Extractors made where?

[jakethedog]

At the recent Wragby sale I was talking to a member of staff who told me they will soon be making their own extractors including the barrels as new machinery was on the way, from this I thought that currently this part must of been bought in.
Pete D

now, that's what I thought the paragraph which I copied earlier might be admitting without being too obvious about it; 'making' can cover many shades of construction including assembly.

The positive thing is that this thread is now pretty much closed, PH's question has been answered, T'ornes will soon (without any question) if not already, have the equipment to scratch build their extractors in the UK.

It's surprising what can be gleaned by reading between the lines...​

 

[Poly Hive]

The question is to what standard.

I'm not intentionally blowing Thomas trumpet for them but the machine I bought was a right beast, and excellent work on the welding. Two of us could barely carry it.

PH

 

[Winker]

but the machine I bought was a right beast, and excellent work on the welding. Two of us could barely carry it.

PH

Due to all the welding?

 

[jakethedog]

Are any extractors made in the UK these days?

The positive thing is that this thread is now pretty much closed, PH's question has been answered

The question is to what standard.

OK, so the thread is far from closed!!

 

[OXFORDBEE]

Due to all the welding?

Heavier guage S/S on the barrel etc..

 

[Poly Hive]

Not to mention....this little lot....

PH

 

[Poly Hive]

bottom pic shows my old honey house, 21 x 10ft. Extractor on the right, 500 lb tank on the left, honey pump below and bottling machine minus tank to the right of the pump.

You can just see the end of the work top, some 8ft long so the honey was pumped over night, then pumped into the bottling machine, it did pounds and halves, then the filled jars went onto the work top for capping and labeling, then boxing up. 100 lbs an hour was quite feasible.

Not visible was the honey warmer, aka a chest freezer that took over 300 lbs if needed, and the sink with hot and cold water. No windows but a 6" extractor fan was fitted which I have to say was actually used in anger when I had a spot of bother with whisky honey, the fumes... sheesh... down right dangerous they were the first time I tried to mix in the malt.

PH

 

[BBG]

I have a similar model to that (extractor over filter over honey tank). I like it, but I don't think it would scale up well if I had more than about a dozen colonies.

Pros are, it has a nice big reservoir and the honey gets filtered straight away.

Problem is, the "honey tank" part of it doesn't work very well at all. It doesn't have a lid of it's own, so you can't remove the extractor and leave the honey to settle before bottling it. You would need a separate tank.
It also doesn't have handles, so you have a very heavy, smooth-sided object which you need to lift onto a work surface before you can decant the honey into something else.
And finally, mine leaks. Probably due to rough handling, though.

Yes, makes the point - always bodging, modifying, Heath Robinson efforts.

Makes me (sick)

 

[Annie1]

hi there
all this seems a bit technical for me. I wonder if I can pick anyone's brains..? I only have a couple of hives and want to buy an extractor. what sort of extractor would you recommend for me?
I had been going to borrow one from my club, but this was deemed too big and I was told the honey I had would just splat around the edges!!!!
any input welcomed.

 

[dpearce4]

Hi annie

just had a look round and Th0rnes do a budget set at £116 not sure what its like though. Bees on a Budget - Honey Processing Kit.

 

[oliver90owner]

2 colonies? You could get anything from about -25kg to + 100kg of honey or even more.

It's not necessarily what you have now, more a future projection. I would only buy a tangential extractor if I had a single hive (and I don'r recommend having only one colony), I reckon. A small radial would be so much easier in most instances. But... if you go hunting heather honey a tangential option would be good.

RAB

 

[beebreeder]

Are you a member of an Association, a lot have extractors and other kit to loan, works well for the one to five hive beekeeper

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

hi there
all this seems a bit technical for me. I wonder if I can pick anyone's brains..? I only have a couple of hives and want to buy an extractor. what sort of extractor would you recommend for me?
I had been going to borrow one from my club, but this was deemed too big and I was told the honey I had would just splat around the edges!!!!
any input welcomed.

Hi Annie - splattering around the edges is exactly how honey gets extracted, so I dont really understand the objection. Bees on a Budget 2 frame tangental is a good start, but you will probably want to replace it if you get more than two colonies, or a heavy flow - so I'd still go for borrowing the associations if you think this likely.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Borrow and save
My first extractor is an eight frame drill driven stainless steel radial from Agri Nova. Get to the honey show and have a look at one.
Lots on here have one.
My reasoning was that I wanted something to last me and you never know those two hives may become four