# Can you harvest honey without an extractor without ruining your drawn comb?



## Michael Pawelek (Jun 4, 2012)

Google "honey harvesting gravity". 
Probably one of the most popular ways to extract before spinners!


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## BrianV (May 29, 2016)

Yep, that makes perfect sense. I guess I was wondering if it would flow out well that way, and it appears it does if you give it a few days. However, I'm in no rush!


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## baybee (Jan 10, 2016)

If brood combs are backfilled, can they be reused by the bees for brood after "gravity extraction"?


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## BrianV (May 29, 2016)

baybee said:


> If brood combs are backfilled, can they be reused by the bees for brood after "gravity extraction"?


The bees will lick a used frame clean. Make sure you put the extracted frames back in the hive for a week or so before storage so the bees can clean them up. 'Wet' frames (ie, still with honey residue) attract pests.


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## clong (Apr 6, 2015)

I am in the same situation. I plan on putting a few frames in a plastic tote, and strapping it to an old playground merry-go-round.

I have a followup question: How hot can you get the frames before you risk blowing out the comb?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

It may depend on your local nectar source, but when I uncapped combs and tried to "let" them drain, they never did. No matter how long you wait. So my answer would be "no".


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## Lightswitch (May 29, 2014)

That gravity-based extraction setup (inverting decapped honey frames over the filter) was equipped with a 200 micron filter at the bottom. The honey I harvested this year wouldn't even pass it: it passed the 600, then the 400 micron filters, but just sat on the 200. I had to remove it.

So in answer to the OP question... I guess if your honey is like mine, it wouldn't work.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Yes, there is a solution.
Google on "the flow hive." Also on you tube vids.
Open the gate and honey will flow into your jar. At least this is the
infomercial.


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## Joe Hillmann (Apr 27, 2015)

I saw a video where a guy used a rubermaid tub that was just a bit larger than the frame. He put a cake cooling rack in the bottom of it then laid an uncapped frame on the rack and put the lid on. He had a rope that was about 6 feet long tied like a Y and the two ends of the rope went to the handles of the rubermaid tub then he just spun the entire tub by the rope around his head. I think it took about 12 spins to empty one side, then he flipped the frame spun it about 20 times then flipped the frame again and went another 10 or so. If you only have a couple boxes to harvest it would probably work pretty well.


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## Joe Hillmann (Apr 27, 2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0tbPhWWrFo

This isn't the video I was thinking of but it is more or less the same idea and his way of attaching the rope may be more stable.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

The "Ersatz Extractor" video that Joe linked above is a pretty slick idea. And hard to beat the cost!



.. and good exercise for the pecs too ...


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## abhagobaty (Sep 28, 2015)

Hello everybody,
I am from India and we have been extracting honey by this method for a long long time. Instead of only one rope as shown in the video, we either make four holes to the container at the corners and attach two ropes to two holes on one side, or support the whole container in a long piece of cloth. Then we rotate the container by taking hold of the end of the rope or the ends of the cloth. I will try to post some pictures later.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

for less than $60 you can make a pretty decent one, this is the one I use and it works pretty slick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM1oMJu4a70


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## marshmasterpat (Jun 26, 2013)

I saw a video where they cut the comb back to the center wall with very little cell wall remaining. As they removed the comb all the wax and honey would be dumped into a container, then strain the honey out. 

The comb was then replaced in the hive for clean up. I would assume they would clean it up and rebuild the comb.


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## Terry C (Sep 6, 2013)

Harley Craig said:


> for less than $60 you can make a pretty decent one, this is the one I use and it works pretty slick.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM1oMJu4a70


I bought a 2 frame hand cranked tangential unit on ebay for about 110 bucks , works pretty good . I can extract a full medium in a couple of hours . Takes the dishwasher longer to sanitize the jars ...


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## Wandering Man (Jan 15, 2016)

I'm thinking about building this:

https://kiltedcraftworks.com/2015/10/03/diy-drill-powered-honey-spinner/


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## johnmcda (Aug 10, 2015)

I'm with Michael. My experience was the same.


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## kateowp (Aug 11, 2014)

marshmasterpat said:


> I saw a video where they cut the comb back to the center wall with very little cell wall remaining. As they removed the comb all the wax and honey would be dumped into a container, then strain the honey out.
> 
> The comb was then replaced in the hive for clean up. I would assume they would clean it up and rebuild the comb.


I just did this last weekend with 3 frames and it worked like a dream. Back in the hive, harvested frames were cleaned and re-drawn in a few days


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