OP
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2011
- Messages
- 52
- Reaction score
- 5
- Location
- buckinghamshire
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 7
Defo cheaper!Don’t bother keeping bees, buy a jar of local Honey instead. As an additional plus it’ll be cheaper
Defo cheaper!Don’t bother keeping bees, buy a jar of local Honey instead. As an additional plus it’ll be cheaper
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'
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.
Defo cheaper!
hmmmmmExtracting 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.
yep - you earn at least £1 an hour too. i understand its a hobby.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.
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.
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
Just posted a video. Mine is a modellers hot air gun. Had it years!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...any examples of the type of air gun people aim for....there is quite a range and dont want an over spec'd one
thanks - perhaps you should set up a mobile extraction business!
Exactly. No mess...............Make comb honey...
Exactly. No mess...............
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.any examples of the type of air gun people aim for....there is quite a range and dont want an over spec'd one
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.
If you fancy a trip across the county border you can do mine!I absolutely love extracting, for me its the best bit of bee keeping.
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