# Extractor Size for number of hives.



## LBEE (Jun 4, 2008)

What are the recommendations as far as how many hives an extractor of a given size will handle? I realize that if one plans to grow you want to buy an extractor which is larger and also that the length of the harvest will vary in different parts of the country, but I am trying to get an idea. For ballpark figures can you say that an extractor of a given size can reasonably handle twice the number of hives as it's number of frames?

2 frame for up to 4 hives.
4 frame for up to 8 hives.
9 frame for up to 18 hives.
20 frame for up to 40 hives.

What as been your experience?

Thank you for any feedback.

Larry


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## ScadsOBees (Oct 2, 2003)

My experience is that a 2 frame extractor is way too small for 6 hives.


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## Fuzzy (Aug 4, 2005)

a. It should depend on how many supers that you think you will extract, not how many hives you have.

b. It takes the same length of time to spin 2 frames as it does 9 or 18. So, how long do you want to be spinning honey ?

Just my thoughts -- Fuzzy


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## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

buying an extractor is like building a garage. It doesnt matter how big you build or buy it still wont be big enough


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## LBEE (Jun 4, 2008)

Thank you for the replies. Perhaps I should word this differently. How about: 
How many hives do you have?
How large is your extractor?
Is it motorized?
Do you feel it is too small, too large or just right for your operation?

I am just trying to get some ideas.

Thank you.

Larry


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## swabby (Jun 6, 2008)

Hope someone answers this as I intend on buying an extractor .I only have 4 hives.


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## blaine (Aug 27, 2008)

a decent 4 frame manual crank would be fine for such modest needs, imo. They are popular enough that if it proves too small in the future, it is easily and quickly sold. Buy a used one, and you can likely sell it for what you paid for it. 

Blaine


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## hfrysinger (Feb 15, 2008)

I have an old Root 3 frame that my grandfather bought in the '40s. I saw one like it in a museum, but mine is in better shape, tho it did make me feel old. I have had up to 12 hives. No idea how many supers I did tho, since that was long ago when I was a kid. 
Since beekeeping is a hobby for me, I never worried out how long it took to extract.
Howard


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## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

In the past we've extracted around 400 lbs with a 3 frame hand crank. It's work but gets the job done. I recently took apart a treadmill and hope to use the variable speed motor to power the extractor, but that might not happen until next year.


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## stoweski (Apr 1, 2008)

*Two frame extractor*

I have both an old electric extractor, 2 frame Root, and a Junior Dadant extractor, again 2 frame. We used the hand-crank extractor this past weekend on only a few frames. After uncapping we spun for 10 minutes per side before flipping the frames. We tried 6 minutes and 8 minutes per side but it didn't seem to get all of the honey out. Anyone else agree with the timing?

In the future we are planning on 20 minutes for each pair of frames we extract. If you're extracting 60 frames that would be around 10 hours of spinning. I think my arm would get tired. I haven't used the electric extractor but I could see doing other things while it is extracting. It might make the 10 hours go a bit faster and not make one of my arms larger than the other. 

Oh, in case anyone is wondering, we bought the hand-crank extractor before we knew that we would be given a motorized extractor. Hey... can't hurt to have two, right? 

Keith


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

fuzzy writes:
a. It should depend on how many supers that you think you will extract, not how many hives you have.

tecumseh suggest: how many super and over what time frame you might wish to extract.

as an example a hobbist might lean towards a bit bigger extractor if they knew they only had a short period of time (say a weekend) to extract.

other variable:
tangent vs radial.

hand cranked vs motorized.

my current history:
I have an old 4 frame hand cranked tangential extractor that has been converted to a 10 frame motorized radial. when I had 10 to 12 hives the old tangential worked fine... although these old arms did get tired. at about 40 hives I motorized and had a new reel built. this seems to be adequate for the limited number of supers* I extract during a given day.

at the current time I am likely more constrained by cappings than by extracting capacity.

*the crop here is very limited and I only pull enough supers so that all the wets are set back out by the end of each day.


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## wbell (Mar 5, 2005)

riverrat said:


> buying an extractor is like building a garage. It doesnt matter how big you build or buy it still wont be big enough


Or a workshop.


