Preparing equipment for extraction

[Melbee]

I am planning to extract tomorrow. I've not done it before. I've given the equipment (hand spinner, buckets, taps) a good wash in hot soapy water. Do I need to do anything else (other than sterilise the jars) ?

I've got plenty of soda crystals and boiling water if I need to give the spinner with all it's metal and plastic bits, and the tap, a better going over.

I was planning to bring the super in on a plastic sheet on the wheelbarrow. I've got a sharp knife and tray on which to catch the cappings as well.

I'd appreciate being your advice if I've forgotten anything or if things need a better clean
Thank you !

 

[REDWOOD]

That's sounds fine to me although sterilisation of jars is not essential, I give my jars a quick wash in soapy water and a rinse in fresh and leave them air dry although some people say I'm fussy and don't even bother washing their jars

 

[Teemore]

Don't forget to clean the lids beforehand too. it was mentioned on the forum recently as something that can tend to be overlooked.... I know when I collected my last batch of jars and lids, the lids were loose in boxes and were poured into bags sitting on scales to "count" the number of lids. After seeing that, I am definitely of the view that they need washing before use.
Sheets of newspaper will be useful to catch drips - just be careful not to stand on a drip of honey and then walk it around the house.....

 

[jd101k2000]

All sounds good. I tend to pass the jars through the dishwasher... but that's more to make sure that there isn't any dust in them or other nasties (rather than sterilise them).

If you are going to sterilise, make sure that you are not going to use anything that might taint the honey.

(I once put some honey in a jar that had held coffee and very faintly still smelt of it... the honey seemed to amplify the smell of the coffee - all the honey was tainted! Fortunately, it was for own use.)

 

[Skyhook]

When you are cleaning up afterwards, do as much as possible with cold water only. That dissolves honey perfectly well, but still leaves flakes of wax as such, rather than melting them to re-form inside your u-bend. Once you've got everything clean and wax-free- you can then scald or whatever to sterilize if you wish.

I wouldn't worry about jars at the same time. Getting it from super to bucket is probably enough to think about the first time; when you've finished that and restored order, then think about jars.

Have fun!

 

[Melbee]

Good point about lids. I do, generally, remember as I make marmalade, jams etc and sterilise both as setting point approaches.

 

[Melbee]

The cold water clean-up makes sense - thanks.

An association member also said it was an idea to leave the strained honey overnight in the bucket before putting in jars the next day. They said this would give the honey time to settle and for any bubbles to come to the surface.
Do you agree ?

 

[itma]

The cold water clean-up makes sense - thanks.

An association member also said it was an idea to leave the strained honey overnight in the bucket before putting in jars the next day. They said this would give the honey time to settle and for any bubbles to come to the surface.
Do you agree ?

Yes.

Extract.
Strain.
Allow to settle in a non-cold place. The bubbles sweep pollen (etc) to the surface.
Jar.


ADDED // If there is any chance that your honey may set quickly (more a matter of early-season OSR), it is better to store it in bulk, in a bucket that you can warm very gently when the time comes, rather than in multiple jars.

 

[Melbee]

Thanks Itma - I've also just read your comments on another post "Filtering Honey" - very helpful as well.
M

 

[enrico]

Get a piece of wood with a screw sticking out and fasten this across one corner of your tray. Balance the end of the top bar on the screw and lean the frame slightly over the tray, now run your knife which had been in hot water and has been dried with a tea towel, through the cappings. I do it from the bottom up, in a slight cutting motion. The cappings will come off in a sheet and hang over the tray until you get to the top when they fall off and into the tray! Turn the frame over to do the other side.
Best of luck
E

 

[Tremyfro]

