Commercial extracting equipment

[Beetime]

Has anyone compared the various extracting equipment, pros & cons. Thanks for any input.

[Michael Bush]

For three or four hives I'd just do the crush and strain method, unless you have the money to buy a good 9/18 or larger radial.

If you have a honey house, bigger is nicer, but if you have to haul it in and out of the kitchen for the extracting once a year, a 9/18 is just right. It fits through the door, will hold one super of deeps or two of mediums (if you run 9 frames to a box) and doesn't cost that much more than a smaller one.

Depending on the kind of extractor they either go like spokes on a wheel (radial extractor) or flat. If it’s a radial you pretty much just spin them out and remove them. If it’s one that is flat and not reversible, you have to spin half of the honey out of that side, reverse the frames, spin all the honey out of that side, reverse the frames and spin out the rest. If you really insist on buying an extractor I would not settle for less than a 9/18 motorized radial. That holds 9 deeps or 18 mediums. Anything less is a waste of your time and money, in my point of view.

I think you can get more money for comb honey and not NEED an extractor.

[The Honey House]

When I was equipping my honey house, I looked at Maxant and Cowen. Both make fine units, stainless and pretty much indestructible. I went with Maxant because of the shipping costs. I can drive to Ayer MA is less than an hour.
I had a micro-switch on the uncapper go on me. I called and a replacement switch was sent the very next day. Adjusting it is a pain but once it's set, your golden.
I also designed a mounting plate to allow more adjustment with the pillow blocks. My unit would cut to deep into the cappings. I usally run 9 frames per super and the uncapper cut quite a bit off. The plate allows the blocks to be far away from the frame, cutting less deeper.


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Dave Verville
Fremont, NH USA

[This message has been edited by The Honey House (edited August 14, 2004).]

[Beetime]

Does Cowen have a website or do you know who carries their products?

[The Honey House]

http://www.cowenmfg.com/