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## TwT (Aug 5, 2004)

I have had a kelly 12-20 since I started with 6 hives, it save a lot on cranking a handle but now I am looking into uncappers and other thing to make extraction easier and faster and now that my hives have grown in numbers and when I get about 100 more hives to justify buying one I am looking like a kid in a toy store when I see this in the link below, probably my next venture http://www.cowenmfg.com/store_items_view.asp?itemid=19255


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

My second year, I borrowed a 2-frame tangential and (for me) this seemed WAY too slow. By my third year I had a 9-frame radial hand crank. I now have 20 hives and have floated up the idea to my wife about getting a motorized extractor. I agree with the statement that the uncapping is a real bottleneck, but if one has a motorized extractor, then uncapping can proceed while the extractor was running. I usually do everything myself, but last year I had a friend come over and spin the extractor and wow what a difference that made.

My recommendation is go with a 9-frame radial, and if you can afford it get a motorized one. I may have a nice 9-frame hand-crank up for sale soon!!


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## PerryBee (Dec 3, 2007)

I had 3 hives and a 2 frame hand crank Maxant. This year I have 10 hives and have extracted most of it using the 2 frame but have recently bought a used 20 frame motorized Dadant. It may be overkill but I'm looking forward to using it next year!


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## Troy (Feb 9, 2006)

My first full season I had 4 hives only and I hand cranked everything with a older borrowed 4 frame tangential extractor.

I hated doing that so much, that I decided it was either buy a good extractor or give up beekeeping - because I was never going to do that again.

I bought a 9 frame radial motorized extractor, and have had no regrets.

Others have suggested bigger is better, but there is one downside of the bigger ones that I have found. The bigger the extractor is, the more honey is caught up in the machine and wasted when you go to clean up. The old 4 frame one wasted only 4-6 oz of honey. My larger 9 frame leaves at least a pound of honey in the bottom that I can't get out.


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## Fuzzy (Aug 4, 2005)

Troy, as I posted in another thread...

There is no reason to leave a couple of quarts in the bottom of the extractor.
When I am done for the day, I pull the reel out and set it aside. I take a clean stiff window squeege and wipe the sides of the extractor. Voila, no honey on the sides. Then I take a smaller 6inch squeege, tilt the extractor and scrape the bottom to the honey gate. Then a stiff plastic kitchen spatula gets most of whats left through the gate.

When all is said and done, it takes 5 minutes and there is less than 2 oz left in the extractor (bottom and sides). I get $6-7 per lb for honey. So I just got an extra $20 for very little effort.

Fuzzy


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## ScadsOBees (Oct 2, 2003)

stoweski said:


> I have both an old electric extractor, 2 frame Root, and a Junior Dadant extractor, again 2 frame. We used the hand-crank extractor this past weekend on only a few frames. After uncapping we spun for 10 minutes per side before flipping the frames. We tried 6 minutes and 8 minutes per side but it didn't seem to get all of the honey out. Anyone else agree with the timing?
> ...
> Keith


10 minutes per side?? Yikes!! Are you trying to get them completely dry?? That is 20 minutes for 2 frames, that would take an hour and a half to do one super! No, I don't agree with the timing!!!

I've got a 2 frame dadant extractor, and I spin each side maybe a minute or so, giving it some speed. If I can't get it all in a minute or two then the bees can clean it out, not worth the bother. If I can get 95% + of the honey out then I'm satisfied. Some of the foundationless combs crack in the middle from the speed but the bees can fix that...

Now if you are extracting in 40F temps, or if this is a new excersize plan (spinning??!!), then that is a different story...

Rick


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## Troy (Feb 9, 2006)

Fuzzy, It's funny you say that about the spatula.....

I have noticed too much stick to the sides. I let it run down for an hour or two and so the residual honey is all in the bottom. I also set a book under one leg to get it tilted over toward the gate too.

I've used the spatula too, but there is a lip between the bottom of my extractor and the gate tube and no matter how hard I try there is a fair amount of honey that gets lost right there.

I suppose using the spatula I have minimized that waste and it is down to only about 4 to 6 ounces, but still - it is a waste.


