The invention of the honey extractor was an event of major importance in the development of the beekeeping industry. As is so often the case, it was the result of an accidental observation. It was in 1865 that Major Hruschka, an Austrian of Vienna who later moved to Dolo, near Venice in Italy, gave his small son a piece of comb honey on a plate. Placing the honey in a basket, the boy swung the basket around his head as children commonly do when carrying any kind of object. When Hruschka saw that the honey was thrown from the comb by the motion, the idea of the extractor was born. Such is the story commonly told, although historians question the facts. They say the extractor was born of long search for a way to remove the honey.

Once the power of centrifugal motion was recognized, it came into use among the beemen of the civilized world very rapidly. Langstroth, among other Americans, at once recognized its value and soon had made a machine for his own use. He, apparently, first learned of the discovery through German sources, since his announcement in the American Bee Journal in April, 1868, tells of "a plan devised in Germany for emptying the honey from the comb, without injuring the comb. " He gave a picture of his machine and an enthusiastic report of the success of the new equipment.

Later, in his personal reminiscences published in Gleanings in 1893, Langstroth mentions the extractor with the regret that he had been unable to grasp the possibility when he had observed the water flying from a grindstone, or mud from a carriage wheel. He was actually making use of the principle by emptying the contents of the combs, by filling the combs with water to get rid of partly grown drone larvae and then with a swift motion of the outstretched hands flinging out the water and the larvae. He expressed the opinion that the honey emptying machine should never have been called by any other name than a Hruschka, in honor of the man who first made it.

Once the American beekeepers learned of the principle involved in the extractor, there were a great many applications of it. Since no manufactured machine was available in the market, every man built one according to his own ideas, and each made some changes in the model to meet his peculiar conditions.

Major Hruschka is credited with the invention of the honey extractor.

For a time there was much seeking for a name which would carry the correct impression of the new machine. Honey emptying machine was the first term employed, but that was cumbersome and unsatisfactory. Some called it "Honey Slinger, " which was not much better. It was not long until the term "extractor" came into use.

Charles Dadant's account of his first extractor is typical of the efforts of the beekeepers to take advantage of the new invention. He had the local tinner make the big can, while the blacksmith forged the iron frame to support the baskets. The baskets were made of fly screen, which soon had to be reinforced to keep the combs from breaking through. A butcher knife was used to uncap the combs. Many combs were broken but the honey was thrown out and much enthusiasm resulted.

Moses Quinby took an old fanning mill used for cleaning grain and used the parts to make his first extractor. The fans were removed and wire cloth stretched around the four sides. A box set in the frame was made to revolve by means of the gearing which had moved the fanning mill. It is said that Quinby was enthusiastic beyond words when he saw the honey thrown from the combs by the new device. This crude beginning did not satisfy him for long, and he built another in more workable form. Root's ABC of Bee Culture is authority for the statement that it was the Quinby pattern which served A. I. Root for the beginning of his experiments which, after much improvement, was placed on the market under the name of "Novice's Extractor. "

Langstroth's extractor was the first made in America.

In the second issue of Gleanings, Root gave directions for making an extractor at a cost not exceeding five dollars. This was described in great detail to enable any handy workman to construct it. For gearing, an apple parer was used with parts not needed removed. A little later he offered the inside work of an extractor for two dollars and when gearing was also wanted, at $3. 50, made to fit either a seventeen- or twenty-inch can.

It is not surprising that hundreds of devices making use of the centrifugal motion were made for the purpose of throwing out the honey. Root commented editorially on Draper's dollar extractor, which was a metal case much like a dripping pan with a sheet of wire cloth, framed in tin, laid over the top. The comb was laid on this and the whole apparatus whirled around the head by means of four cords fastened at the corners. Crude as it was, it was said to work.

In the American Bee Journal for January, 1870, was described the Peabody extractor, invented by H. O. Peabody of Boston. This invention was patented in 1869 and appears to have been the first extractor manufactured for sale. All machines previously described were accompanied by detailed descriptions to enable those interested to make them, but this announce ment advised those interested to send for circulars. The Peabody extractor differed from others in that the can with contents rotated on a pivot instead of having baskets to revolve inside the can. The description as first published follows: