Hi all,
 
 I've a short question, which I'll dispose of quickly, for those of your
who enjoy a small story or side information, I'll add that later.
 
 My question's this: I'm the new and happy recipient of a honey storage
tank and an extractor, which are prior-to-World-War-II vintage, but in
mint condition, which still bear the original labels from the Walter T.
Kelly company. The equipment has never been patched, but I notice the
seams are tinned. Could lead by a concern in using this equipment?
Should I paint the inside of this equipment with epoxy paint or some such
before using it? Or, given the short time that the honey is extracted
and the short time it's in the tank, is it OK to use as is?
 
Some old Walter T. Kelly gossip:
 
For those who enjoy a short story: My Dad's finally moved off the farm,
and wanted to get rid of all of his beekeeping stuff. A cautionary note
to all of you long-time beekepers: You might as well get rid of that old
equipment now- "Some Day" never comes. In addition, 8-frame supers and
deeps will probably never come back in fashion- [Anybody out there want
absolutely beautiful never-been-used 8-frame queen excluders? ;-) ]
There were also several large boxes of basswood comb-honey boxes, and
some large boxes of frames not yet put together (those I can use).
 
 I've often delighted in the no-nonsense "Now if you're going to do it,
do it right and don't cut corners" notes that Mr. Kelly puts with his
equipment. It may interest some of you to know that these typed messages
have evidently not changed since before WWII. Frames have changed a
little bit- Mr Kelly notes that in the interests of the War Effort he
"no longer" puts space board on the end of each frame. He also notes
that the new "victory style" of nailing the deeps uses only every other
nail hole, to conserve for the War Effort. The frames, however, have
four holes for wire instead of three that we now have. There are also
more cuts in the frames- The end wooden parts are tapered and beveled.
The bottom cross bars are not saw cut as they are now- it's a bit more
difficult to drive the nails there. The nails are much longer, but
thinner than they are now. They bend a bit easier and so are a bit more
work, but, on the other hand, I've never had any cross-bars to hold the
foundation fall out. In addition, the wood appears to be harder and
darker. On one hand, it's been sitting on a farm in Iowa for 50 years,
and so may just be dried out more, but I wonder if a different type of
wood wasn't used then.
 
 My father remembers sending his rendered wax via rail from Strawberry
Point Iowa to Peducah Kentucky in order to have his foundation worked
up. He also commented that, to his knowledge, Mr. Kelly also went down
to open the gate at the factory each morning and that Mr. Kelly was
quite commited to selling a good product at a reasonable cost.
 
 Well that's enough beekeeping "history" for the moment- thanks for
any suggestions on how to best make use of the settling tank and
extractor.
 
Phil Wood
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