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Extractor Size for number of hives.

34K views 55 replies 36 participants last post by  Acebird 
#1 ·
What are the recommendations as far as how many hives an extractor of a given size will handle? I realize that if one plans to grow you want to buy an extractor which is larger and also that the length of the harvest will vary in different parts of the country, but I am trying to get an idea. For ballpark figures can you say that an extractor of a given size can reasonably handle twice the number of hives as it's number of frames?

2 frame for up to 4 hives.
4 frame for up to 8 hives.
9 frame for up to 18 hives.
20 frame for up to 40 hives.

What as been your experience?

Thank you for any feedback.

Larry
 
#29 ·
Remembering back when I was a kid earlier today when talking to another beekeeper about this subject. I was show him an 80 frame Hubbard my Dad and Mom bought to replace the 4 frame crank extractor we used as a kid. Then showing the extractor we use now at days in replacement of the 80 frame Hubbard. The last year we used the 4 frame crank, we did just over 5 tons of honey.:eek: The big question is HOW HARD DO YOU WANT TO WORK????:scratch:
 
#31 ·
In our third house, my wife finally parks in the garage. we have a 2-car garage attached to the house, so she finally has a spot for her car, and the other is for a couple of motorcycles and the kids power wheels and wagons. On any given day there is about a 3% chance of fitting a car into my shop...even though it is two story and could fit about 4 cars. projects take up space, and i always have projects. I do mostly metal work from forging tools and custom hunting knives to fabrications and one-off items. I was suprised to see how rapidly metal dust and welding fumes were replaced my sawdust and hundreds of langstroth parts.
 
#32 ·
I'm divorced so I don't have anyone to please other than my dogs. I've made great strides toward cleaning out my garage but at this point even a motorcycle would be out of the question.

Concerning the original post…

I'm slowly starting over in beekeeping after an 18 year hiatus and the only equipment I can lay hands on is an ancient hive tool and a bee brush. Back in the day I kept about 20 colonies and had what I considered a wonderful processing setup. It consisted of a 4 foot uncapping tank, a hot knife, a 20 frame radial Root extractor, a small unheated sump with wax baffles, a pump, a stainless straining box with a nylon mesh bag and a Kelley 40 gallon bottling tank controlled by a foot pedal. I wish I could have the whole thing back but such is life.
 
#33 ·
If you are just starting out I would advise most folks to try and rent borrow, or go to a friends house to extract. Most clubs have extractors they rent and most bee keepers are happy to have newbies come over and extract the same day they do their own honey. After a year or two you will know weather or not you are going to continue to keep bees and you will have a better idea of how many hives you may want to keep. Then you will have a better idea of what actually goes into extracting honey and which extractor will suit your needs. A 6 or 9 frame radial with motor will do a good job for most hobbyist beekeepers.

If you buy a small two frame extractor and stick with beekeeping more than a few years you are likely going to out grow it pretty fast. The one good thing about extractors is that they pretty much hold their value and can quickly be sold.

Not to derail this thread but, what happened to tecumeh? He use to post a lot right after I first joined the forum. When I saw him reply in this thread I knew it must be an old one.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Since my post back in '08 I've gotten up to 15 production hives and now have a refurbished electric 20 frame Dadant and a settling tank. I'll never go back to hand crank. Now I need an uncapping tank instead of the 2 uncapping tubs that I currently use. Emptying and cleaning them is not efficient, and you can't store many uncapped frames in them as the uncapper spins.
 
#37 ·
I am a fan of tangential extractors. Have used a hand four frame and an electric 10 frame radial at the same time. Could process more frames with the 4 frame tangential per hour. Much less spinning time and cleaner frames.

WARMING BOX
I have also made a box to warm my frames. Uses the waste heat from my steam knife and steam from another pressure cooker. The box uses a radiator from an airconditioner, a ceiling fan to pull the air in and a ceiling fan (taped to reduce volume) on top of each of the three stacks of boxes. Have stacked up to four boxes high for the start of the day. best to only have 8 frames in a 10 frame box or 6 in a 8 frame box.

Ceiling fans are in a frame so all air has to go through the fans.


Makes uncapping and extraction easier.

Geoff
 
#38 · (Edited)
For me I wanted a larger extractor but didnt want to pay the big bucks so I compromised and got the Mann lake 18/9 radial hand cranked. It had free shipping so it was well worth it. At around $650 it was in my budget and I didnt see the need to buy it motorized for an additional $500. It only takes about 6 minutes to spin out the frames and its not like your constantly cranking it. It does quick work and is more than I need but I prefer to save time, which for me is more valuable than the $300 I would have saved by buying a smaller extractor.

When I uncap all the combs I do it in a plastic box that is about 3 foot long and about 18 inches wide. Instead of wasting time cleaning up the box when I am done I take it outside and let the bees clean it up for me, and after a couple of days I go retrieve it and wash it out with warm water. I do the same thing with the extractor. I also take all the extracted frames and leave them outside for the bees in the sun uncovered.

Basically the bees take all the honey from the combs, extractor and uncappings and store them in their hive. This leaves me clean equiptment and clean comb in the frames to put back on the hives or to store for later...

I drain the honey from the extractor into a filter, and then a 5 gal bucket with a honey gate. when the bucket is full I put it on the edge of my bench and use it to botlle the honey.

So total for me to buy equiptment to Process/bottle honey is around $750 bucks divide that by serveral years and it is very cost effective. The only thing I have to buy every year is bottles. Mann lake dosent have free shipping on BULK bottels so that is the only thing I buy from Betterbee because they have free shipping on bulk bottles (this year 2013)

Last year (working the honey my self) I got 213 1 pound jars and 98 1-1/2 pound jars and it only took the weekend to do it, that included working the hives, uncapping, extracting, botteling, lebeling, and clean up (putting the supers away for winter).