We did our first main extraction last week. We had a mixture of frames, for cut comb, foundationless frames and wired foundation frames. We found that cutting off the caps was a messy job which required much licking of fingers. Elf an safety issue with knives and tiny fingers darting in to catch the drips!!!! Resorted to using a dinner fork. Much easier....and the foundationless comb was clean as a whistle afterwards. We didn't have any broken comb. Our first tiny extraction a few weeks earlier was crush and strain...easy peasy....just used a jelly bag to strain the honey. Grandkids had honey sweets(the left over wax and honey) for ages afterwards. Their parents will all be getting a candle at Xmas....courtesy of 'cleaned by kids' bees wax. Ha Ha

 

[Fatbee]

My two tips:
Don't get too excited and spin too hard. It can cause wire to break, particularly on very laden frames. Sure and steady wins the day!
Secondly, assuming its a two frame spinner try and have frames of roughly equal weight to balance the spinner. If you have an odd frame at the end you will need to take it steady.

Enjoy the fruits of your labour!

 

[alldigging]

My two tips:
Don't get too excited and spin too hard. It can cause wire to break, particularly on very laden frames. Sure and steady wins the day!

Especially when it's really really hot too.

And don't open the windows even if it's really hot.

 

[Melbee]

Many thanks for the helpful suggestions. I will bear in mind about spinning slowly and balancing the frames - yes, it's a two-frame extractor. I've got the Aga on low to keep everything warm and despite the heat, will resist opening the windows !

Enrico - I've been reading Hooper and in the section on De-capping, there is a picture of a frame standing end on as it is being de-capped as well as a short description of how to do it. I was wondering if this is what you meant?

Thanks.

 

[Swarm]

He meant balancing the end of the bottom lug on the point of a nail, on a wooden brace across the tray.

 

[enrico]

Yep

 

[Alabamaeee]

As a 3rd year beek I'm just about getting the extraction routine sorted now.

Some things I found useful…

As I extract in the kitchen I firstly put one of those cheap thin plastic decorating sheets from DIY shop down on the floor, followed by cardboard sheets.

I wear a pair of flip flops when extracting then if I have to answer the door, telephone or any other activity that entails leaving the kitchen I can remove the flip flops first and not walk honey all over the house

I always put the apparently clean jars through the dishwasher without any detergent, then pop them into the oven at 30C. I think the warm jar helps any tiny bubbles induced when pouring to settle quicker.

As others have said, use cold water to wash out your filters, and definitely do not put any hot water in the sink until you are sure all the little bits of wax are well washed down the plug hole. I put all my wax cappings into one of those fine nylon mesh thingamajigs that are used to cover cakes, then I can wash them under running water and get the honey out before putting into my wax container.

Likewise do not use hot water in your extractor or you will end up with a layer of wax that sticks like glue to the extractor drum.

De-capping - I have a recapping tray but no heated knife so next time I will try the technique on this video (jump to 3:35 if you don't want to watch it all as it's in Danish language).

https://www.xxxxxxx.com/watch?v=8E67PA2r-qs

Add the usual tube url in the XXX bit.

One last and final tip or maybe warning… Check your honey gate is closed before starting up the extractor

 

[Rahere]

The cell caps are white because there's a thin layer of air beneath, in an ideal world you're removing the cappings by cutting through the air spaces and not touching the honey below. You'll feel the difference...
The problem lies in the certainty the bees won't have drawn the comb to a constant depth, so it has humps and dips in it. Don't be too rigid in going top to bottom, sometimes you have to go side to side as well, or even leave a bit and winkle it out after.

The bit you missed is to filter the honey between spinning and leaving to settle. Just use a single fine filter, takes all the bits of cappings you left behind out, any bits of dead bees you didn't manage to clear, etc.

 

[drex]

In my experience it is absolutely impossible to cut through the air gap. I never bother to try. Filters usually sold in sets of two. A coarse and a fine. Just use a fine and it will be clogged in five minutes!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

In my experience it is absolutely impossible to cut through the air gap. I never bother to try. Filters usually sold in sets of two. A coarse and a fine. Just use a fine and it will be clogged in five minutes!

The important word here is experience