First honey extraction today, a question.

[kellymt]

We did our first honey extraction today and now I have a question. I have an older electric decapping knife. It did not seem to hot and didn't glide through the wax as expected. During the clean up, I noticed a small brass screw head at the handle knife interface. I thought it might be an adjustable thermostat. I turned it in and sure enough it got hotter, back out and it cooled down. How hot should the knife be? Any tips on using one for next year? Thanks, PK.

[JRG13]

Beeswax melts around 145. I would think somewhere around 160 would keep it hot enough. It really depends on how fast you're running through frames and how much the knife heats up between cuts.

[kellymt]

Thanks for the reply. Adjusting the thermostat up just a little made the knife much hotter. I'll be setting it higher next year. PK

[johng]

It also takes a little practice getting the hang of using a hot knife. You have to hold it at the right angle to get it to cut good.

[kellymt]

Thanks for the tip johng. Will do. PK