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## chief (Apr 19, 2005)

I also figure on 10 mins per side when extracting. I extract with the extracting room and honey at 85-90 degrees. I agree this may be overkill but I can still see honey being spun out up to about 8-9 mins. How long do others spin frames?

Troy,

When you are done extracting let the bees clean out the extractor. This way the honey is not wasted.


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## Troy (Feb 9, 2006)

I tried that, but hundreds got stuck in the extractor and died. The mess was worse.

Not to mention all the bees in the air. I live in a near zero lot line community, and my neighbors are not really pleased about my beekeeping endeavors.

PS - My bees are not in my yard.


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

I've got 5 producing hives and I use a manual reversable 2 frame Kelly extractor. It works just fine for me. My son and I harvested just over 1,000 pounds this year. The real bottleneck that I've also found is the uncapping. I use an electric uncapping knife and although faster and easier than a serated bread knife I find that if I try to move too fast I end up crushing some of the very comb I'm trying to save for them to refill. I use 9 frames in a 10 frame super and that helps a whole lot. It's when they are drawing out fresh comb on new foundation that they sometimes have shallow comb that takes time to upcap with a cappings scratcher.


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## MapMan (May 24, 2007)

I currently have 20 hives, and I modified my four frame extractor to electric motor recently - I'd wear out my arm spinning manually based on honey production this year, as I get tennis elbow (extractor elbow) easily. This winter, I'm going to modify it to radial to get it to 10 frames, so I can maybe keep the extractor a couple more years, I've posted this before, this is how I converted to electric (thanks tecumseh for ideas!):

This year I converted my hand crank model to motor-driven. I have a Dadant Little Wonder extractor which no longer wanted to grip the shaft with the silly little slip-clutch handle and tapered bearing which they provide. For replacement parts (a little bearing), they wanted $25, and since the unit was practically new when I bought it, I thought that the bearing would give out as soon as I replaced it. They wanted big buck$ for the motor kit - in the hundreds, so I went to a salvage store in the area and found a 24-volt DC wheelchair motor. The shaft on the extractor is 5/8", the wheelchair motor has a geared-down offset shaft at 7/8". I welded a few pulleys together to get to those shaft diameters, attached the pulleys to the shafts, and mounted the motor onto a board which mounts in the two holes on the Little Wonder top. 

For power, I hooked up a car battery charger to the motor. Since the motor is a 24 volt DC unit, the charger works fine - actually the extractor rotates at the correct rpm using the 12 volt charger. The nice thing about it is with the battery charger, I actually have three speeds, as the charger has three settings: a trickle charge 1.5amp, medium amperage charge 10amp, and a start engine setting 30amp. I start out slowly at the trickle setting, and then for maximum extraction top it off at 30amp. When I'm done with extraction, I can use the battery charger for its intended purpose - charging batteries.

Total cost is $15 for the motor, $7 for the pulleys, and a slightly worn belt and scrap marine plywood which I already had lying around gathering dust. Put it together in a little over an hour, including the welding. Works better than I anticipated - no blow outs on comb, and no sore arms!

I run the range from low, gradually increasing to the high speed for about 5-6 minutes each side. A half dozen supers the other day had such thick honey (Purple Loosestrife and goldenrod - bright yellow combs) that I had to run for 8-9 minutes each side, but that isn't typical.

MM


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

troy writes:
Others have suggested bigger is better

tecumseh: well yea... it must be a guy thingee?

but really troy I have pretty much dertermined if I need more extracting capacity I will just add a second small capacity extractor. two should be almost twice as fast.... right?

mapman writes:
thanks tecumseh for ideas!):

tecumeh: you are most welcome.. I am glad the description or pictures gave you some inspiration.


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

One of the main things to consider is... uncapping speed....

To have an efficient flow you will need to find an extractor (or two depending on the number of hives) that can match or be close to your uncapping speed. 

If you are working alone and uncapping by hand.... you don't need a big extractor... you can only work so fast anyway. If you have a motorized unit.... you can continue to uncap while the first batch is spinning. If its a hand-crank unit... then obviously you can only do one of those functions at a time... (unless you have help)

I harvested around 3200lbs this year and my bottleneck is the extractor. I have an older cowen uncapper and an old Kelley 12/21 frame radial extractor. The uncapper works fast and I'm left waiting for the frames to be done. Next year I plan on getting a second extractor so that even if one is spinning I can be loading the other.

