Electric Extractor advice please

[Cb50]

Ok, so hive numbers have grown and in my 4-5 season and time to move from my 4 frame Manual tangential.

my parents who normally help me are shielding, and continue to be careful, and have really kindly offered to buy me an electric one. Money saved in lock down and just more to extract each year. Very grateful.

i heave read a number of older posts, but really looking to see what is current view. Have judged I should go radial. Any advice what to go for. Storage is no issue. Will probably get through 10+ supers this year that are rammed.

thanks in advance as always.
Colin

 

[Somerford]

Konegin. Having looked around for a while at a replacement for 3 older ones I have (two thornes and 1 Lega ex Maisies) I'm really impressed with the quality of manufacture, steel thickness and overall design and flexibility of Konegin kit.

There are two resellers in the UK - search them out. One is better priced than the other and is in Wales..

I'm sure there will be a lot of other opinions but that's mine.

Kr

S

 

[Angry_Mob]

Links are allowed, I got my Konigin off Old Castle Farm Hives, and the other seller is Thornes. I looked at the Lyson models but the equivalents cost more and didn't appear as well specced as the Konigins.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Phone up Ian at Old Castle for a chat, he is moving away from supplying hobbyists now but he won't turn down a sale, he showed me a nice couple of entry level extractors at the tradex this year, he also does one slimline extractor now, handy if storage space is an issue.
Abelo are also very helpful and, again worth phoning as he will sometimes do a deal on an extractor. I have a Lyson and it is excellent, well made and very quiet.

 

[Jowlpost]

Konegin .. 4 years warranty on mine bought 2 years ago .. the safety swith failed and i got a new one from them under warranty .. what more could ou ask .. BUT the main reason is stability with the drive motor out of the way under the drum not on perched on top, so its far more stable.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I bought a Konigin 12 frame radial from Thornes last year and the build quality is excellent. The controller (which is the same one used on most of the range) decided to play up but was swiftly replaced after a phone call. This was easy to disconnect and replace with a screwdriver and small spanner.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Abelo did me a great deal on their 20frame. Sadly it will remain in its wrapping till next year.

 

[AubMar]

One part of spinning honey is cleaning the spinner afterwards, and how easy it is to disassemble and clean. I looked at a few and the one that impressed me most was the Logar 9 frame radial. The finish and quality was well ahead or the others. Two top handscrews and the motor and lids are off, and then the frame carrier drum lifts out, job done.
One particularly annoying feature about the Konigin was the whine, it's dreadful to work beside. I think it is emitted from a single to 3 phase converter for the variable speed control.
Be sure to see whatever model you choose working, even empty, before you make your decision.

 

[Erichalfbee]

And make sure it will spin your brood frames

 

[madasafish]

What is your ultimate goal in hive numbers? 10? 5? 100?

No point in buying a humungous big extractor when you will only ever have 10 hives or s too small extractor when 50 hives.

A radial has the advantage of far less handling so you can spend the time when it is spinning by uncapping frames..


You really need to have a plan and then buy an extractor.


In my case I started with a 4 frame manual tangential, sold it and bought a 4 frame electric radial - good enough for my 7-8 (large) hives..And no further expansion planned.

 

[MuswellMetro]

cheapest stainless steel 4 frame radial #I have found is Park beekeeping supplies, very compact , it also takes a three frame tangelial cage and will extract tangentially national Broods and Commercial brood frames

 

[MerryBee]

To my mind, the size of extractor you need is determined more by your uncapping setup than by the number of hives you have.
If you have a basic uncapping set up consisting of an uncapping tray and a knife, you probably cant uncap more than about four frames in the time it takes to spin the frames in the extractor. So you dont need anything bigger than a four frame extractor. While the 4 frames are spinning, you uncap the next 4 frames.
If you have a very quick slick uncapping setup, than you will need a bigger extractor to keep up with your uncapping rate.

Madasafish is right to say "You really need to have a plan and then buy an extractor".

 

[Amari]

To my mind, the size of extractor you need is determined more by your uncapping setup than by the number of hives you have.
If you have a basic uncapping set up consisting of an uncapping tray and a knife, you probably cant uncap more than about four frames in the time it takes to spin the frames in the extractor. So you dont need anything bigger than a four frame extractor. While the 4 frames are spinning, you uncap the next 4 frames.
If you have a very quick slick uncapping setup, than you will need a bigger extractor to keep up with your uncapping rate..

Not sure that I agree with that. Say you have five productive hives each with two full supers = 50 frames. On your formula that means 12 spins , each needing lift out. I use a nine-frame extractor. Uncapping the next nine frames gives time for a good long spin.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Not sure that I agree with that. Say you have five productive hives each with two full supers = 50 frames. On your formula that means 12 spins , each needing lift out. I use a nine-frame extractor. Uncapping the next nine frames gives time for a good long spin.

Much as I like to agree with young Merrybee, on this occasion I agree with Amari. I fill my 12 frame and spin it until I have another 12 frames to put in it. They come out almost dry .

On another point about the Konigin 12 frame - I got a set of supports which allow me to spin 14x12's tangentially (I didn't order them but they were in the drum when I picked it up). I believe these don't come free as standard but are available at a price.
Also be aware that the 12 frame has a large drum which won't fit through narrow doorways...... check before you buy.

 

[MerryBee]

Not sure that I agree with that. Say you have five productive hives each with two full supers = 50 frames. On your formula that means 12 spins , each needing lift out. I use a nine-frame extractor. Uncapping the next nine frames gives time for a good long spin.

Not sure I agree with your arithmetic!

 

[Newbeeneil]

Now I can agree with Merrybee.

 

[thedozzer]

We were lucky to get a second hand 8 frame radial as our first machine, with extra cages for 12 x14 /Langstroth brood frames.
That was on the advice of a few BK's that suggested, get the best you can, then upgrading will be one less thing to think about.
We only have 2 hives at the moment. and we use the hot air gun method to un-cap, and can fill and un fill the extractor in mins. it only takes about 40/50 mins to extract 5 supers (55 frames) takes more time getting it out, cleaning it and putting it away!

 

[Amari]

Not sure I agree with your arithmetic!

Oops. 100 frames = 25 spins. hard work

 

[MerryBee]

Oops. 100 frames = 25 spins. hard work

The hard work - uncapping each frame, loading it into the extractor and taking it out again - is exactly the same whether your extractor takes 4 frames or 12 or 20.
Isnt it?


And all the other hard work - clearer boards, manhandling heavy boxes, straining/filtering, dealing with the cappings, clearing up - are also the same whatever the size of your extractor.

The single reason I hanker after a bigger extractor is to be able to spin brood frames radially. Extracting them tangentially is a PITA. But I usually only have a few of those.

 

[xray7]

Here is another point to consider. If you have sufficient number of hives to justify purchase of an electric extractor then it will be worthwhile to convert supers from ten to nine frames , using 9 frame castellations. Fewer frames loaded with larger quantity of Honey are easier and quicker to extract and better for the bees , probably. My mentor who produces about a ton of Honey per year favours this method.