Cleaning Honey Extractors

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thedeaddiplomat

House Bee
Joined
Jul 25, 2009
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Location
cornwall
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
sadly, no more!
You may think I am lucky having to post this question now...

I have seen on a couple of sites on the internet mention of putting a used extractor outside for the bees to clean up. This appears to make sense to me. And having used my stainless steel extractor for the first time yesterday :)hurray::party:), I am inclined to give it a go.

Any words of caution? And what would you use to wash it out with after the bees had finished with it? Plain water and washing up liquid? Washing soda? Sodium metabisulphite?
 
I use a friends extractor, before we start it is steam cleaned just to be safe and after we are done she rinses is it a little warm water to make some mead with then she steam cleans it again.
 
Clean with cold water.

If you use hot the wax will spread further than you could possibly believe.

;)

PH
 
I have seen on a couple of sites on the internet mention of putting a used extractor outside for the bees to clean up.

tell me that I'm paranoid if you like but .... having had yet another AFB scare

what about spreading disease? The extractor will attract bees from all over the place and some may be carrying nasties. Are you sure your bees don't have AFB?

I leave mine to drain for a couple of days in the honey shed, then wash out with cold water.
 
Never put any honey, comb, stores out for general cleanup!! :ack2::ack2:

Extracted supers could go to the original colony for them to clean out.

Extractor can be cleaned out efficiently with hosepipe, pressure 'squirter' ( can't think of its proper name!)

The video!- and they cannot see why they have more problems in USA - Doh!
 
after borrowing and using a friends extractor last year, I used one of SWMBO's spatula's to remove/scrape off most of the honey, then put extractor in the shower (cold water) to rinse while we had a cuppa. 'simples' :sifone:
 
I have seen on a couple of sites on the internet mention of putting a used extractor outside for the bees to clean up.

tell me that I'm paranoid if you like but .... having had yet another AFB scare

what about spreading disease? The extractor will attract bees from all over the place and some may be carrying nasties. Are you sure your bees don't have AFB?

I leave mine to drain for a couple of days in the honey shed, then wash out with cold water.

Thanks to all for the advice. Oddly, the sites that suggested putting the extractor out for the bees to clean up WERE American ones. I thinik the formaldehyde is getting to me - didn't think of the implications for spreading disease.

A cold shower it is, then (for the extractor, not me!).
 
I use cold water from a hosepipe to clean mine, a few rinses of cold water then add some washing up liquid and use a washing up brush to get any stubborn bits off. If you use hot water it will spread any wax in there all over the drum.
 
Another hazard is it could set up robbing as the bees would get very excited but when they went back to their hive to tell the other bees they would only do the round dance. This dance tells the other bees there is free honey nearby - but they can't tell them where it is exactly so the other bees charge out and look for the free pickings - such as in the weaker colony next door.

This is why it is recommended you never feed your bees pure honey, always best to dilute it first so they get less excited.
 
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Use normal water.

if you let bees blean honey handling tools, you get only a big riot. Bees rush everywhere and fight and consume more than get.
Of course the diseases too.
 

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