Surprised

[Wandering Man]

Every one told me not to expect to harvest anything my first year. I didn't get my nucs until late April and was certain I'd missed the main flow.

I figured I wouldn't need to worry about the expense of extracting equipment until next year. I've just scanned or ignored chapters or posts on harvesting.

Well, the girls have been busy, and I had to add a honey super today. I now have two deep brood boxes, and a (empty for now) medium super.

I know we'll be hitting a Summer dearth next month.

Do I dare think about harvesting a frame or two when the super is full?

Or am I just counting unhatched chickens?

[iddee]

Counting unhatched chicks, but a few of them may hatch. If you have fully capped honey in the super, you can take a frame or two, or more. Search "crush and strain", and also "Linda's bees". She has a great video on C&S. Don't waste money on equipment for only a few frames.

PS. Don't feed with honey super on if you want real honey.

[apisbees]

Although I don't like disagreeing with Iddee I do not like seeing comb destroyed to get the honey out. The bees spend to much time and effort to build the comb. Keep in mind the value of the comb being wrecked using crush and strain. It takes about 10 Lbs of honey for the bees to convert into a pound of wax. the bees need to produce 2 lbs of wax to draw the frames in a deep super. with honey being worth $5.00 a pound or more the value of the wax in a deep super is $100.00. $65.00 in a medium super. You don't need to destroy many frames before the cost adds up to the price of an extractor.
some bee clubs have extractors that they rent out to members or there are some beekeepers that will do custom extracting for a fee or percentage of the honey.
http://www.worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/index.php/topic,5129.msg67091.html#msg67091

[Perry]

Both are excellent replies!
Both answers are right!
Welcome to beekeeping!

[iddee]

Apis, it took me a year to get another mod to disagree with me. I don't like "yes" men. They produce nothing. Get all ideas on the table and hash them out. That's the only way to accomplish anything.

[Wandering Man]

My first time around with beekeeping, I used a solar wax melter as an extractor. I've learned from y'all that I was producing homogenized honey.

I've also learned the value of drawn comb. I would like to have some on hand.

I thanked Idee for his comment that I might get a couple of frames of honey, but was just politely nodding my head and moving on as far as crush and strain.

This whole extraction business looks complicated and messy compared to the solar wax melter.

It is tempting to just buy a beginners kit and go from there.

I thought about Maxant's two frame hand crank machine, but that might blow my whole budget.  On the other extreme is the do it yourself pvc drill powered model. But then what else do I need?

A knife, a tub and strainer as a bottler, something to render the cappings (a solar wax melter?), what else?

Oh, but before I go there, in South Texas, with the rains we have had, at what point do I decide it's safe to harvest something?

[apisbees]

The bees will winter fine on what they have stored in the 2 brood supers. what ever they put in the honey supers is yours. by the first of august you should have a good idea of how much extraction you will need to do.

[Bakersdozen]

Once again, I am agreeing with apis.  You can put a price tag on drawn comb, but I think it is priceless.
My first year of beekeeping I got almost 3 gallons of honey.  I borrowed an extractor.  If memory serves me correctly, I called beekeepers that were selling honey, nucs, etc. and just came out an asked if they would lend out an extractor.  I left him a check for a deposit which he returned to me when I returned the extractor.  I am sure it was an extra extractor he had because it looked like it came over on the Mayflower.  Nice beekeeper.     The second year I invested in an inexpensive Chinese extractor.  No frills, but it gets the job done.
I don't know your situation, but perhaps there is someone with an extractor that you could assist while he extracts his honey in exchange for use of the extractor. 
You will want to extract right away, after pulling the supers, if small hive beetle are a problem in your area.
You could also check out some of the online dealers for extraction equipment sales.  I think GloryBee has some going on right now.
I would try to keep my equipment food grade.  Any tub would work, but I would try to find food grade.  I also like a bucket with a gate.  It makes bottling so much easier.
I would also invest in some latex exam gloves, non-powdered.  Sanitation is not mentioned very often, but it's important.  We are handling a finished food product. They are so convenient to remove and you don't get honey all over the house.

[iddee]

I think there is a small misunderstanding here.

1 or 2 frames of honey.

1 or 2 supers of honey.

I was telling Wandering how to if he got a frame or 2. Apis, I think, was telling him how to if he got a super or 2.

BIG difference.

For a frame or 2, I stand by what I said. For a super or 2, I agree with Apis.

Even if I had an extractor, I would not dirty it up for just 1 or 2 frames. Too much mess.

[Wandering Man]

I think there is a small misunderstanding here.

1 or 2 frames of honey.

1 or 2 supers of honey.

I was telling Wandering how to if he got a frame or 2. Apis, I think, was telling him how to if he got a super or 2.

BIG difference.

For a frame or 2, I stand by what I said. For a super or 2, I agree with Apis.

Even if I had an extractor, I would not dirty it up for just 1 or 2 frames. Too much mess.

That's a good point.

Frames for this year.

Supers for next ... assuming I'm successful in overwintering my two hives.

