Plastic heather honey loosener

[pargyle]

I'm missing Our Curly GF how's his heather harvest going? Both the amount and of course his extraction?

Probably still uncapping 2000 supers with an uncapping fork and waiting for the heather honey to strain through his jelly bag ... might be a long wait !

 

[Garry R]

Have you tried this?

Yes and you end up with bone dry wax and fresh comb the following year which is all to the good! I do not live near heather now but do not think that this would have changed for heather honey gatherers

 

[Erichalfbee]

I bet it was Shane, nice bloke if it was.

Yes it was indeed....and he was

 

[Frizzaldo]

Yes and you end up with bone dry wax and fresh comb the following year which is all to the good! I do not live near heather now but do not think that this would have changed for heather honey gatherers

How do you end up with fresh comb? Do you spin full frames or scrapings from frames?

on the plastic loosener i can’t see it working, i tired spinning some uncapped heather honey and it didn’t budge so unlikely it would extract through those small holes it makes

 

[Garry R]

How do you end up with fresh comb? Do you spin full frames or scrapings from frames?

on the plastic loosener i can’t see it working, i tired spinning some uncapped heather honey and it didn’t budge so unlikely it would extract through those small holes it makes

When I say fresh comb I meant that I used thin super wax for cut comb and that leads to fresh wax/comb being produced and as is generally recognised this helps bee health reducing the time that wax is in the hive allowing disease build up .

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

leads to fresh wax/comb being produced and as is generally recognised this helps bee health

really?

 

[pargyle]

really?

I suppose it does if you have very diseased bees...personally I think continually changing combs is a disservice to the bees. I've got super frames that are still serviceable that go back 10 years where the comb is still in use nowt wrong wi it ! And I have healthy bees....

 

[Erichalfbee]

I've got super frames that are still serviceable that go back 10 years

Yep same here. I’m sure some are even older

 

[Garry R]

I agree with you but I only use the thin super for cut comb - the majority of my super frames are used for several years unlike the brood fames which are generally replaced on a three year basis - often by then they are pretty black and often nibbled around the edges and drone comb cell numbers increasing. The bees are supposed to get smaller too due to the shed skins building up. Any comments on this?

 

[Erichalfbee]

he bees are supposed to get smaller too due to the shed skins building up. Any comments on this?

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/smalboldcomb.html
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1018364721000975
Take your pick

 

[pargyle]

I agree with you but I only use the thin super for cut comb - the majority of my suoer frames are used for several years unlike the bood fames which are generally replaced on a three year basis - often by then they are pretty black and often nibbled around the edges and drone comb cell numbers increasing. The bees are supposed to get smaller too due to the shed skins building up. Any comments on this?

Mostly beekeeping folklore and mythology ....I change brood frames only when they need it ...and just because they are dark does't mean that they need changing ... if the bees don't like comb they will tear it down ....and rebuild it.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Mostly beekeeping folklore and mythology ....I change brood frames only when they need it ...and just because they are dark does't mean that they need changing

 

[Humble Bee]

Yes, northbee that's the one. Heather Loosener Uncapper | Humble Bee Farm

Now does anyone have any experience of this?

PH

Hi All, we thought you would like to see a few more pictures.

In short: The Device penetrates cappings to loosen heather honey, repeatedly passing frames through the rollers agitates thixotropic honey, images show single pass, repeated passes and final extracted comb from our 2022 Heather honey extraction. Although some cells may be damaged this preserves comb unlike crushing or cut comb. It simply allows hobby bee keepers a way to extract tricky heather honey without spending thousands, it has the bonus of being a nifty Uncapper for summer honey takes the time and mess out of cutting cappings as a single pass is enough for honey to be extracted. Hope this helps. Kindest regards Jordan

 

[deemann1]

So it really works. Super !
I can finally put my hand loosener away

 

[MillMeadow]

Hi All, we thought you would like to see a few more pictures.

In short: The Device penetrates cappings to loosen heather honey, repeatedly passing frames through the rollers agitates thixotropic honey, images show single pass, repeated passes and final extracted comb from our 2022 Heather honey extraction. Although some cells may be damaged this preserves comb unlike crushing or cut comb. It simply allows hobby bee keepers a way to extract tricky heather honey without spending thousands, it has the bonus of being a nifty Uncapper for summer honey takes the time and mess out of cutting cappings as a single pass is enough for honey to be extracted. Hope this helps. Kindest regards Jordan

Thanks Jordan, thats useful to know!

 

[deemann1]

BUMP
Anyone else try one of these out ?