An indigenous honey extracting machine was designed, fabricated and evaluated at the workshop of the department of Agricultural Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji, Nigeria using locally available materials. It has the extraction unit, the presser, the honey collector and the frame. The harvested honeycomb is placed inside the cylindrical extraction unit with perforated holes. The press plate is then positioned on the honeycomb while the hydraulic press of 3 ton was placed on it and supported by the frame. The hydraulic press which is manually operated forces the oil out of the extraction chamber through the perforated holes into the honey collector positioned at the lowest part of the extraction chamber.  The honey extracting machine has an average throughput of 2.59 kg/min and efficiency of about 91%. The cost of producing the honey extracting machine is NGN 31, 700: 00, thirty-one thousand, and seven hundred naira only or $70 at NGN 452.8 to a dollar. This cost is affordable to beekeepers and would-be honey entrepreneurs. The honey extracting machine is easy to operate and maintained without any complex technical know-how. This simple technology solves the challenge of honey extraction among our peasant farmers in Nigeria.

The performance evaluation of an existing mechanical fish feeder was carried out. Floating feeds of sizes 2 mm, 4 mm, and 6 mm at constant moisture content of 13 % were fed into the feeder. The feeder was powered by a 3-phase, 1.5 kW reducing gear electric motor at speed 40 rpm, 50 rpm, 60 rpm, 70 rpm and 80 rpm machine. It was observed that the horizontal screw conveyor effectively transported the material from the hopper to the discharged point. The results obtained from the tests showed an optimal performance of the machine at speed 50 rpm with dispensing efficiency of 93.1 % for 2 mm feed size, while the throughput was 75.76 kg/h at motor speed of 80 rpm also for the 2 mm fish feed size. The ANOVA at p ? 0.05 showed that machine speed has significant effect on its dispensing efficiency and the throughput capacity. The cost of production of the mechanical fish feeder was ?262,300 which made it affordable for young entrepreneurs.

Wood plastic composites (WPC) were produced by mixing the sawdust (SD) of Milicia exelsa, with each polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) and “pure water” nylon sachet (NS) using a percentage weight-based in grams. The SD/PET and SD/NS mix ratios of 20:80, 30:70, and 40:60 were respectively selected for the production of the WPCs after the trial test. PET was melted at 210 oC before adding SD of 10 % moisture content and 2.00 mm size in an existing WPC extruder. The WPC was collected into 16.5 mm x 36.5 mm x 145.5 mm mould and hot pressed at 120 oC and 1.12 N/mm2 force to a thickness of 12.7 mm. This same procedure was repeated for SD/NS, but at a temperature of 190 oC. Eighteen samples of WPC were produced at three replicas for each of the ratios for both SD/PET and SD/NS. The production was carried out at the workshop of the Agricultural Engineering Department of the Federal University of Technology, Akure. The WPC was cut and trimmed to dimensions 13 mm Å~ 12.7 mm Å~ 125 mm and 12.7 mm Å~ 25.4 mm Å~ 125 mm based on ASTM D 790 and ASTM D 695 for both flexural modulus and compression tests respectively. It was discovered that the WPCs produced from SD/NS have a higher modulus of rupture (MOR) of about 22.01 N/mm2 and modulus of elasticity (MOE) of 30,728.19 N/mm2 when compared to that of SD/PET of 21.72 N/mm2 MOR and 21,611.64 N/mm2 MOE. This composite is good for the internal and external aesthetic value of buildings.

The performance evaluation of an existing mechanical fish feeder was carried out. Floating feeds of sizes 2 mm, 4 mm, and 6 mm at constant moisture content of 13 % were fed into the feeder. The feeder was powered by a 3-phase, 1.5 kW reducing gear electric motor at speed 40 rpm, 50 rpm, 60 rpm, 70 rpm and 80 rpm machine. It was observed that the horizontal screw conveyor effectively transported the material from the hopper to the discharged point. The results obtained from the tests showed an optimal performance of the machine at speed 50 rpm with dispensing efficiency of 93.1 % for 2 mm feed size, while the throughput was 75.76 kg/h at motor speed of 80 rpm also for the 2 mm fish feed size. The ANOVA at p ≤ 0.05 showed that machine speed has significant effect on its dispensing efficiency and the throughput capacity. The cost of production of the mechanical fish feeder was ₦262,300 which made it affordable for young entrepreneurs.