I hate honey extracting! so any tips please.

[zippy573]

Don’t bother keeping bees, buy a jar of local Honey instead. As an additional plus it’ll be cheaper

Defo cheaper!

 

[Nannysbees]

Extracting honey is the most exciting part for us, I can put up with a bit of stickiness, nothing a warm cloth can't handle. Washing the equipment after was well worth it. I loved every minute of it and appreciated all the hard work of every little the capping that the bees had made.a bit of cleaning after all the hard work they have done is no problem for me.

 

[zippy573]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvwwxnb/articles/z9n73k7

Thanks for that - really useful. The biggest efficiency improvements for me over the past 40 years were without question the 9 frame electric extractor and the heat gun. The gun was cheap, speeded the whole process and reduced mess significantly. My biggest extracting disaster, and i think pretty much everyone has one, was buying a hot water capping melting tank for c£200 quid. I placed this on our somewhat pricey and very large slab of granite whilst in use. Two weeks later i noticed a 2ft long crack in the granite. Caused i assume by a combination of the weight of the tank (the granite had a big overhang for seating purposes) and the heat! My wife has a solution - 'squash the bees'

 

[zippy573]

I absolutely love extracting, for me its the best bit of bee keeping.

Ask me again in 5 years and I may feel different.

Afraid I cannot offer ant help pinching honey from hives as I too have had mixed results.

Regarding mess, I extract in my consevetory, before I start, I lay out old cardboard boxes on the floor. I keep a few spare bits of cardboard, so if I drop some honey, I can place more cardboard on top of the sticky patch.

Then I keep a bucket of water and towel handy for sticky fingers.

I keep things clean as I work so no big clear up at the end.

thanks - perhaps you should set up a mobile extraction business!

 

[madasafish]

Defo cheaper!

Err if you run your hives well and have more than about 4 and manage 40lbs of honey a hive and sell it at £6 per 1lb jar (or more) , you will struggle not to make a profit Based on Cash income - Cash spend (forget sunk costs).
Once you have more than 4 hives, you can make more profit as extra costs are few.

It's the only hobby I have had which is self financing.
Of course, if you pay top dollar and insist on the latest of everything you won't but then I suspect you would not care what it costs.

 

[zippy573]

Extracting honey is the most exciting part for us, I can put up with a bit of stickiness, nothing a warm cloth can't handle. Washing the equipment after was well worth it. I loved every minute of it and appreciated all the hard work of every little the capping that the bees had made.a bit of cleaning after all the hard work they have done is no problem for me.

hmmmmm

 

[zippy573]

Err if you run your hives well and have more than about 4 and manage 40lbs of honey a hive and sell it at £6 per 1lb jar (or more) , you will struggle not to make a profit Based on Cash income - Cash spend (forget sunk costs).
Once you have more than 4 hives, you can make more profit as extra costs are few.

It's the only hobby I have had which is self financing.
Of course, if you pay top dollar and insist on the latest of everything you won't but then I suspect you would not care what it costs.

yep - you earn at least £1 an hour too. i understand its a hobby.

 

[pargyle]

The biggest aid I have to extraction are 600 x 600 garden trays (Stewart is the brand I buy). They fit a super and I make sure I keep supers in these trays - any drips from the super either before or after extraction gets kept in the tray. I have four or five of them now.. I'd add that you need clear worksurfaces and jdeally a sink/water source to hand.

I have an uncapping tray that sits in a purpose made arrangement with a gantry with a hole in it for the frame lug ... catches all the cappings and any honey that drips. I've upgraded to a bigger tray so I need to re-make the previous arrangement in a larger size to take the new tray. The strip of stainless steel sticking out ? ... For cleaning the cappings off the uncapping fork/knife.

I also have a bucket filter to drain the cappings.

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/cappings-bucket.48558/

Organisation is the key and rather than having to clean up afterwards try and avoid making a mess in the first place ... avoid spill and drips - if you carry supers that might drip honey - carry them on a tray. Treat extraction like a production line. Set aside plenty of time and get well organised in advance - it's a chore but once you get going it's a very rewarding chore and for most hobby beekeepers it's only a couple of days a year and seeing the fruits of your bee's labour is one of the highlights of the season.

