First time extracting.

[BeekeeperBill]

Ok,

I have ordered a side mount hand crank extractor, 2 pails to catch honey with valves, strainer, strainer cloth, electric adjustable uncapping knife, uncapping scratcher, and 16oz bottles...all from Mann Lake. Anything that is painfully obvious that I'm missing? Thanks.

Wish me luck,
Bill

[mike haney]

several hundred bucks from your checkbook? just kidding. sounds good.

[indypartridge]

Head over to Target or WalMart and get a couple large plastic tubs to use as uncapping tanks and to set frames into. Notch a piece of wood to put across the tub to rest the frame on while you uncap. (see photo) Have your kids do the uncapping. Convince them it's "fun".
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn64/indypartridge/extracting/Extracting00000.jpg

[Ravenseye]

You're good to go. Save your wax...it's good stuff!

[mike haney]

apparantly some bottles dont come with lids so double check that. do a search here for "amy's lables' and order a unique lable to suit your taste. good luck,mike

[Budster]

Some of those plastic "spatula" things. I use them to scrape the remnants from my containers when extracting honey. You'll be suprised at how much honey will stick to the sides of buckets after pouring...

If that was my list, I'd also grab a 12 pack!!!

[Hobie]

Remember to have close at hand a large bucket of warm water and a number of clean rags for cleaning up spills, wiping hands, cleaning off equipment, etc. You will soon find out how far and wide sticky honey can spread! I also wipe the jar rims (and sides if need be) with a well-wrung-out rag as I bottle, to minimize stickiness.

Dropcloths help, too.

And don't forget to close any non-screened windows... :D

[mlewis48]

Lots of cleanning supplies!!!!!! It can be very messy!!!!:)

[Fuzzy]

A really stiff 8-10 inch window "squeege" with a very short handle. Will scrape the sides of buckets and the inside of the extractor in just a minute.

Fuzzy

[BEES4U]

You will need a bee proof work area so that robbers do not ruin your day.
You may consider extracting at night and then clean up everything so that the robbers do not get interested in your extracting area.
Good luck,
Ernie Lucas Apiaries

[fjblair]

It is my first time as well. Hope I can ask a couple of questions without hijacking the thread.

Is it possible to store the frames of honey to extract later?

What is the best way to get the bees out of the super/off the frames if I do not have BeeGone or whatever?

Can I extract without an extractor? I only have one super.

Thanks

[Troutsqueezer]

I use a ratcheting tie down to firmly hold my two frame hand cranker to the bench. It can wobble pretty good.

>What is the best way to get the bees out of the super/off the frames if I do not have BeeGone or whatever?

Shake, blow, brush, any one or combination of the three. Search this forum on that question and you will see there's a lot written on it.

>Can I extract without an extractor? I only have one super.

Absolutely. Search this forum on "crush and strain". Also visit Bush Farm's website.

[fjblair]

Thanks TS. It's gonna be ugly however I do it. I don't think I want to crush and strain because I don't want to use the drawn comb next season.

I have searched with no luck for an answer to robbing now and extracting later. I think I can freeze them.

[ALLICAN]

I assume it is necessary to clean new bottles before filling.

Is there recommended solutions for this or will just rinsing with hot water and
draining well do the trick?

[MapMan]

I use a ratcheting tie down to firmly hold my two frame hand cranker to the bench. It can wobble pretty good.

When you are hand cranking, you'll need to have a firm stand/bench in which to attach the extractor. I use bungee cords, as they tend to dissipate some of the inertia created by the spinning.

In addition, this year I converted my hand crank model to motor-driven. I have a Dadant Little Wonder extractor which no longer wanted to grip the shaft with the silly little slip-clutch handle which they provide. For replacement parts (a little bearing), they wanted $25, and since the unit was practically new when I bought it, I thought that the bearing would give out as soon as I replaced it. They wanted big buck$ for the motor kit - in the hundreds, so I went to a salvage store in the area and found a 24-volt DC wheelchair motor. The shaft on the extractor is 5/8", the wheelchair motor has a geared-down offset shaft at 7/8". I welded a few pulleys together to get to those shaft diameters, attached the pulleys to the shafts, and mounted the motor onto a board which mounts in the two holes on the Little Wonder top.

For power, I hooked up a car battery charger to the motor. Since the motor is a 24 volt DC unit, the charger works fine - actually the extractor rotates at the correct rpm using the 12 volt charger. The nice thing about it is with the battery charger, I actually have three speeds, as the charger has three settings: a trickle charge 1.5amp, medium amperage charge 10amp, and a start engine setting 30amp. I start out slowly at the trickle setting, and then for maximum extraction top it off at 30amp. When I'm done with extraction, I can use the battery charger for its intended purpose - charging batteries.

