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"cost" of crush and strain

28K views 59 replies 29 participants last post by  rtoney 
#1 ·
I''m small and perfectly happy doing crush and strain for now and maybe forever, but I'm trying to determine at what point of production volum an extractor makes financial sense for me.

It's easy to determine what an extractor costs, but what does it cost in forgone future honey production to do crush and strain. Does any one know the production of a hive given supers that are drawn out verses supers that are not drawn out? Are there any rules of thumb about this or does any have any personal experience to share.
 
#31 ·
GM charlie...I understand what you are saying....Its just really hard to manage bees to prevent swarming without drawn comb and get a good crop of honey... Also I was trying to show what the cost would be over the long term....you can buy a small extractor, hand knife, 5 gal bucket with gate without a lot of $. In the long haul if you stay in the bee business 5 or 10 years you will be $$$$ ahead! It also can vary from location to location.
 
#34 ·
I agree michael..cutting cells is NOT a good method of swarm control. I can work but you cant miss one and have to keep doing it....a poor method at best. Pulling brood and putting in empty comb as you state is the best way! BUt if you have a 4 week flow bees are likely to swarm if just comb honey supers are used or you have to keep pulling some brood and adding empty frames which will reduce you yield. You also will have to have more hives for those splits.
 
#35 ·
You also need to keep in mind the characteristics of your bees. Last year I started some Russian packages. One hive built a large number of queen cells. I had read that they were swarmy, but was not prepared for it with a new package and a queen with a great pattern. So, I did exactly the wrong thing and went around cutting out queen cells. These were the real deal, not cups. The hive never swarmed.

Afterward, when I thought about the stupid human trick I had just done, I figured I had gotten lucky and dodged a bullet.

Fast forward to this year. Colonies are mature and in three deeps with supers on top and plenty of space. I decided to let them do what they do and put some traps around in hopes of catching a swarm or two, since I was sure they would do it this year. Not one. Are they building and tearing down queen cells in there? I don't know, but they probably are/were, and in hindsight I'll bet that's what they were doing last year and my actions had little or no impact on them. I probably didn't even get all the cells, since they are a bear to find on that many frames.

My point is that you can do everything right (not saying that I did that last year but, maybe, this year) and the bees will still do what they do. For some bees queen cells are just a more aggressive back up plan and don't necessarily result in a swarm (or supercedure).

Bill
 
#36 · (Edited)
For comparison purposes I looked at two hives that started as swarms in April. Neither received any external feed and both were located within 50 feet of each other.

The smaller swarm (3-4 frames of bees) moved into a fully drawn hive body consisting of two deeps. As it filled the second box with bees it was given fully drawn supers. To date I have harvested 3 supers full of honey and they are still working on #4.

The larger swarm (6-8 frames of bees) was put into a single deep of undrawn and was later given another deep to draw out. Again as the second box was completed it was given a couple of drawn supers. To date they have almost filled one super but will likely not fill the second one.

So, the cost for drawing comb in 2 deeps is 2-3 medium supers of honey.

Fuzzy

PS: I retail the honey for 6-8 dollars a pint. So 3 supers of honey would pay for a reasonable extractor in 1 year.
 
#37 ·
cost is an interesting idea .
in my mind, it all depends. if you like working with your hands and have the time, then building an exrtactor isn't much of a cost. A small one can be run off a 1/2in drill. 15- 20$ on creigslist. If you arn't handy then going in with a few people on an extractor might be the way to go. it is a heck of a lot more fun to to this as a group than alone.

cappings can be sold back to some of the foundation manufactures or to other local beeks who are doing candles for the local farmers markets .

just a few thoughts.
 
#41 ·
>In y'alls' experience, is it faster to crush and strain a super as opposed to removing the cappings and extracting in a 2-frame junior bench extractor (which I was lucky enough to have a brother give to me)?

Yes it's faster to crush and strain. But you'll get more honey next year if you have drawn comb... if you have more honey than you need anyway, it probably doesn't matter. If you need more wax, then crush and strain would be better.
 
#43 ·
In my opinion, crush-and-strain works great for foundationless approach. Extraction by centrifugal force is suitable for classical frames with foundation. I also noticed that in my case, foundationless frames have always thicker comb than frames with foundation in the same beehive - thus, more honey per frame since I am mostly foundationless. It is amazing how little wax is in freshly made honey-comb! Another advantage of the crush-and-strain method is that it is easy to scale - from kitchen pot to barrel if necessary. Sergey
 
#57 · (Edited)
Ooo
I think, we have something in common! I "invented" the whole recycling process. I start with crushed honey in double-pot (steamer insert and pot). Honey dripped into the pot. When done, I pour honey into the jars and add some cold boiled water into the pot, reinstall insert with wax. So, the rest (~20%) of the honey retained in crushed wax will dissolve in the water. When done - pour honey-water (d=1.120) into the bottle for fermentation (the mead). Move wax into plastic mesh-bad (from lemons) and place it in the pot, fill up with water, re-install insert. Boil water - wax melted and form a cake on the surface, cool it down. Leftovers from the mesh-bag used as a fertilizer in the garden! So, I have honey, mead, wax, propolis and fertilizer for the garden. My biggest problem is the mead - the taste is inconsistent :( but my Russian friends drink it anyway :)
3 med. frames = 7.4 kg honey + 1 gal the mead (d=1.120) + 0.4 kg wax + some propolis
 

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#59 ·
>I think I would sale comb honey, before crush and strain

It depends on your market. I did both for 26 years. Some people area always going to want liquid honey... but I agree, you should cultivate a market for comb honey. I find older people and most ethnic groups seem to appreciate it already, you just have to find them.
 
#60 ·
I find a lot of people ask for comb but it is because they have heard grandma or grandpa talk about it. When it comes down to it most do not come back for more comb just the honey. It's a nostalgic thing for the older generation in the US reminding them of when they did not have candy at their finger tips.
For the time and effort involved I just crush and strain and only bottle a few quarts of comb for those that I know really want it maybe 15-20 jars a year. In some areas they may pay more but they are not that willing in this area so it's not worth it for me.
 
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