I think often people try to pick an extractor without thinking about how they plan to uncap. If you only have a few hives then it doesn't matter. The more hives you have the more efficiency you MUST build into the process or you end up with alot of idle time. 

These comments are more directed at someone looking at it from a business perspective (sideline etc). Time is money. Look at the entire process and plan ahead for potential growth before making a decision.


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## IndianaHoney (Jun 5, 2006)

I have almost forty hives, and a 2 frame hand crank extractor. I need something larger, and motorized.


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## Troutsqueezer (May 17, 2005)

> Now if you are extracting in 40F temps, or if this is a new excersize plan (spinning??!!), then that is a different story...

Right. Extracting times vary with ambient temperature. Can't talk about one without including the other. Sometimes I extract with a hand cranker in a 100 degree shed. About 1 or two minutes at that temp.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

A lot depends on how much money you have to spare and what kind of deal you can find on an extractor. In general I'll agree with Richard Taylor:

"A comb honey beekeeper really needs, in addition to his bees and the usual apiary equipment and tools, only one other thing, and that is a pocket knife. The day you go into producing extracted honey, on the other hand, you must begin to think not only of an extractor, which is a costly machine used only a relatively minute part of the year, but also of uncapping equipment, strainers, settling tanks, wax melters, bottle filling equipment, pails and utensils galore and endless things. Besides this you must have a place to store supers of combs, subject to damage by moths and rodents and, given the nature of beeswax, very subject to destruction by fire. And still more: You must begin to think in terms of a whole new building, namely, a honey house, suitably constructed, supplied with power, and equipped....

"All this seems obvious enough, and yet time after time I have seen novice beekeepers, as soon as they had built their apiaries up to a half dozen or so hives, begin to look around for an extractor. It is as if one were to establish a small garden by the kitchen door, and then at once begin looking for a tractor to till it with. Unless then, you have, or plan eventually to have, perhaps fifty or more colonies of bees, you should try to resist looking in bee catalogs at the extractors and other enchanting and tempting tools that are offered and instead look with renewed fondness at your little pocket knife, so symbolic of the simplicity that is the mark of every truly good life."

Basically I'd say you can do fine without an extractor for up to eight hives or more. And then, if I were buying new, I would not buy anything less than a 9/18 motorized. Extracting two frames or even four frames at a time is far to frustrating for me and a four frame extractor is usually not half the price of an 18 frame.

I held out for a 9/18 motorized. That was 2000 and I had been keeping bees for 26 years by then. But I stayed between 2 and 7 hives during that time.


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## The Honey Householder (Nov 14, 2008)

Remembering back when I was a kid earlier today when talking to another beekeeper about this subject. I was show him an 80 frame Hubbard my Dad and Mom bought to replace the 4 frame crank extractor we used as a kid. Then showing the extractor we use now at days in replacement of the 80 frame Hubbard. The last year we used the 4 frame crank, we did just over 5 tons of honey. The big question is HOW HARD DO YOU WANT TO WORK????:scratch:


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## Hamp54 (Feb 4, 2013)

Originally Posted by riverrat

buying an extractor is like building a garage. It doesnt matter how big you build or buy it still wont be big enough


wbell said:


> Or a workshop.


Does anyone really keep a car in their garage?


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## KPeacock (Jan 29, 2013)

In our third house, my wife finally parks in the garage. we have a 2-car garage attached to the house, so she finally has a spot for her car, and the other is for a couple of motorcycles and the kids power wheels and wagons. On any given day there is about a 3% chance of fitting a car into my shop...even though it is two story and could fit about 4 cars. projects take up space, and i always have projects. I do mostly metal work from forging tools and custom hunting knives to fabrications and one-off items. I was suprised to see how rapidly metal dust and welding fumes were replaced my sawdust and hundreds of langstroth parts.


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## Hamp54 (Feb 4, 2013)

I'm divorced so I don't have anyone to please other than my dogs. I've made great strides toward cleaning out my garage but at this point even a motorcycle would be out of the question. 

