Antique Honey Centrifuge.

Weimar Bee Museum, Germany. Ancient European centrifuge used to extract honey from bee honeycombs. This centrifuge was cranked by hand once the combs were stacked in the round barrel-type container, and the honey collected underneath in a drum. The trapdoor to access the container with honey can be seen in the lower right-hand corner of the photograph.

Bee keeping was and is an important industry. Honey was the main source of sweetener from ancient times to the 17th Century when cane sugar became available in Europe.

Beeswax was an expensive and sought after commodity in Europe as it made the finest candles burning with a bright clear flame.