Comb crusher / honey extractor

[Wknz]

Has anyone seen a comb crusher, similar to an apple crush, for extracting honey from comb?

If so how effective were they?

Having a spinner is great but theres still more can be removed via crush and strain after it's done.

I'm thinking of making one. Either using a screw thread to press down the crusher or maybe an inverted car jack.

 

[Dave Black]

Gee you post a lot!
Crushing is fine, and a cider press style is fine. But drawn comb will be your most valuable managment tool and you will come to regret the day you decided to destroy any of it.

 

[tristan]

But drawn comb will be your most valuable managment tool and you will come to regret the day you decided to destroy any of it.

+1
do not underestimate its importance.

 

[Grant]

Gee you post a lot!

He's supposed too

 

[southbee]

+1
do not underestimate its importance.

Agree with that and the little bit what's left in the combs makes it very attractive for the bees to go straight back to put more in....just what we want.

 

[ChrisM]

I don't follow the logic to crush comb from a Lang hive. But this link below leads to a video of a press that squeezes out the honey from comb for what its worth. The important detail is to crush in the plane of the foundation because if you squash in the through-cell direction it is more inclined to encase the honey. This particular press comes from France seems extremely costly.

Extracting from Top Bar Hives - Hive World -

Extracting from Top Bar Hives - The most effective way of separating honey and wax using Thomas Apiculture's Bati-press.

www.hiveworld.co.nz

 

[Grant]

Ok, so remembering there is a beginner level of experience here guys.

Having a spinner is great but theres still more can be removed via crush and strain after it's done.

The wet stuff, becomes stores for the bees when you put it back in the hive, they will soon clean it up.
Plus it takes approx 6 to 8 times as much honey to make the equivalent weight in wax, so its a very expensive commodity for them to make. Assuming you take your honey off after the summer flow, that resource may be better spent restocking the honey stores to get them through winter.

 

[Wknz]

Ok, so remembering there is a beginner level of experience here guys.


The wet stuff, becomes stores for the bees when you put it back in the hive, they will soon clean it up.
Plus it takes approx 6 to 8 times as much honey to make the equivalent weight in wax, so its a very expensive commodity for them to make. Assuming you take your honey off after the summer flow, that resource may be better spent restocking the honey stores to get them through winter.

Thanks. I put the wets back in the hive to get cleaned up. I'd seen videos where they left them out but that seems like an invitation to robbing, wasps and disease vectors.

Do they use or rebuild the messed up comb? Cutting off capping etc make a bit of a mess.

Most of the wax we refined was capping wax and a couple of dirty frames I had clean foundation frames to replace them with. However I hear what you are saying and by the looks of things I've had less honey now than 5 weeks ago so will watch food stores etc.
Thanks

 

[Sailabee]

I hope that any videos of frames left outside with all bees having access to them are from overseas, as dong that is definitely not acceptable in NZ, because of the very reasons you state - yet another downside of watching overseas content too early in your beekeeping.

I used crush and strain bucket extraction for the first couple of years, until I worked out how badly addicted to beekeeping I was, and actually the price of extractors fell dramatically, so I bought one. Taking off the cappings does some damage, it is remarkable how quickly the bees repair it all - even when speed gets out of hand, and blows a hole through the frames, so no need to be concerned about it.

 

[Mummzie]

Do they use or rebuild the messed up comb? Cutting off capping etc make a bit of a mess.

short answer- yes.
For example, on occasions I have harvested using a spoon to scrape all the honey and wax to the midriff. That is then cleaned out by the girls. Its effectively foundation again, and they redraw it.

How did you remove the cappings? A hot knife works a treat.

 

[tristan]

Thanks. I put the wets back in the hive to get cleaned up. I'd seen videos where they left them out but that seems like an invitation to robbing, wasps and disease vectors.

Do they use or rebuild the messed up comb? Cutting off capping etc make a bit of a mess.

Most of the wax we refined was capping wax and a couple of dirty frames I had clean foundation frames to replace them with. However I hear what you are saying and by the looks of things I've had less honey now than 5 weeks ago so will watch food stores etc.
Thanks

stickies should go back on the hive. don't leave them out.

the comb they rebuild. the more thats left the quicker and easier it is for them to fix it up and reuse it. try not to uncap to deeply. you can use a scratcher which simply breaks the top layer.

 

[CHCHPaul]

Drawn supers are like gold. So, don’t crush the frames if you can help it.

I checkerboarded drawn frames with new foundation frames in the supers when I put them out at xmas. A week later all the drawn frames were full and the foundation hadn’t even begun to drawn... nuf said.

 

[Wknz]

Drawn supers are like gold. So, don’t crush the frames if you can help it.

I checkerboarded drawn frames with new foundation frames in the supers when I put them out at xmas. A week later all the drawn frames were full and the foundation hadn’t even begun to drawn... nuf said.

I used the hot knife (jug of boiling water to heat knife). Tried to get people scratching using the drone comb but subtlety is not some folks strong point.

It sounds like you checkerboard the frames? But only in one box

 

[Dave Black]

Tried to get people scratching using the drone comb but subtlety is not some folks strong point.

I think what you referred to as a 'drone comb', great name btw, is an uncapping fork. Used as designed (to get under the cap and flick it off) is time consuming. Yes people do turn it over and use it to 'scratch' the seal away, but as you indicate it's quite destructive. Used 'properly' it harvests really good wax for crafts, and reduces the amount of honey mixed in the cappings bucket, particularly compared with knife uncapping. Uncapping with a knife efficiently relies in getting the frames spaced so that the comb extends beyond the framework, and on you being able to separate honey from wax well.

So it's the old equation:time vs money, again.

Life has no (desirable) short-cuts. 🙂

 

[Wknz]

Thanks for the clarification. It is definitely handy for uncapping a few drone cells for verroa checks.

Also hits those tough to get spots betwen the shoulder blades when you get spacemans itch in a bee suit.

How Do Astronauts Scratch an Itch When In Their Space Suits?

Kalia F. asks: If an astronaut has an itch when in a space suit, like on their face, how do they itch it? Without the use of their hands, astronauts have to rely on other means to scratch various itches. For any itch outside of the face, retired astronaut Clayton Anderson explained, “You shake...

www.todayifoundout.com