novice decapping question

[neillsayers]

I'm trying to prepare myself for the day(hopefully next year) when I will be extracting honey. I have seen a couple of you tube videos showing melting the cappings with judicious use of a heat gun instead of cutting or scratching. Anyone with experience with this method?

Thanks
Neill

[apisbees]

I tried it, was not to impressed. the wax reformed over the cells on a lot of the cells. It may have a different effect depending on whether your bees cap the cells with dry cappings or wet cappings.
I have hot knives, capping plain, but keep going back to the capping scratchier. Don't try lifting the cappings just scrape the surface to brake the cappings.

[neillsayers]

Thanks apis, I appreciate the advice.

[rwlaw]

Tried it also, with about the same result as apisbees, not impressed.
You can get away with a  bread knife (apis is right, gots to have a good scratcher too) for starters, my favorite is the cold decapping knife that Kelly sells, it has the serrations on both sides of the blade. As I'm left handed it cuts straighter along the frame.

[Lburou]

My experience echoes those comments above.  The cell tops just solidified again, leaving no choice but to do it again, thing is, it saves no work when you have to take a frame out of the extractor to redo what you missed.  I take the entire top of the cappings off, that way, you will only work a frame once for cappings.  :-)

[neillsayers]

Thanks guys,
 You may have just saved me some grief.

[Papakeith]

same results as the others.  It worked, sort of.  I found a bread knife from Savers did the job for two years before I bought a heated knife

[riverbee]

neil,
some use this method..........
my HO, cut the caps off with a hot knife, a 'cold' knife (of some sort) or a plane.  then save the wax cappings that you cut off to use for candles and lip balm or sell to another....

[neillsayers]

Thanks river and others this is my go to place for advice

[efmesch]

My favorite is my (French) cold uncapping knife.  I've been using the same one for over forty years now and find it the best of all I've tried--hot knife, electric scraper, uncapping fork.  This knife is thin and flexible and by the right use of pressure, you can uncap cells that are a bit low too.  However, an uncapping fork is essential,  There are often cells that are too deep in the frame to get opened by the knife and only the fork reaches them.