Heather 2022! Extraction advice

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Been thinking about how to make life easier with heather extraction next year.
Of the 25 supers I extracted this season 19 had heather in, ranging from either pure heather (5 supers) to a blend of various strengths in the rest. It’s been an awesome season for me, doubling my crop, it’s all sold and I’ve raised my prices following advice on this forum. But, it’s been hard work and I want to improve next year. I use 2 methods of extraction:

1. Scrape back to midrib with Smith cutter & Press out pure heather with an Apple press
2. For mixed crop I use a small hand held Mountain grey loosener, then spin v slowly in our association radial extractor. Use this for mixed heather / wildflower as usually a smaller section of heather vs the full comb and preserves the comb

Both the above take a long time and can result in damaged comb ( midrib damage in the former). There’s relatively high ‘wastage’ too when spinning & using a hand held loosener

I’d appreciate some advice on equipment upgrades I could make / recommend to my association, which is in a heather area but we’re not geared up to tackle it. Many members give up & feed the crop back to the bees.

I’m thinking along the lines of the following & would appreciate your feedback
1. Should we Invest in a tangential extractor? If so what type / make would you recommend?
2. Has anyone tried the Abelo swing cage radial extractor? Looking at a video on u-tube by Black mountain honey, this looks an excellent idea. It can take up to 24 frames radially then converts to 6 swing cages that can reverse at the touch of a button. It’s pricey though at £2.5k but would give a fantastic upgrade to our poorly designed 9 frame cranky radial extractor as well as provide a tangential type solution.
3. Would like to recommend a heather loosener to our association, for tackling mixed crops, but the only type I’ve seen on line are either top of the range £4K automatic which will be beyond our funds for equipment, or a plastic hand held device at c£100 or a cheap roller . Are there any other alternatives you know of?

Any ideas / recommendations of anything else we can consider to loosen heather, or make extracting easier?Appreciate any advice from experienced heather go-ers!
Elaine
 
Been thinking about how to make life easier with heather extraction next year.
Of the 25 supers I extracted this season 19 had heather in, ranging from either pure heather (5 supers) to a blend of various strengths in the rest. It’s been an awesome season for me, doubling my crop, it’s all sold and I’ve raised my prices following advice on this forum. But, it’s been hard work and I want to improve next year. I use 2 methods of extraction:

1. Scrape back to midrib with Smith cutter & Press out pure heather with an Apple press
2. For mixed crop I use a small hand held Mountain grey loosener, then spin v slowly in our association radial extractor. Use this for mixed heather / wildflower as usually a smaller section of heather vs the full comb and preserves the comb

Both the above take a long time and can result in damaged comb ( midrib damage in the former). There’s relatively high ‘wastage’ too when spinning & using a hand held loosener

I’d appreciate some advice on equipment upgrades I could make / recommend to my association, which is in a heather area but we’re not geared up to tackle it. Many members give up & feed the crop back to the bees.

I’m thinking along the lines of the following & would appreciate your feedback
1. Should we Invest in a tangential extractor? If so what type / make would you recommend?
2. Has anyone tried the Abelo swing cage radial extractor? Looking at a video on u-tube by Black mountain honey, this looks an excellent idea. It can take up to 24 frames radially then converts to 6 swing cages that can reverse at the touch of a button. It’s pricey though at £2.5k but would give a fantastic upgrade to our poorly designed 9 frame cranky radial extractor as well as provide a tangential type solution.
3. Would like to recommend a heather loosener to our association, for tackling mixed crops, but the only type I’ve seen on line are either top of the range £4K automatic which will be beyond our funds for equipment, or a plastic hand held device at c£100 or a cheap roller . Are there any other alternatives you know of?

Any ideas / recommendations of anything else we can consider to loosen heather, or make extracting easier?Appreciate any advice from experienced heather go-ers!
Elaine
Konigin also supply swing cage extractors, cheaper than anyone else's I've seen, I have the 8 frame(16 super frame) one and am very impressed with it.
 
I've set one of my students a project to see if vibration can be used to reduce the viscosity, if so might be able to use this on whole frames prior to spinning.

I've also heard of spinning with a washing machine motor, presumably radial, but no experience myself.
 
I currently convert my 20 frame lyson radial into 4 deep / 8 shallow frame tangential. And it works well. Though have been contemplating the konigin swing frame 8/16. Had a look at in thornes last week and was impressed. At the moment using a 4 frame extractor works well with using a hand loosener (one of the £100 sprung types, maisies and abelo do them) as the pace of loosening 4 frames matched the pace of the extractor. Upping extractor size may mean I cant loosen quick enough! Have used both the 4k manual loosener ( unfortunately my dad sold it when he stopped going to the heather so I did not inherit that😒) and an air compressor powered one when I worked for a big heather producer. Both great but you need some serious volume to justify the out lay.
Just out of interest does your Association loan out the extractor or have it set up somewhere, because transporting a swing cage is going to be more difficult than a 9 frame radial.
 
