Extracting Honey

Posted on Wednesday 26 July 2006 at 11:05

It's called extracting because the whole point is to get the honey out of the comb without smashing everything to pieces. All those tiny little hexagonal chambers, not much bigger than a honeybee's head, are filled with the stuff we want. How to remove it without destroying the hive's hard work?

Well, in order to keep the honey from running out all over the place, the bees build those chambers in the honeycomb on an upslope. That slight angle makes them a perfect candidate for centrifugal force.

Some extractors work like a washing machine, with the frames going in sideways. Ours is like that. So are the 2 or 4-frame hand-crank versions hobbyists use. Ours, however, takes 96 frames.

The other option used by larger operations is a horizontal extractor. These seem to be more stable in terms of "balance" and also faster -- kind of the same as front-load washers compared to top-loads.

Though old and a little dented, our extractor is another blessing. It was sitting in someone's field until he finally decided to advertise it for sale. When we went to look at it, all it needed was a motor. The rest remained operational. All it took was a good cleaning and some food-grade grease on the moving parts up above.

The 8-year-old Banana Brain seems to have taken to the bees, and put in both field and extracting room hours today, for which she'll get paid. The kids have timesheets where they write down their market garden and beekeeping hours. What we get paid for, they get paid for.

The bees seal the cells of honey with a capping of wax once it's cured from nectar into bee food (thanks to a helpful dose of bee spit). Yes, honey is bee spit. Really makes you want to eat it, doesn't it?

Well, needless to say, the honey doesn't spin out when it's capped. Some large operations use "hot knives" or even automated uncappers with blades that slice off the surface of the honey comb. However, a beekeeping friend told us he'd heard from some Saskatchewan old-timers that you're just as well to hire a couple of high school students and do it by hand, as to go into debt for all the fancy equipment. The overall cost is less, you can manage your time so it's not lost by this method, and hey, you're giving someone a job.

We have scratchers, specifically designed for this (available at beekeeping supply stores) that we use to remove the cappings. Done correctly, the small amount of damage to the honeycomb is quickly repaired by the bees when the dry frames are given back to them. Our resident Hickasaurus Rex is quite proficient at uncapping.

Like a washing machine, the extractor also has to be balanced. This isn't nearly as big a deal with the horizontal machines. But for ours, we do need to make sure that the weight of the frames is about equal on each side. The machine is bolted to a raised stand which is bolted to the floor. We could just set it right down if we were willing to heat the honey and pump it, but we've elected to install a honey gate on the outlet and pour it instead. Less heat means healthier, better-tasting honey.

The little tabs sticking up from the frames at the outside edge are "ears," the things the frames hang on in the boxes. The frames are turned 90 degrees -- from "up" to "out" -- in order to spin them. The machine moves very, very fast. Inside, it's divided into 6 sections by the metal framework. Although you don't have to fill all the sections, you do have to fill opposite ones, and fill them completely so the frames can't move around and get jammed in the machinery.

One of our favourite things is to peek inside the lid and watch the honey begin to spatter the stainless steel of the outside wall once the extractor's fully loaded. The joys of summertime!

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Posted by Darcy on Thursday 27 July 2006 at 01:22 - Link

I loved seeing how you do this honey process and have been enjoying your recent blogs. I'm wondering.......did you ever find your spade?
Darcy

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Posted by homesteadinthemaking on Thursday 27 July 2006 at 06:44 - Link

Thank you for sharing. Your pictures are great!!!
Blessings,
Trixi

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Posted by morningsunshine on Thursday 27 July 2006 at 09:42 - Link

i love learning about this! thank you for sharing.

So cool

Posted by bethsbrightside on Thursday 27 July 2006 at 12:06 - Link

I love seeing the step-by-step and kids involvement.

We had friends that gave us raw, unfiltered honey once. Bleh...the bee parts kinda turned me off. Good memories though!

Thanks for taking the time to post all those awesome pics!

Great photos

Posted by MrsBurns on Thursday 27 July 2006 at 01:56 - Link

We finally got "our honey" last week. It was extracted in mid-June so I've been anticipating it for a month. It's darkish but has a nice deep flavor. I really like it, and while I did nothing whatsoever to make it, extract it, bottle it or anything else, I am quite proud of it. I can see why you feature the bees so prominently in all your writings. The whole process is a miracle of creation and the God who put it all together. Have fun! DeniseB

I had no idea

Posted by jackiebridgen on Friday 28 July 2006 at 12:53 - Link

Your honey operation was on such a grand scale - I guess the clue is in the title *honey* farm? That was a really interesting lesson in honey extraction for a person whose dh has one hive and no idea what he's doing with it!

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Posted by ZookeeperCat on Friday 28 July 2006 at 03:55 - Link

Hm, I think that's the most comments I've gotten on anything. Ever! Thanks, gang!

I don't know about a grand scale - we only have 30 hives, where some have several thousand. Rumour has it the profit margin's not worth it, though, above about 700.

As a side note, we have almost NO bee parts in our honey -- the scratching method's a lot cleaner than machine extracting, and we also strain the stuff through a fine sieve (and a cheesecloth if there's a lot of wax in it). Our bits are basically the scratched wax cappings.

And I still haven't found my shovel.... But I intend to keep you posted. Ahem. So to speak.

Cat

Edited by ZookeeperCat on 2006-Jul-28 at 04:59

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Posted by southofthegnatline on Tuesday 1 August 2006 at 10:56 - Link

It is so exciting to read this - I want to have bees, bees, bees - badly.

I'm gonna have to come back and read and read again.

I love all this - thank you for all your efforts in sharing this with everyone here at HSB!

Blessings,
Harriette

Liked your web site

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday 18 October 2007 at 12:06 - Link

I am a beekeeper from Ohio been in honeybees for 42 years this year. When I saw your extraction room it brought back very good memories. Once not so long ago 2003 two 45 frame extractors going, a commerical spinner, two hand uncapping stations, a cold sump and many honey pumps. That was changed to a Cowen uncapper with an 8 foot troft,