 

[zippy573]

The biggest aid I have to extraction are 600 x 600 garden trays (Stewart is the brand I buy). They fit a super and I make sure I keep supers in these trays - any drips from the super either before or after extraction gets kept in the tray. I have four or five of them now.. I'd add that you need clear worksurfaces and jdeally a sink/water source to hand.

I have an uncapping tray that sits in a purpose made arrangement with a gantry with a hole in it for the frame lug ... catches all the cappings and any honey that drips. I've upgraded to a bigger tray so I need to re-make the previous arrangement in a larger size to take the new tray. The strip of stainless steel sticking out ? ... For cleaning the cappings off the uncapping fork/knife.

I also have a bucket filter to drain the cappings.

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/cappings-bucket.48558/View attachment 27653View attachment 27654

Organisation is the key and rather than having to clean up afterwards try and avoid making a mess in the first place ... avoid spill and drips - if you carry supers that might drip honey - carry them on a tray. Treat extraction like a production line. Set aside plenty of time and get well organised in advance - it's a chore but once you get going it's a very rewarding chore and for most hobby beekeepers it's only a couple of days a year and seeing the fruits of your bee's labour is one of the highlights of the season.

thanks - assume you don' extract on the garden wall

 

[Prof]

Great set of tips. Thanks everyone. Three more suggestions: Add an eke under the rhombus board - seems to help clearing (IMHO). Remove supers away from hives and brush any remaining bees off frames one at a time, while transferring to a separate super (with closed floor and cover/lid, which you briefly remove/slide to the side to put the frame in). Doesn't take long.
Wear rubber gloves during extraction (which can be washed in a basin of water if not near a sink).

 

[Amari]

I agree: an eke under the clearing board helps.

In the kitchen our major holdup was always waiting for the stuff to filter. We've greatly improved and simplified the process by placing a colander on a 30 lb bucket beneath the tap of our 9-frame radial extractor. The tap is open all the time and we swap the bucket when half full for another. The bucket is emptied into the settling tank via a fairly fine filter. We deploy a second colander when the first starts to clog.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

I use a hot air gun. The best one I have found is a modelling hot air gun used by modellers to shrink plastic onto the body of model planes. It comes with a direction nozzle and has two heat settings.
Hope this helps

any examples of the type of air gun people aim for....there is quite a range and dont want an over spec'd one

 

[enrico]

any examples of the type of air gun people aim for....there is quite a range and dont want an over spec'd one

Just posted a video. Mine is a modellers hot air gun. Had it years!

 

[madasafish]

any examples of the type of air gun people aim for....there is quite a range and dont want an over spec'd one

I use a 1981 B&D gun...

 

[bobba]

thanks - perhaps you should set up a mobile extraction business!

haha, Bobba's extraction open for business. I charge 10%, or 20% if you want it extracted and jarred. (I like putting honey in jars too)

But seriously if there is anyone local that wants some help extracting, give me a shout.

 

[HughMann]

Make comb honey...

Exactly. No mess...............

 

[madasafish]

Exactly. No mess...............

I have no mess from hot air guns and extraction.

Just saying.

Well not much..
(or so my wife says after I have cleaned up)

 

[zippy573]

any examples of the type of air gun people aim for....there is quite a range and dont want an over spec'd one

i got the cheapest one from Wicks which worked fine, then mislaid it and got the cheapest one from Screw fix as a replacement. Of all the things i have ever bought for bees this has been by far and away the best buy. For speed and far far less mess.

 

[zippy573]

haha, Bobba's extraction open for business. I charge 10%, or 20% if you want it extracted and jarred. (I like putting honey in jars too)

But seriously if there is anyone local that wants some help extracting, give me a shout.

I might have to move to Hampshire!

 

[Newbeeneil]

I absolutely love extracting, for me its the best bit of bee keeping.

If you fancy a trip across the county border you can do mine!