[apisbees]

What Iddee just said but as I mentioned by the middle of June beginning of August you should have a good idea where you are at.
You can get an extractor shipped in under a week if needed. You said that you were not hopeful for a crop the first year and this may be true in most years but with the amount of moisture that has fallen, you never know. If you find you have enough honey to finance the perches of an extractor, You may not see a profit this year but you will be all set for next year with drawn comb and an extractor waiting .

[Wandering Man]

Having enough money and wanting to part with it are two different things.

I am tempted to just go out and buy the best available.  This is only ever intended to be a hobby for my wife and I, so profit isn't part of the picture.  On the other hand, I don't need to buy commercial grade equipment.

Where to making a mess is another question for us.  I'm pretty sure we'll set up in our kitchen.  Which means setting up and taking down to make room for lunch and dinner are considerations, as well.

I'm not enamored with the idea of crush and strain.  And I've got no experience with extraction.  How messy each is, how much set up time and take down time, clean up, etc. are all going to be new for us.

The Solar Wax melter was so simple.  Stick a frame in an old pair of pantyhose, sit in the sun for a few hours, peel the wax off the top of the honey and pour the honey into a jar.  Throw away the hose and recycle the frame.

Its a shame you cant melt wax without cooking the honey.

Anyway, this time I want to do it "right" or at least I want to do a different version of "right."

[apisbees]

What ever system works for you. skep beekeepers worked of of killing 2/3rds of the colonies and crush and strain/press the wax to get the honey out It worked for them for thousands of years. mind you they were only salvaging 20 or 30 lbs of honey out of a colony also. The percentage of wax was a lot higher and in mid-evil times the wax had more value than the honey. Where I am summer drought kills most honey flows prematurely. with out drawn comb we would not get very much honey stored.

[LazyBkpr]

   Before you worry about buying the "best" decide where you are, and where you want to be...   For instance, if you have two hives, and someday want six..   Wanting six means you will have 12, so plan on getting an extractor you can harvest 12 supers of honey with.
   Also, buying a smaller extractor does not mean you are STUCK with it forever, they maintain good value and there is always someone wanting a smaller extractor, so if you decide to get a six or nine frame extractor, and find that you now have 20 hives and are pulling two supers from each.. you can buy a larger extractor and get a large part of the money back from your smaller extractor...

   My only real recommendation, is to get a hand crank that you can upgrade to motorized. IF you decide to buy a hand crank model to start with.

[Wandering Man]

   Before you worry about buying the "best" decide where you are, and where you want to be...   For instance, if you have two hives, and someday want six..   Wanting six means you will have 12, so plan on getting an extractor you can harvest 12 supers of honey with.
   Also, buying a smaller extractor does not mean you are STUCK with it forever, they maintain good value and there is always someone wanting a smaller extractor, so if you decide to get a six or nine frame extractor, and find that you now have 20 hives and are pulling two supers from each.. you can buy a larger extractor and get a large part of the money back from your smaller extractor...

   My only real recommendation, is to get a hand crank that you can upgrade to motorized. IF you decide to buy a hand crank model to start with.

Thanks, LazyBkpr.  We don't want more than two hives.  But from what I've read, beekeeping is an addiction you have to watch carefully.

My dad was born and raised about 90 miles east of you, on a farm outside of Lucas.  I remember going to the farm as a boy and seeing my grandfather's row of honeybees.  The bees spooked me in the clover fields during the summer.  But that memory of his bees is partially to blame for my current endeavor.

The bees must have done well for him.  I have a Fountain Pen desk set he won in the 1929 Southwestern District Fruit Sweepstakes.

-WM

[riverbee]

"Apis, it took me a year to get another mod to disagree with me"

lol, that was probably me and it was probably sooner...........

wandering man, some good posts, some great ideas for you.  like scott said, maybe invest in an inexpensive hand crank? or borrow one as bakers suggestd? better than crush and strain as apis pointed out because of the drawn comb.  one or two frames are fine.......what i find for me is, (i only extract once a season) in the early season they pack it away or pack it away when the flows are strong.  sometimes we hit a dearth, and there is nothing for them.  because i leave what supers are on, the bees will utilize the honey i left on to sustain them in a dearth.  if this is not left on, then i will find myself feeding them during dearth months, (pretty rare anymore) so just be prepared to feed if necessary when you hit a dearth.  one or two frames?  i get it!  we want that first harvest of honey. each of us are different, and each of us have different practices, do what works for you and your bees!   

"But from what I've read, beekeeping is an addiction you have to watch carefully."

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[Bakersdozen]

Even if I had an extractor, I would not dirty it up for just 1 or 2 frames. Too much mess.

Check that. 

[LazyBkpr]

Even if I had an extractor, I would not dirty it up for just 1 or 2 frames. Too much mess.

   Ummm, how long has it been since you were a NEW beekeeper? The THRILL of extracting your FIRST honey???  YES, a new beek is going to USE that extractor to harvest two frames of honey if thats all h/shee gets... THEN, after he/she has it all cleaned up, they may reconsider extracting only a couple frames with it next time...   

[iddee]

Extractors when I was a new keep? Are you kidding? Me, Tec, and Jack would beat it with a rock in a clay pot.

[riverbee]

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