I currently convert my 20 frame lyson radial into 4 deep / 8 shallow frame tangential. And it works well. Though have been contemplating the konigin swing frame 8/16. Had a look at in thornes last week and was impressed. At the moment using a 4 frame extractor works well with using a hand loosener (one of the £100 sprung types, maisies and abelo do them) as the pace of loosening 4 frames matched the pace of the extractor. Upping extractor size may mean I cant loosen quick enough! Have used both the 4k manual loosener ( unfortunately my dad sold it when he stopped going to the heather so I did not inherit that😒) and an air compressor powered one when I worked for a big heather producer. Both great but you need some serious volume to justify the out lay.
Just out of interest does your Association loan out the extractor or have it set up somewhere, because transporting a swing cage is going to be more difficult than a 9 frame radial.
Helpful advice. No we don’t have an association apiary, so extractors tend to be transported to members homes via car etc. I did wonder whether the swing type extractors could be difficult / more heavy to transport. Will look into Konigin and compare to the Lyson. Thanks for taking the time to reply :)
 
I've set one of my students a project to see if vibration can be used to reduce the viscosity, if so might be able to use this on whole frames prior to spinning.

I've also heard of spinning with a washing machine motor, presumably radial, but no experience myself.
Lithotripsy comes to mind 😉
 
Have had a Konigin tangential swing cage extractor for two seasons. Nice to use and efficient. Can hold 8 supers or 4 deep frames of any type. Able to alter speed of rotation and length of programme. Cleaning is fairly easy as you can take out the cages by undoing one locking nut and lifting out. Gets my supers nice and dry and far more efficient than a radial. The problem for use as an association extractor is that it cannot go through a normal size door unless you take the legs off. Not really recommended for loan equipment. I got mine through the door by taking off the legs and rolling it through on its side but it's a tight squeeze.
 
Have had a Konigin tangential swing cage extractor for two seasons. Nice to use and efficient. Can hold 8 supers or 4 deep frames of any type. Able to alter speed of rotation and length of programme. Cleaning is fairly easy as you can take out the cages by undoing one locking nut and lifting out. Gets my supers nice and dry and far more efficient than a radial. The problem for use as an association extractor is that it cannot go through a normal size door unless you take the legs off. Not really recommended for loan equipment. I got mine through the door by taking off the legs and rolling it through on its side but it's a tight squeeze.
Thanks John. Konigin seems to get good recommendations. Yes I did notice from the dimensions getting through a typical kitchen door would be a challenge!

I’m definitely sold now on a swing cage tangential type extractor and the best one for size and dimensions I’ve found to date is this one from Abelo. £800 and takes 8 shallows or 4 deeps. Plus at 600mm wide would get through a kitchen door so portable for association use.

https://www.abelo.co.uk/shop/extractors/electric-8-frame-cassette-honey-extractor-minima-line/
The nearest Koning machine of the right width is £1200 and takes 6 shallows but can’t be used for deeps. Wonder why such a large price difference & whether the build quality is much better?

https://www.thorne.co.uk/index.php?...=Konigin swing cage extractor&product_id=8614
If anyone on the forum has experience of Abelo swing cage extractors I’d welcome feedback
Elaine
 
Check the cheaper models for honey capacity at base of extractor. Many of the cheaper models are limited. You want a decent amount to aid stability and you don’t want the hassle of repeatedly letting honey out the gate.
 
The abelo one you have put the link to is functional but from what I have seen of that line of extractor they are quite light and bounce about a bit and also the positioning of the motor on top overhangs the lid and cause an issue with fully opening. Probably more of an issue with loading a radial then a swing cage. Would definitely recommend seeing them in person before you buy.
 
Lawrence edison from black Mountain honey has a really good video on Heather honey, actually all his videos are brilliant and a he says " no nonsense beekeeping"
 
Lawrence edison from black Mountain honey has a really good video on Heather honey, actually all his videos are brilliant and a he says " no nonsense beekeeping"
Ah those were the days. I remember photos here of his first extraction room. Years ago.
 
Ah those were the days. I remember photos here of his first extraction room. Years ago.
I remember photos of his first bee equipment store - his lounge and dining room
He even had stacks of frames either side of his telly
 
The abelo one you have put the link to is functional but from what I have seen of that line of extractor they are quite light and bounce about a bit and also the positioning of the motor on top overhangs the lid and cause an issue with fully opening. Probably more of an issue with loading a radial then a swing cage. Would definitely recommend seeing them in person before you buy.
Thanks, agree. I’ve been through the spec, spoken to Abelo & compared to the Konigin. The core issue is sourcing one that can get through a kitchen door and lifted into the boot of a car, so Members can hire. The only Konigin one that can, is a sturdier build but only takes shallows (6 versus 8 on the Lyson Abelo one, which also takes 4 deeps which is a big advantage).

I haven’t seen any other swing cage alternatives that are max 63cm wide. Unfortunately the equivalent Konigin extractor that takes deeps too, is over 80cm wide.
 
Logar build quality (examined at BeeTradex) was streets ahead of Abelo and Konign, so the equivalent 6-frame swing basket with a 76cm barrel is £1818, and that's with a110W motor; for the 180W it goes up to £2440.
Thanks Eric appreciate you posting this. Similar issue of being too wide to get through a typical kitchen door frame if can open the door back fully, of 75cm. Unfortunately 76cm wide & if take legs off height still looks longer than the width :(

The 6 frame Konigin will fit but shallow frames only and the motor is 250W. Frame issues has led me to the Abelo which takes deeps as well as shallows, but agree the spec doesn’t look quite as robust.
 
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