Plastic heather honey loosener

[Erichalfbee]

I spoke to a commercial beekeeper at Conwy honey fair yesterday. He does a lot of heather and he uses, instead of a press which wastes a lot of honey, a cappings spinner which extracts every bit of honey leaving the wax bone dry.

 

[Mabee]

I spoke to a commercial beekeeper at Conwy honey fair yesterday. He does a lot of heather and he uses, instead of a press which wastes a lot of honey, a cappings spinner which extracts every bit of honey leaving the wax bone dry.

those are not cheap though are they? not really for the hobby beekeeper, unless there are ones out there not in the four figure price band.

 

[Erichalfbee]

those are not cheap though are they? not really for the hobby beekeeper, unless there are ones out there not in the four figure price band.

No they aren't. Abelo do one for three and a half grand. The one this chap had was an even bigger one from Thomas.

 

[elainemary]

I spoke to a commercial beekeeper at Conwy honey fair yesterday. He does a lot of heather and he uses, instead of a press which wastes a lot of honey, a cappings spinner which extracts every bit of honey leaving the wax bone dry.

How does he extract the heather in the Comb though? The cappings are just one smaller element, the bulk is in the
Comb, solid gel

 

[elainemary]

I find that I must disagree and find that the plastic pins are a vast improvement on the thinner S/S pins on the earlier versions, for one thing, as well as loosening the honey it pushes much of it out of the cells and on to the surface of the combs

Though I’ve found when that happens the plastic teeth get covered in honey in a gloopy mess and when applying to the reverse side of the comb the honey on the other side dribbles all over whatever surface you’re using the device on. However, unfortunately it’s the only option that’s available unless you own an old perfextractor like this

Photos show the comb after using the Abelo plastic device (last photo) and the perfextractor (first photo). The cells come out much cleaner and less damaged, with the old metal version and no honey clings to the device, just spins out of cells if carefully spin out slowly.

There’s an opportunity for one of the equipment suppliers to bring out a copy of the old perfextractor but I’m guessing it’s too niche. Answer is to do more cut comb

 

[MillMeadow]

No they aren't. Abelo do one for three and a half grand. The one this chap had was an even bigger one from Thomas.

They are upwards of £5k now.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

How does he extract the heather in the Comb though? The cappings are just one smaller element, the bulk is in the
Comb, solid gel

you put the whole lot through the press

 

[elainemary]

you put the whole lot through the press

Agree, that’s what I do, saves time uncapping and separate spinning

 

[David1976]

I emailed humble bee about this loosened on a couple of ocassions because it Interested me as a possibility for speeding up heather extraction.

Unfortunately, despite specifically asking for after pictures (once uncapped through their machine and spun) they didn't provide them and the before pictures were of what appeared to be runny summer honey rather than honey.

For this reason, I didn't purchase one which is a shame as it does look good and I could have put the pictures up to show you.

This year, I have cut my heather comb out the frame straight into a bucket and mashed it with a potato masher. I then put it in a fruit press which poured directly onto a sieve and into my settling tank.

If I find a second hand wax capping press for sale before next season I will try that as it would be a lot quicker.

 

[Erichalfbee]

How does he extract the heather in the Comb though? The cappings are just one smaller element, the bulk is in the
Comb, solid gel

The cappings spinner is used to spin out combs scraped back to the mid rib. I asked and he said it took two supers at a time.

 

[Erichalfbee]

They are upwards of £5k now.

 

[F.F.Stung]

if it's anything like the hand held rollers, be prepared for a godawful mess, and still not get much honey out

Agreed. Why would anybody try to extract heather honey? Use starter strips in the super. Cut out the comb into broad stripes and pack into jars. Finish topping up the jars with the drips from the frames

 

[MillMeadow]

View attachment 33834

Apologies Eric, I was referring to the heather press. I now realise you are reffering to the capping spinner.

 

[elainemary]

I emailed humble bee about this loosened on a couple of ocassions because it Interested me as a possibility for speeding up heather extraction.

Unfortunately, despite specifically asking for after pictures (once uncapped through their machine and spun) they didn't provide them and the before pictures were of what appeared to be runny summer honey rather than honey.

For this reason, I didn't purchase one which is a shame as it does look good and I could have put the pictures up to show you.

This year, I have cut my heather comb out the frame straight into a bucket and mashed it with a potato masher. I then put it in a fruit press which poured directly onto a sieve and into my settling tank.

If I find a second hand wax capping press for sale before next season I will try that as it would be a lot quicker.

They sent me a couple of videos … here you go… still not sure about it though. Given cost would like to hear from anyone who has tried it. Can’t see it working on pure heather collected up on the moors, but maybe if mixed with other crops like balsam the bees bring in, in the valley in our area

 

[elainemary]

I emailed humble bee about this loosened on a couple of ocassions because it Interested me as a possibility for speeding up heather extraction.

Unfortunately, despite specifically asking for after pictures (once uncapped through their machine and spun) they didn't provide them and the before pictures were of what appeared to be runny summer honey rather than honey.

For this reason, I didn't purchase one which is a shame as it does look good and I could have put the pictures up to show you.

This year, I have cut my heather comb out the frame straight into a bucket and mashed it with a potato masher. I then put it in a fruit press which poured directly onto a sieve and into my settling tank.

If I find a second hand wax capping press for sale before next season I will try that as it would

 

[user 20297]

They sent me a couple of videos … here you go… still not sure about it though. Given cost would like to hear from anyone who has tried it. Can’t see it working on pure heather collected up on the moors, but maybe if mixed with other crops like balsam the bees bring in, in the valley in our area

One of those videos won't play properly for me, but they're very short and do seem shy of showing too much detail. Seems good for puncturing cappings though, and like the industrial uncapping machines, would help maintain combs at an even level.

 

[mbc]

I spoke to a commercial beekeeper at Conwy honey fair yesterday. He does a lot of heather and he uses, instead of a press which wastes a lot of honey, a cappings spinner which extracts every bit of honey leaving the wax bone dry.

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

 

[Hachi]

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

 

[Garry R]

For cappings and mashed comb for heather honey £3450 vs £160 (plus some stainless steel mesh and a nylon bag) - no brainer

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15488037...Sye88xvcvRZPgbJqnr9y/+d95N|tkp:Bk9SR7D0uvboYA

 

[David1976]

For cappings and mashed comb for heather honey £3450 vs £160 (plus some stainless steel mesh and a nylon bag) - no brainer

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15488037...Sye88xvcvRZPgbJqnr9y/+d95N|tkp:Bk9SR7D0uvboYA

Have you tried this?