advice please on cleaning

[honeyshack]

Not sure how i managed this...have to say I had alot of help...thankful to the provider.
But 2x the hives and done extracting before Christmas...New one for me
However, now I have this cowen thing (love it) and I need to clean it.
Before it was drag everything out side and pressure wash it. Now the equipement is bolted to the floor, and in one piece which makes it hard for a little lass such as myself to drag it outside and wash it.
Now remember the wall plugs are just standard household plugs...looking to change them up, electrician coming today.
My honeyhouse is more than just an extraction room. It is also the bottling room. Thinking on the pressure washer, but that could be deadly with normal power outlets...ideas please!
PS letting the bees do it...not an idea I care to visit, plus, they are in the process of being wrapped and not really flying much

Thanks for all the help

PS...I really did manage to stay out of the bee yards since early July, as hard as it was...

[hpm08161947]

You sound like you are doing better. From time to time I have thought about you and what you are going through. Perhaps this is due to the extreme - life threatening asthma that my wife suffered from in the early days of our marriage. She literally could turn blue and off we would head to the ER - this was in the days before EPIpens. As the years went by (43 years to be exact) the symptoms seem to become less and less. Today at the age of 65 she can help me with bees, extract honey, lug supers, work in the garden.. basically whatever she wants to do, whereas in the early days of our marriage she was virtually an invalid. I seem to remember that you are very young and perhaps the same will be true of you. I hope so.

[My-smokepole]

Duct tape some plastic across plugs and switchs Kill the main breaker and go at it with the power washer. Just Watch what you are doing. It not like you are hosing the whole room down. and spraying the plugs with water. Give it a day or so to dry and you sould be fine. Done a few in preping for painting. But I am hosing down the whole room. Or if you have some thing on the wall that you dont want to get wet or damage put a sheet of pylwood in front to keep most of the water off it.
I use rubber boots when I do it
David

[Ian]

Hi Tammy
when we do our initial and our final wash, we use a pressure washer and soak down and clean everything. Pressure washers do clean very well but they are absolutely messy with spatter and splash. We will follow with a hose to finish up.
During the extraction season, for end of day wash and clean up we use hot water and hose everything down. With the hose, there is very little spatter and the hot water cleans real fast.
My suggestion, if you dont want to use a pressure washer is to use hot water and hose the machine down. Best thing about the machine you bought is it cleans real easy

[Ian]

How do you like the 28 frame Cowen?

[Markt]

I'd be sure and throw the main breaker to the extractor at the panel as well... Not sure about the 28 but the 60 has 40 amp 220 run to it and you really don't want to hit that with water

[Markt]

Also if you have an electrician coming, you may want to reconsider switching out all of your plugs to GFIs if that's what your plan was to waterproof. I tried doing that with mine and they're extremely tempermental and tend to trip when you don't want them to. Just my 2 cents

[Ian]

Ya, GFI's are not a good idea
All my wiring runs over the walls in conduit, with outdoor plug boxes. They all have covers

[honeyshack]

Thanks guys, will start with the garden hose.
The electrican is planning conduit piping and abs piping for the wires and rewiring the extraction line. Apparently many extension cords is not a good thing and not to code...who knew
My biggest problem, besides the getting shocked is drainage. We have a floor drain but nothing big, just a 3" pipe. So many things I would have done differently had we had the remotest plan of expanding.
Ian....the 28 frame cowen...amazing! Some bugs to iron out, not with the system so much but with the set up in the honeyhouse. But that comes with time i guess

[Ian]

I have a single 1 1/2 inch pipe for a drain. 3" pipe sounds like a dream!
I sweep most of the wash water out the doors. Not the best set up but workable,

[honeyshack]

I have a single 1 1/2 inch pipe for a drain. 3" pipe sounds like a dream!
I sweep most of the wash water out the doors. Not the best set up but workable,

I stand corrected...asked hubby...1 1/2 inch, the grate is close to 3"
Yes out the door too

[Ian]

What particularly is wrong with your honey house set up? Is it just a floor draining issue?

Ian....the 28 frame cowen...amazing! Some bugs to iron out, not with the system so much but with the set up in the honeyhouse. But that comes with time i guess

[jim lyon]

Perhaps it goes without saying but the final and most important job in any honey house cleanup is lubricating all the bearings and bushings to prevent rust.

[dgl1948]

Can you imagine what it would be like if honey was not water soluble.

[Roland]

Good point Mr. Lyon, relube is important. Not a big fan of the pressure washers, we always used HOT water.

Crazy Roland

[honeyshack]

Perhaps it goes without saying but the final and most important job in any honey house cleanup is lubricating all the bearings and bushings to prevent rust.

YUP!! Hubby could not agree more! only way to ensure that things should work next year.

[honeyshack]

Good to know CR. Just hot water and a floor squeegie and a scrapper worked well to clean the hot house floor