Hand heather loosener

[deemann1]

Are the hand heather loosener worth getting will I be able to save my comb using one , could someone explain the process please.
I really hate crushing my good comb

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It does work, in conjunction with a tangential extractor. you just uncap, push the loosener into the honey cells (some say don't uncap but it's a heck of a mess cleaning the loosener afterwards) jiggle the loosener about for a few seconds, then move on to the next bit.
It's OK for a few frames but for a lot it's hard work and your arm feels like a public schoolboy's after an all night session with Matron's Grattan catalogue.

 

[deemann1]

I bought a hand loosener from abelo but I think my comb is too new for it just making a big mess of cells

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It doesn't work as well on brand new comb, but the bees aren't long fixing it.

 

[deemann1]

It doesn't work as well on brand new comb, but the bees aren't long fixing it.

Do you support opposite side of comb with hand to stop comb bursting when pushing into cells of side been worked I didn't expect needles to be so stiff I thought they would move with ease

 

[elainemary]

Are the hand heather loosener worth getting will I be able to save my comb using one , could someone explain the process please.
I really hate crushing my good comb

I use a hand loosener - an old one I bought at auction. It does break the edges of the cell walls so they look like the ones in the pic attached after use. The bees repair in the spring.

It’s hard work with a loosener and takes longer than scraping comb back to the midrib (I use a Smith cutter to do this) as an alternative method of getting heather out. This method also saves the comb back to the foundation and the bees quickly build out again on the spring flow

I uncapped mine first but can see leaving the caps on may make it easier, though i thought that leaving on may add pressure when spinning out in the type of extractor I use. I prop mine against a board so I can use both hands on the loosener to jiggle it inside the cells to loosen the honey. Have to be careful with suction though if you put flat on a board if you take cappings off.

I did 110 frames last week - I used a radial extractor as the one I hire doesn’t convert to tangential and I only lost 2 combs, most of the heather spun out. It’s a long job, but comb will be saved and the honey is lovely

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Do you support opposite side of comb with hand to stop comb bursting when pushing into cells of side been worked I didn't expect needles to be so stiff I thought they would move with ease

I just put the frame on a flat surface, with the fresher comb I don't try to push too hard, just jiggle the loosener about a bit with some light downward pressure to work it in

 

[deemann1]

Thank you very much Jenkins and elainemary really appreciate the help