Concerning the original post…

I'm slowly starting over in beekeeping after an 18 year hiatus and the only equipment I can lay hands on is an ancient hive tool and a bee brush. Back in the day I kept about 20 colonies and had what I considered a wonderful processing setup. It consisted of a 4 foot uncapping tank, a hot knife, a 20 frame radial Root extractor, a small unheated sump with wax baffles, a pump, a stainless straining box with a nylon mesh bag and a Kelley 40 gallon bottling tank controlled by a foot pedal. I wish I could have the whole thing back but such is life.


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## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

If you are just starting out I would advise most folks to try and rent borrow, or go to a friends house to extract. Most clubs have extractors they rent and most bee keepers are happy to have newbies come over and extract the same day they do their own honey. After a year or two you will know weather or not you are going to continue to keep bees and you will have a better idea of how many hives you may want to keep. Then you will have a better idea of what actually goes into extracting honey and which extractor will suit your needs. A 6 or 9 frame radial with motor will do a good job for most hobbyist beekeepers. 

If you buy a small two frame extractor and stick with beekeeping more than a few years you are likely going to out grow it pretty fast. The one good thing about extractors is that they pretty much hold their value and can quickly be sold. 

Not to derail this thread but, what happened to tecumeh? He use to post a lot right after I first joined the forum. When I saw him reply in this thread I knew it must be an old one.


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

Since my post back in '08 I've gotten up to 15 production hives and now have a refurbished electric 20 frame Dadant and a settling tank. I'll never go back to hand crank. Now I need an uncapping tank instead of the 2 uncapping tubs that I currently use. Emptying and cleaning them is not efficient, and you can't store many uncapped frames in them as the uncapper spins.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

D Coates said:


> Since my post back in '08


WOW Same threat 5 years later

I think I have out grown my 2 frame extractor and the funny thing is I havn't used it yet.


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## Snakejumper (Jul 3, 2011)

ScadsOBees said:


> 10 minutes per side?? Yikes!! Are you trying to get them completely dry?? That is 20 minutes for 2 frames, that would take an hour and a half to do one super! No, I don't agree with the timing!!!


I agree with ScadsOBees. I have two hives & use a two-frame, hand-cranked extractor and spend a minute or so on each side of a frame. Usually takes most of an afternoon & evening working without a break. I don't get every drop but I let the bees clean the supers for a couple of days afterward. It's relaxing sitting in the back yard listening to the bees recoversome of their losses.


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## sweetas (Apr 16, 2012)

I am a fan of tangential extractors. Have used a hand four frame and an electric 10 frame radial at the same time. Could process more frames with the 4 frame tangential per hour. Much less spinning time and cleaner frames.

WARMING BOX
I have also made a box to warm my frames. Uses the waste heat from my steam knife and steam from another pressure cooker. The box uses a radiator from an airconditioner, a ceiling fan to pull the air in and a ceiling fan (taped to reduce volume) on top of each of the three stacks of boxes. Have stacked up to four boxes high for the start of the day. best to only have 8 frames in a 10 frame box or 6 in a 8 frame box.

Ceiling fans are in a frame so all air has to go through the fans.


Makes uncapping and extraction easier.

Geoff


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## Greg755 (Jan 29, 2012)

For me I wanted a larger extractor but didnt want to pay the big bucks so I compromised and got the Mann lake 18/9 radial hand cranked. It had free shipping so it was well worth it. At around $650 it was in my budget and I didnt see the need to buy it motorized for an additional $500. It only takes about 6 minutes to spin out the frames and its not like your constantly cranking it. It does quick work and is more than I need but I prefer to save time, which for me is more valuable than the $300 I would have saved by buying a smaller extractor.

When I uncap all the combs I do it in a plastic box that is about 3 foot long and about 18 inches wide. Instead of wasting time cleaning up the box when I am done I take it outside and let the bees clean it up for me, and after a couple of days I go retrieve it and wash it out with warm water. I do the same thing with the extractor. I also take all the extracted frames and leave them outside for the bees in the sun uncovered. 