The larger extractor and letting the bees clean up the excess honey is a real time saver...
 
#43 ·
I have simple theory. It's not worth buying, using, cleaning anything less that the largest extractor I can fit in my door... My first, and so far only extractor, is a 9/18 (9 deeps and 18 mediums) motorized, radial. I can extract more than two of my 8 frame supers in one shot. I have used (but not bought) a two frame non reversible tangential extractor, and I would never buy one. Way too much work and time. You have to uncap, put the frames in, spin 1/4 of the honey (half of that side) out and then flip them, then spin all the honey from the other side, then flip them then spin all the honey out of the first side... and now you have extracted only two frames...

I just did crush and strain for 26 years and then bought a motorized 9/18...

But here is my answer:

up to 4 hives crush and strain
up to 8 hives crush and strain
up to 18 hives marginal, but I'd crush and strain unless you have the excess cash available.
18 frame for up to 400 hives.
 
#48 ·
One of my previous posts lists the elaborate processing equipment I used to own for 20 hives. All I can say in response to Micheal Bush's post is "Amen".
If I ever get past 20 hives again I will consider an radial extractor only. Tangentials are not worth the money or grief. Until then crush and strain will be just fine.
 
#44 ·
> up to 18 hives marginal, but I'd crush and strain unless you have the excess cash available.

Or join a local beekeeping club that offers free or nominal charge extractor rental/borrowing.
:D


Davy Crockett Beekeepers Association
Greeneville TN
Meets: 4th Monday of each month except December - 7:30 p.m.
Contact: Sara Ledford: (423) 235-6577


The DCBA owns an extractor available for members' use, the rental fee is waived if you return the extractor clean. The club dues are $7 per year! :gh:

To find other clubs in TN click here:
http://www.tnbeekeepers.org/bee-clubs/
 
#45 ·
I think the need for a motorized extractor for beginners is they find out the fun doesn't last too long when you are cranking. I don't see the sense in buying a tangential extractor. If you are going to buy or build one make it radial and spin the frames once. The simplest thing you can do it make a frame, wood or metal with at least a 1/2 metal rod between two frames and spin it with a hand drill in a barrel.
Obviously, crush and strain is the cheapest way to go but when you first start out you are trying to build up drawn comb so that is a conflict. Storing equipment can be a challenge, I agree.
 
#46 ·
I used a 9 med frame Italian 3 deep extractor until I got past 144 colonies. Then I found a really good deal on (2) 32 frame dadants and run that on 400 colonies now. I disagree with Mike. You need more than 1 18 frame extractor for 400, less you go back to how hard do you want to work as Ron pointed out, or in this case how long do you want to extract honey for during the winter months?
 
#50 ·
You can't truly speak for all hobbyist to list their hobby time as zero dollars. I know lots of hobby golfers and anglers who like to see paycheck for their invested time. However I understand hobbyist probably do not put a dollar figure on every hour invested.

Still how much does it cost to do crush and strain?
I can tell you it costs approx 7-8 lbs of honey per lbs of wax. So here is some basic math for someone who has 10 colonies as a hobbyist (which is probably hobby selling their honey). Lets say they render 2 lbs of wax per colony per year. Thats 160 lbs worth of honey to sell at well I charge $5.50 per lbs. That would be say $720.00 of valued honey when you consider the cost of labeling and bottling said honey.

How much does a small used extractor cost, along with the time and aggrevation of crushing and straining? You could be making wine or beer instead of crushing and straining!
 
#51 ·
>Still how much does it cost to do crush and strain?
I can tell you it costs approx 7-8 lbs of honey per lbs of wax.

It's not very many pounds of wax and the figures on converting honey to wax are irrelevant. Drawn comb makes more honey because there is room to store the honey. They draw comb pretty quickly in a strong flow and will amaze you.

>How much does a small used extractor cost, along with the time and aggrevation of crushing and straining?

I can crush and strain faster than I can extract. It's a lot less time and less work and no messier. I only extract so I can have drawn comb.
 
#52 ·
I can crush and strain faster than I can extract. It's a lot less time and less work and no messier. I only extract so I can have drawn comb.
In all seriousness you could mechanize the crushing and straining to were it is no mess at all and speed would not be an issue because it would be 3 or 4 times faster. It really is about saving the comb.
 
#53 ·
For me mixing vocation with avocation is a strange thing. I have been a professional photographer for over 4 decades on either a part time or full time basis. Years ago when it was more of a glorified hobby I felt completely justified spending ludicrous amounts of money on a lens just because I thought it was neat and had income from another job to support the whole thing. Now I look at any photographic purchase through different eyes. "How many 8x10's am I going to have to sell to pay for this thing" or "Are my clients going to care about what I can do with a fisheye lens or just think it's weird" or "Do I need this piece of equipment to better provide with I think a client deserves from me"

Beekeeping is a hobby and I have no intention of trying to make a living at it. If a person wants an extractor or any other processing equipment just because it's cool to have all that shiny stainless stuff then go for it. As long as it's not at the expense of life's necessities (including marital harmony) then have at it. The truth is if I ever buy another processing set up it will be because I want it…not because I need it.
 
#56 ·
It depends on whether you had two so one could spin while one was loaded. I came up with over 9 weeks, one shift for one and around 5 weeks for the dual set up. Going smaller and using the equipment for a longer period of time is better utilization of your capital investment. I understand that if you are paying somebody to do the task you what it done with the least amount of labor but if you are not paying somebody then capital investment takes front seat.
 
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