—in poor seasons, when he could get very little, if any, in sections or boxes.
By use of the extractor, at any time or season, the apiarist can secure nearly if not quite double the amount of honey, that he could get in combs.
The extractor enables us to remove uncapped honey in the fall, which, if left in the hive, may cause disease and death.
By use of the extractor, too, we can throw the honey from our surplus brood-combs in the fall, and thus have a salable article, and have the empty combs, which are invaluable for use the next spring. We now have in our apiary one hundred and fifty such empty combs.
If the revolving racks of the extractor have a wire basket attachment, at the bottom as I have suggested, the uncapped sections can be emptied in the fall, if desired, and pieces of drone-comb cut from the brood-chamber, which are so admirable for starters in the sections, can be emptied of their honey at any season.
By use of the extractor, we can furnish at one-half the price we ask for comb-honey, an article which is equal, if not superior, to the best comb-honey, and which, were it not for appearance alone, would soon drive the latter from the market.
If extracted honey can be sold for fifteen, or even twelve cents, the extractor may be used profitably the summer through; otherwise use it sufficiently often that there may always be empty worker-cells in the brood-chamber.
It is often required with us during the three great honey harvests—the white clover, basswood, and that of fall flowers. I have always extracted the honey so frequently as to avoid much uncapping. If the honey was thin, I would keep it in a dry warm room, or apply a mild heat, that it might thicken, and escape danger from fermentation. Yet,so many have sustained a loss by extracting prematurely, that I urge all never to extract till after the bees have sealed the cells. The labor of uncapping, with the excellent honey knives now at our command, is so light, that we can afford to run no risk that the honey produced at our apiaries shall sour and become worthless.
If the honey granulates, it can be reduced to the fluid state with no injury, by healing, though the temperature should never rise above 200° F. This can best be done by placing the vessel containing the honey in another containing water, though if the second vessel be set on a stove, a tin basin or pieces of wood should prevent the honey vessel from touching the bottom, else the honey would burn. As before stated, the best honey is always sure to crystallize, but it may be prevented by keeping it in a temperature which is constantly above 80° F. If canned honey is set on top a furnace in which a fire is kept burning, it will remain liquid indefinitely.
To render the honey free from small pieces of comb, or other impurities, it should either be passed through a cloth or wire sieve—I purposely refrain from the use of the word strainer, as we should neither use the word strained, nor allow it to be used, in connection with extracted honey—or else draw it off into a barrel, with a faucet or molasses gate near the lower end, and after all particles of solid matter have risen to the top, draw off the clear honey from the bottom. In case of very thick honey, this method is not so satisfactory as the first. I hardly need say that honey, when heated, is thinner, and will of course pass more readily through common toweling or fine wire-cloth.
Never allow the queen to be forced to idleness for want of empty cells. Extract all uncapped honey in the fall, and the honey from all the brood-combs not needed for winter. The honey, too, should be thrown from pieces of drone-comb which are cut from the brood-frames, and from the uncapped comb in sections at the close of the season.
The apiarist should possess one or two light boxes, of sufficient size to hold all the frames from a single hive. These should have convenient handles, and a close-fitting cover,which will slide easily either way. These will be more easily used if they rest on legs, which will raise their tops say three feet from the ground. Now, go to two or three colonies, take enough combs, and of the right kind for a colony. The bees may be shaken off or brushed off with a large feather. If the bees are troublesome, close the box as soon as each comb is placed inside. Extract the honey from these, using care not to turn so hard as to throw out the brood. If necessary, with a thin knife pare off the caps, and after throwing the honey from one side, turn the comb around, and extract it from the other. If combs are of very different weights, it will be better for the extractor to use those of nearly equal weights on opposite sides, as the strain will be much less. Now take these combs to another colony, whose combs shall be replaced by them. Then close the hive, extract this second set of combs, and thus proceed till the honey has all been extracted. At the close, the one or two colonies from which the first combs were taken shall receive pay from the last set extracted, and thus, with much saving of time, little disturbance of bees, and the least invitation to robbing, in case there is no gathering, we have gone rapidly through the apiary.
Extracted honey, if to be sold in cans or bottles, may be run into them from the extractor. The honey should be thick, and the vessels may be sealed or corked, and boxed at once.
If large quantities of honey are extracted, it may be most conveniently kept in barrels. These should be first-class, and ought to be waxed before using them, to make assurance doubly sure against any leakage. To wax the barrels, we may use beeswax, but paraffine is cheaper, and just as efficient. Three or four quarts of the hot paraffine or wax should be turned into the barrel, the bung driven in tight, the barrel twirled in every position, after which the bung is loosened by a blow with the hammer, and the residue of the wax turned out. Economy requires that the barrels be warm when waxed, so that only a thin coat will be appropriated.
Large tin cans, waxed and soldered at the openings after being filled, are cheap, and may be the most desirable receptacles for extracted honey.
Extracted honey should always be kept in dry apartments.