How to use honey extractor?

Once your bees have filledthe combs with honey and capped it, you can extract it. What canhelp in the extraction of that honey is the honey extractor. Thehoney extractor is a device which extracts honey without damaging bee combs. Itcontains a cylindrical drum holding a frame basket, and by spinning it aroundhoney is extracted by centrifugal force. This method is great because wax andcomb remain intact and can be returned to the hive. It seems easy in theory buthow hard is it to use the honey extractor.

ElectricHoney Extractor

The electrichoney extractor uses electricity to spin the frames that are attached onthe central shaft located in the middle of the drum. It has an electricmotor which is connected to your electric current supply so that it can turnthe frames at a certain speed. Speed is controlled because if the frames insidethe drum are spun at very high speeds, then there is a possibility of damage tothe honey combs. The electric honey extractor is the best option for largescale commercial beekeepers because they are fast and don’t need much energy tooperate. Big commercial honey companies use electric honey extractors due theconvenience that such extractors offer. Below are some of the advantages ofelectric honey extractors over manual honey extractors:

• Electric honey extractors can be used toextract large amounts in a much quicker time.

• They are easy to operate. Simply turnon the electric motor has been turned on the spinning startsautomatically.

• They are faster compared to manualextractors.

• Can be used by large commercial honeyextracting companies.

Manual HoneyExtractor

The manual honeyextractor is manually operated using your hands, and you can even make oneyourself if you’re so technically inclined. The absence of an electric motor isreally the only difference, since it also has a drum that has a shaft whereframes can be attached to for the spinning to be done. Most manual honeyextractors can hold from two to about four frames. The advantages of the manualhoney extractor include the following:

Can be used to extract honey even wherethere is no source of electricity.

It ensures that delicate wax combs arenot damaged because the spinning speed can be controlled by the hands easily.

Doesn’t contribute to your electricitybill

Less expensive than the electricextractor

1.   You will remove each frame of the cappedhoney one by one from the super.

2.   Use a bee brush to gently remove any beemight be on the frame. Be careful not to harm them or accidentally step onthem.

3.   Use a hot knife, or a hot air gun removethe caps of the wax cells.

4.   You will then place theframes vertically into the drum of the extractor, inside the metalholdings.

5.   Once the frames are in their rightpositions inside the extractor, you can then turn on the device if it’s anelectric extractor, or start spinning it with your hands if it’s a manual one.As the frames are spun observe that the speed is good because extremecentrifugal force usually spoils the delicate wax comb. You can spin the framesin one direction for about five to six minutes, then reserve the direction ofspinning. In another five to six minutes the combs should be empty and theframes returned to the shallow super.

6.   As the process continues the drum of theextractor will get filled with honey so it will be better to open the gatevalve at the bottom part to release the honey. When the drum is filled withhoney it makes spinning of the frames cumbersome.

7.   You can use a bucket to tap the honeyfrom the honey extractor drum. You can then fill any jars that you may haveprepared to keep your harvested honey in.


Clean-up




Honey is water-soluable, so have asponge and dry rag on hand to clean up spills and wipe down your tools andsurfaces. Remember that honey is naturally anti-bacterial, so there's no need to use anycleaning chemicals.




Theextractor can be cleaned with a few buckets of hot water.

I run myfilled jars under hot water for a few seconds after I've secured their lids,and then towel them dry.

Yourde-honeyed frames should then be put back into your hives. Your bees willquickly repair the honey comb and, within a short time, start re-filling itwith new honey.






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