Total cost is $15 for the motor, $7 for the pulleys, and a slightly worn belt and scrap marine plywood which I already had lying around gathering dust. Put it together in a little over an hour, including the welding. Works better than I anticipated - no blow outs on comb, and no sore arms!:)

MM

[Hobie]

Allican - I run my (glass) jars through the dishwasher (with no other dishes), and haven't killed anyone yet. Plastic lids I wash by hand in hot water and anti bacterial soap. Then air dry and I'm good to go!

[BeekeeperBill]

What is the best way to get the bees out of the super/off the frames if I do not have BeeGone or whatever?


Yup, I was wondering this myself. I can't imagine they are going to be very pleased to just hand it over. :D

[Troutsqueezer]

I put an empty shallow super off to the side, take the honey frames one at a time, shake them in front of the hive, blow the clingers off with a battery-powered Ryobi leaf blower and set the frame in the empty super, cover with a damp towel and repeat for as many frames as needed. The shaken bees immediately return to the hive. If you want to, and you are worried about shaking the queen to the ground because you aren't using an excluder, you can remove the whole super and shake the bees off each frame directly over the open hive. Typically I harvest 60-80 frames this way. Haven't been stung this way yet (6 years) wearing only a hooded jacket and gloves.

Everyone's got a slightly different style. Some people set the super on end and blow up thru it but I find that leaves too many bees. Others use a bee escape which takes too long for my taste.

[Hobie]

I use a triangle bee escape because time is not a big deal to me and I think it is less disruptive. I set the inner cover on the hive, then the bee escape board, and then the honey super and the outer cover, taking care that there are no gaps in the top.
this way I can remove the super without ever taking the inner cover off. I carry the super a ways from the hive, and inspect for stragglers. If any are found, I carry the frame back to the hive and shake/brush them off.

[fjblair]

Can I store the frames of honey and extract them later? Freezer?

I have no extractor yet and I don't want to remove the comb.

[Troutsqueezer]

>Can I store the frames of honey and extract them later? Freezer?

Yep. When you do extract, make sure the frames are plenty warm or they won't extract very well.

As I stated earlier everyone does things a little differently. Hobie likes to use the bee escape but moving the inner cover does expose the brood chamber for awhile. :) But that isn't an issue. As for me, I don't like to pick up 33 pounds at that height and move it, I'd rather take one frame at a time. The bees don't usually care if they get shaken or blown from the frame. It's something they're adapted to.

[Hobie]

Hobie likes to use the bee escape but moving the inner cover does expose the brood chamber for awhile. :)

I'm a bit confused :confused: .
In my way of thinking, you are going to remove the inner cover and expose the brood chamber anyway to either remove the super (if no bee escape used), or to install the bee escape, and then again to remove the bee escape & super.

By moving the inner cover immediately to below the bee escape, I do not have to expose the brood chamber when later removing the escape & super. I thought that was a good thing. Please let me know if I am missing something basic, here.

[jackalope]

Can I store the frames of honey and extract them later? Freezer?

I have no extractor yet and I don't want to remove the comb.

Yes, so long as you have some way of protecting the frames from bugs and stuff. I routinely don't get around to extracting for a week or 2 after pulling them off the hive.

A local commercial keep came across 10 sups he'd forgotten about in one of this field sheds from two years ago - he used most of them for feeding that fall but extracted one super just to see what the honey was like - none of us could tell the difference between that honey and the currently year stuff.

BTW, my hives are all within extension cord distance of my house so I use a shop vac to blow the bees out of the super. I get most of the bees out by first smoking them, then one sharp rap (pick up the super 1 inch and let it drop). I take it about 25ft away from the hive, set it on it's side and blow the remaining bees out with the shop vac. The remaining bees are usually pretty tenacious - so this isn't the fastest way. I have also had success just using an old drafting brush to sweep the remaining bees off the frames as I transfer them one at a time into a rubber-maid-type stealed storage bin.

If you want to extract without an extrator, I suggest using top-bar hives and using the crushing method with two mason jars and a bit of bug screen - the whole top bar methods are more suitable to hobby/family keepers. Langstroth equipment is must easier to get but requires all this extra gear.

[Bucherbees]

Thanks for the photo, I'll keep that in mind for next year. We are first year beeks and think we should leave the fall honey for the bees.

[fjblair]

Just finished robbing the bees and it was no problem. Just used smoke and a brush and moved the frames to an empty super with damp towel on top. Some of the frames were completely capped on one side and maybe 50% on the other side. I took them anyway. A few frames I left because they didn't appear ready. I then put in empty frames to fill out the super.

I hope this okay.

I put the honey frames in a plastic garbage bag and placed it in the refrigerator until I figure out how to extract.

Thanks