Easi-steam National

[666bees]

Has anyone got one of these and are they any good. Thinking of treating myself and getting it from the Bee Conference.

 

[Tom Bick]

I have not tried one but have considered adapting a BB as an experiment, they are not difficult to make and if you have an old wallpaper stripper cheap to make and if not a cheap wallpaper stripper is £20-25.
As I say I have yet to try one but I expect that it will work reasonably well providing the box will be reasonably sealed but I expect it makes a good bit of a mess along the way and a solar wax extractor may be a better alternative providing we get the sun.

 

[YorkshireBees]

Has anyone got one of these and are they any good. Thinking of treating myself and getting it from the Bee Conference.

I ask and received one as a present a few years ago.

Pros
1.Does what it says and removes old wax etc from frames.
2.Helps in sterilizing both the frames and the brood box that you steamed the frames in.
3.Easy to use

Cons
1.Sometimes you need to re-fill and run the steam generator more than once to melt all the wax and get it through the debris (cocoons etc) that lay on the metal mesh.
2.Takes time but then again I tend to do it in batches and find something else to do whilst it is running.
3.Need to do it somewhere away from the bees or when no bees are flying (winter) as the smell will attract bees quickly!

A couple of words of caution
As they point out DO NOT let the steam generator run dry otherwise the heating element will overheat! (Not done it myself I always use a timer to remind me)
Use a pair of gloves (I use leather gardening gloves) to handle the metal roof as it gets really hot!

In summary, I'm happy to have it and have reclaimed wax that probably I would have thrown away otherwise!

**It's actually interesting what is left over from an old brood comb when the 'small' amount of wax is melted and removed!**

 

[YorkshireBees]

I have not tried one but have considered adapting a BB as an experiment, they are not difficult to make and if you have an old wallpaper stripper cheap to make and if not a cheap wallpaper stripper is £20-25.
As I say I have yet to try one but I expect that it will work reasonably well providing the box will be reasonably sealed but I expect it makes a good bit of a mess along the way and a solar wax extractor may be a better alternative providing we get the sun.

Yes it is definitely a job to be done outside as the steam / smell / dripping water can make a mess!

Also tbh as Tom said the only part that is not from a standard wallpaper stripper is the adapted room which has a pipe through it with a thread for the steam hose to screw onto!

 

[o.stjohn]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B31PT5fBPM"]One on You Tube[/ame]

 

[moor141]

Why buy one, simple to make from hive parts and a wall paper steamer. I use old polly roof's. Cut an outlet in one side and line it with silver foil, use this inverted. fit an old super in the upside down roof, hessian over that then place your super or broods complete with frame on top of that. fit an old unvented roof over to seal the top.
I find that it works better with the stream in to the bottom rather than through the roof. The hessian collects all the crap leaving pretty well clean wax. Put a suitable container under the outlet and turn it on.
It'll take while to get going but once warmed up extracts the wax pretty fast.

 

[Lucky Bee]

Just used easi-steam for the first time today. It was great and I'm really pleased with it.

 

[REDWOOD]

I made one last year, It does take time to get up to temperature to melt the wax in the winter, as mentioned in above posts don't do it in the summer not like me who had to try it and ended up with a few hundred bees around me
It did remove the wax and sterilise the hive but it will not remove the propolis so still had to dip the frames in soda crystal solution

 

[Hawklord]

I've been told that it's expensive to run.

 

[RogueDrone]

2-3 Kw so 2-3 units /hour <£1

 

[Mike a]

My home made version (paint stripper) worked reasonably well but I ended up with a hell of a mess to clean up afterwards which took even longer than if I'd just cut out the old combs and boiled the frames and flamed the brood chamber in the first place.

 

[esme]

I found it so much easier than trying to clean the combs by it out of the frames. I used mine in the kitchen (it was very cold outside), managing not to get more than a couple of drops on the floor, but the smell wasn't nice and I've been told its to be used outside in future.

I left the frames in the boxes outside to dry and found that everything cleaned up very well with a quick scrape over- the frost probably played a big part in that.

One thing is that there is a lot of wax left in the bottom- may be I need to leave the steamer on a bit longer to clear this out.

Overall, now I've got it, I wouldn't be without it.

 

[YorkshireBees]

I found it so much easier than trying to clean the combs by it out of the frames. I used mine in the kitchen (it was very cold outside), managing not to get more than a couple of drops on the floor, but the smell wasn't nice and I've been told its to be used outside in future.

I left the frames in the boxes outside to dry and found that everything cleaned up very well with a quick scrape over- the frost probably played a big part in that.

One thing is that there is a lot of wax left in the bottom- may be I need to leave the steamer on a bit longer to clear this out.

Overall, now I've got it, I wouldn't be without it.

Outside is definitely a better option but as you say in winter the outside temp is too low and during the summer the smell attracts bees!
In terms of wax collecting in the tray I tend to use mine on a hive stand and tilt it forward a bit with a couple of wood pieces. This helps to get the molten wax flowing.
Also after have finished the batches of frames I want to do I run it with just the hive top on top of the floor to clear out all the remaining wax.

 

[fatshark]

Outside is definitely a better option but as you say in winter the outside temp is too low and during the summer the smell attracts bees!

But they only tend to get used infrequently - for example clearing dead hives in Spring or Bailey changes - so it's easily possible store up frames and then to either run them in the late evening or on a typical wet summer day.

To make cleaning easier I'm installing a coarse screen over the travel screen at the bottom. That way most of the old manky comb won't block the exit as it falls out of the frames.

 

[Tim1606]

Here is a short video of what we use.

http://youtu.be/Kqh9JYrcSUY

It’s a plastic storage container with a hole in the lid for the wallpaper stripper hose and two pieces of wood screwed to take the frames. As you can see the old cocoons are on a piece of old plastic queen excluder but this has since been changed to something more robust.
After the wax has hardened the surplus water is drained off and the wax just breaks up into pieces for further processing.

 

[victor meldrew]

How does the container handle the temperatures?
Brill idea , maybe a little extra insulation required affixed to the outside ?plus a weir and drain engineered at the bottom!
Watch this space
VM


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Tim1606]

How does the container handle the temperatures?
Brill idea , maybe a little extra insulation required affixed to the outside ?plus a weir and drain engineered at the bottom!
Watch this space
VM


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The container handles the temp OK. No need for insulation as it gets very hot. You need gloves to handle the frames if you take them out straight away, and yes have thought about a drain on the bottom but have not fitted one yet.
This is not my invention. I saw this demonstrated at a bee meeting and was so impressed i went home and made one.

 

[victor meldrew]

I shall have to source an adaptor to couple the steam hose to the container lid ! I have already purchased a large capacity wall paper stripper.
VM


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Tim1606]

Try a plumbing supplier.

 

[Charlie Chapel]

I would not be without mine, drape some old net curtain or similar in the box first to contain the dross resulting wax can then be further refined by steaming again in clean net. hope this is of some help.