Manual extractor, any good?

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ShinySideUp

Drone Bee
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Location
Pensilva, East Cornwall
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None, ex-beekeeper
Had similar 4 frame and used it for years... sold last year for £80!

So much more hygienic to extract your own and then you know that your frames have not been contaminated by some other possibly not so bio-security conscious, not so careful beekeeper.

Absolutely horrifies me to see a local so called community interest grow local cooperative group located not so far away in a town known for its Honey Fair... and just in the Tamar valley.... continue to be offering a "service" to extract your honey communally for you... stacking all and sundries supers , extracted and full atop of each other....phew!!

We have in the recent past had EFB brought into the area from Devon by an experienced beekeeper who, when all is said and done... should have known better!!

Go for it.... sounds like a reasonable deal, and will have some sort of warrantee you will not get with some stuff on the market.
Yeghes da
 
Seen this on E bay... 192222482086 copy number into search, looks ok. Not mine, I don't live there !
 
Had similar 4 frame and used it for years... sold last year for £80!

So much more hygienic to extract your own and then you know that your frames have not been contaminated by some other possibly not so bio-security conscious, not so careful beekeeper.

My thoughts exactly.

Absolutely horrifies me to see a local so called community interest grow local cooperative group located not so far away in a town known for its Honey Fair... and just in the Tamar valley.... continue to be offering a "service" to extract your honey communally for you... stacking all and sundries supers , extracted and full atop of each other....phew!!

We have in the recent past had EFB brought into the area from Devon by an experienced beekeeper who, when all is said and done... should have known better!!

And as a newbee I don't need extra problems.

Go for it.... sounds like a reasonable deal, and will have some sort of warrantee you will not get with some stuff on the market.
Yeghes da

Seen this on E bay... 192222482086 copy number into search, looks ok. Not mine, I don't live there !

Have bought the one in the link as it comes with all the gubbins to catch honey as well as extract it. I did look at the ebay link and that certainly looks like a piece of kit but delivery is £25 and while not in itself a problem it already has five bids with five days to go so I expect it will go up to the 200's by the end.
 
You could also get a stainless steel cappings tray with a frame stand ( Abello sell them reasonably) and an electric "paint stripper" blow torch ( although a hair drier on hot will do)
Argos ?

With the cappings scraper, much less messy than using a knife,,, steam heated or otherwise.

Yeghes da
 
Shiny, when you get the extractor, can you let me know if it's as good as it looks? With only 3 colonies, ATM I'm crushing and straining, but hate the waste of the bees needing to rebuild comb again. My local BKA advised stainless steel extractors are best, but if that one does the job, I'm loathe to go to the expense for my small amount of honey.
 
Have bought the one in the link as it comes with all the gubbins to catch honey as well as extract it. I did look at the ebay link and that certainly looks like a piece of kit but delivery is £25 and while not in itself a problem it already has five bids with five days to go so I expect it will go up to the 200's by the end.

There's nothing wrong with that extractor - the only 'problem' you will find is that you will grow out of it ... I bought one (second hand) from someone who said they had grown out of it ... extracting two frames at a time - once you get to more than a couple of supers will drive you mad ! I sold the one I bought for the same as I bought it after using it once and invested a relatively modest amount in one of these ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainless...238933?hash=item5664f92c95:g:viQAAOSw3xJVeATe

with a bit of modification you can get 8 frames in there and it will take standard national brood frames (and 14 x 12 's with some mods to the cage).

There's a thread about it somewhere ... Millet will know as he started it.
 
Shiny, when you get the extractor, can you let me know if it's as good as it looks? With only 3 colonies, ATM I'm crushing and straining, but hate the waste of the bees needing to rebuild comb again. My local BKA advised stainless steel extractors are best, but if that one does the job, I'm loathe to go to the expense for my small amount of honey.

Will do. It's coming on Monday but I doubt I will use it for a couple of weeks. I keep bees for the pollination aspect as well as the challenge of keeping bees itself, the honey is at most an aside and I shan't be taking much as I don't want to spend the winter feeding creatures that left alone, will quite happily feed themselves.
 
There's nothing wrong with that extractor - the only 'problem' you will find is that you will grow out of it ... I bought one (second hand) from someone who said they had grown out of it ... extracting two frames at a time - once you get to more than a couple of supers will drive you mad ! I sold the one I bought for the same as I bought it after using it once and invested a relatively modest amount in one of these ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainless...238933?hash=item5664f92c95:g:viQAAOSw3xJVeATe

with a bit of modification you can get 8 frames in there and it will take standard national brood frames (and 14 x 12 's with some mods to the cage).

There's a thread about it somewhere ... Millet will know as he started it.

Sorry, forgot to multiquote you but have a look at my last post. I really don't want more than two hives and a couple of nucs so a manual spinner should do the job for the little honey I want to extract.
 
Sorry, forgot to multiquote you but have a look at my last post. I really don't want more than two hives and a couple of nucs so a manual spinner should do the job for the little honey I want to extract.

Careful what you wish for ... Two of my colonies have three supers filled at present - thats nearly 60 frames ..... and I find very few beekeepers (who stick with it) that can resist having 'just one more colony' or resisting the temptation of a swarm in the hedge !!

And ... they really don't need three supers left on over winter - My bees are in Paynes 14 x 12 hives and with a brood box of that size filled with autumn honey (very often the ivy will provide enough to fill the brood box) there's always enough to see them through and usually a few frames left at the end of a normal winter. I usually end up taking a frame or two out in spring as the colonies start to build.
 
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There's nothing wrong with that extractor - the only 'problem' you will find is that you will grow out of it ... I bought one (second hand) from someone who said they had grown out of it ... extracting two frames at a time - once you get to more than a couple of supers will drive you mad ! I sold the one I bought for the same as I bought it after using it once and invested a relatively modest amount in one of these ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainless...238933?hash=item5664f92c95:g:viQAAOSw3xJVeATe

with a bit of modification you can get 8 frames in there and it will take standard national brood frames (and 14 x 12 's with some mods to the cage).

There's a thread about it somewhere ... Millet will know as he started it.
From what i have witnessed with my own eye balls over the past few weeks i may need a bigger extractor if my new bees from BF produce anywhere near as much honey as his bees do, it has to be seen to be believed, double brood and five supers and the summer flow is just getting going for the north east.:eek:
 
I have been looking at one of these:

https://www.thorne.co.uk/index.php?...MIhd3By-fO1AIV4bDtCh3oEgfAEAYYASABEgIVwfD_BwE

I'm not intending to have a lot of hives and while I know the local BKA has an extractor I'd really like to do it at home in my own time and maybe only a few frames every now and again.

Has anyone tried one and are they any good?
I have this exact kit from Thornes. For me with 2 hives, it's brilliant.

Easy to clean out too, just stick it in the bath & fill it with hot soapy water & shower it through with hot water. Sparkling new again!

I just made a slight modification to stop the frames flapping about & that was to put loose cable ties around the top of the extractor cage (see pic), so I can then slide the ties up & over the end of the frames so they hold in place while spinning. It works a treat.

Hope that helps.
15bc0002fcad389d3aa71d911c8ef7d1.jpg


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