Beekeeping > Do-It-Yourself Plans and Prints

Extractor decisions

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omnimirage:
I've been using the crush and strain method, and I'm finding that the bees make honey faster than I can strain it. It's time to acquire an extractor!

I'm not sure if it'd be best for me to go to the hives and switch out honeyframes with empty frames, then spin at home. If I did it this way, how should I then store all of those sticky honey frames? The other option would be to take the extractor out with me and spin in my apiary site. Doing it this way would mean I'd end up camping. If I did that, could I tie an extractor to the roof rack of my car, or would I need to take a trailer with me or maybe even buy myself a ute/van?

If I took one out with me, would I need a mechanical one, or might it be feasible to run an electric one still without access to a power grid? Would using a hand one take too much time for someone who has 40-100 hives?

Does the frame amount that it can spin matter much? I'm not sure if some numbers are more effective than others.

How successful have people been who've built their own extractor? Are the professionally made ones much more effective? I have a friend who said he'd help me build one, he has an engine to motorise it and it seems simple enough to do though it's a bit beyond my skills. I see that one can get stainless steel mesh to build into baskets to hold the frames. One can then attach the baskets to a rod that sits on something that can rotate... a ballbearing? Then attach that to the sides of a stainless steel drum and install a honeygate underneath, attach it to the engine. Does all the metal, the rod, and nuts, have to be stainless steel for it to be food grade? What kind of things could I use for the drum? Would an oil barrel work?

Perry:
Lots to answer:

First, I think that extracting in the field would be a no-go for most folks, the bee activity would make it unbearable fast.
Have enough honey supers that you can simply switch out a full one with an empty. More equipment but well worth it.
40 to 100 hives? I would definitely advise you to buy an electric one, a hand crank mechanical would be brutal with that many hives. The time it would take to design and build one could be spent doing what you really want to be doing, managing your colonies. I run a 20 frame radial for 100 hives and it works just fine.

Bakersdozen:
I would use nothing but stainless steel.  40-100 hives?  Electric for sure.
I don't approve of the crush and strain method.  Your bees have to start all over building comb.  That precious time could have been collecting honey and storing it into existing comb.  That means more honey for you!
I have to agree with Perry.  The time spent designing and building an extractor could be spent working your bees.
Are you an engineer or a beekeeper?   ;)

omnimirage:
Well 100 is more the max I can see myself ever having. I currently have 25 hives. I've done some research and I'm rather blown away by how expensive they are to buy. Holding less than 8 frames seems like not enough. Heck, I'm not sure but even 8 frames seems like a low number, at least 9 frames can do a single super in one go. 8-9 frame spinner will cost me about $1300-1500, if I want to do more 12-20 frames then I need to add a good another $1000 on top. Being a frugal person I'm really reluctant to spend $2000-3000 here, that's a very large proportion of my savings, but I do wonder if the 8-9 frame spinners will be good for me in the longrun.

I don't really know what to look for in a spinner. One concern that I have, is some of my supers have deep honey frames, and some have medium honeyframes. Will I be able to get a spinner that can spin both deeps and mediums?

I've done some internet searching and looked at every extractor available to purchase that's within country. I did some brief searching for overseas products, but they were pretty pricey and I figure the freight would be enormous.

Here are the midrange electric spinners:

http://beekeeping.iwoohoo.com.au/electric-honey-extractors-for-bee-hives/9-frame-electric-honey-extractor-premium-grade/

I'm not sure what radial is, but I don't believe this is a radial extractor; does that matter much? It also doesn't seem to have reserve spinning abilities. This 8 frame one is from the same company:

http://beekeeping.iwoohoo.com.au/electric-honey-extractors-for-bee-hives/8-frame-electric-extractor/

It's a little more costly but does reverse spin and is radial; it looks like it spins a lot faster as well. Will it being 8 frame be an inconvenience compared to 9?

This one is radial doesn't specify if it reverses:

https://www.mydeal.com.au/premium-9-frame-radial-electric-honey-extractor

And then there's this one, I'm aversive to buying it though because the company screwed me around with a beesuit that I bought from them:

https://www.beekeepinggear.com.au/product-page/electric-honey-extractor-eight-frames


I found this:

http://www.beesource.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/20frext.pdf

I'm not sure how good the final product will be and really unsure where to find a suitable drum for it.

Bakersdozen:
omni, the first 2 extractors appear to be out of stock. 
Your choices there maybe limited compared to other parts of the world. Perhaps another method of acquiring an extractor is to buy used? How about a crank extractor and hiring a strong young man?  ;D I can't imagine using crush and strain or a hand crank extractor with 25 hives.  We are exhausted using a hand crank with 8 hives!
Or if you can build a good extractor you might be able to sell them to other beekeepers!

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