Basically the bees take all the honey from the combs, extractor and uncappings and store them in their hive. This leaves me clean equiptment and clean comb in the frames to put back on the hives or to store for later...

I drain the honey from the extractor into a filter, and then a 5 gal bucket with a honey gate. when the bucket is full I put it on the edge of my bench and use it to botlle the honey.

So total for me to buy equiptment to Process/bottle honey is around $750 bucks divide that by serveral years and it is very cost effective. The only thing I have to buy every year is bottles. Mann lake dosent have free shipping on BULK bottels so that is the only thing I buy from Betterbee because they have free shipping on bulk bottles (this year 2013) 

Last year (working the honey my self) I got 213 1 pound jars and 98 1-1/2 pound jars and it only took the weekend to do it, that included working the hives, uncapping, extracting, botteling, lebeling, and clean up (putting the supers away for winter).

The larger extractor and letting the bees clean up the excess honey is a real time saver...


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## Slow Modem (Oct 6, 2011)

Hamp54 said:


> Originally Posted by riverrat
> 
> buying an extractor is like building a garage. It doesnt matter how big you build or buy it still wont be big enough
> 
> Does anyone really keep a car in their garage?


I ain't even got a garage, you can call home and ask my wife!



(the older folks here will recognize that)


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

Slow Modem said:


> I ain't even got a garage, you can call home and ask my wife!
> 
> 
> 
> (the older folks here will recognize that)


Why would we believe you?

You've gone as far as tearing Wallace stickers off of bumpers of cars!


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

I think I'm gonna reroute my trip!


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## Greg755 (Jan 29, 2012)

> I ain't even got a garage, you can call home and ask my wife!


That was a great song... Yes Im older than old enough...


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I have simple theory. It's not worth buying, using, cleaning anything less that the largest extractor I can fit in my door... My first, and so far only extractor, is a 9/18 (9 deeps and 18 mediums) motorized, radial. I can extract more than two of my 8 frame supers in one shot. I have used (but not bought) a two frame non reversible tangential extractor, and I would never buy one. Way too much work and time. You have to uncap, put the frames in, spin 1/4 of the honey (half of that side) out and then flip them, then spin all the honey from the other side, then flip them then spin all the honey out of the first side... and now you have extracted only two frames...

I just did crush and strain for 26 years and then bought a motorized 9/18...

But here is my answer:

up to 4 hives crush and strain
up to 8 hives crush and strain
up to 18 hives marginal, but I'd crush and strain unless you have the excess cash available.
18 frame for up to 400 hives.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

> up to 18 hives marginal, but I'd crush and strain unless you have the excess cash available.

Or join a local beekeeping club that offers free or nominal charge extractor rental/borrowing. 


Davy Crockett Beekeepers Association
Greeneville TN
Meets: 4th Monday of each month except December - 7:30 p.m.
Contact: Sara Ledford: (423) 235-6577


The DCBA owns an extractor available for members' use, the rental fee is waived if you return the extractor clean.* The club dues are $7 per year! *:gh:

To find other clubs in TN click here:
http://www.tnbeekeepers.org/bee-clubs/


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

I think the need for a motorized extractor for beginners is they find out the fun doesn't last too long when you are cranking. I don't see the sense in buying a tangential extractor. If you are going to buy or build one make it radial and spin the frames once. The simplest thing you can do it make a frame, wood or metal with at least a 1/2 metal rod between two frames and spin it with a hand drill in a barrel.
Obviously, crush and strain is the cheapest way to go but when you first start out you are trying to build up drawn comb so that is a conflict. Storing equipment can be a challenge, I agree.


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

I used a 9 med frame Italian 3 deep extractor until I got past 144 colonies. Then I found a really good deal on (2) 32 frame dadants and run that on 400 colonies now. I disagree with Mike. You need more than 1 18 frame extractor for 400, less you go back to how hard do you want to work as Ron pointed out, or in this case how long do you want to extract honey for during the winter months?


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

Acebird said:


> Obviously, crush and strain is the cheapest way to go but when you first start out you are trying to build up drawn comb so that is a conflict.


Building comb is expensive, and time is also expensive.

How much does it really cost for crush and strain? Set aside you dont have to buy an extractor?


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## Hamp54 (Feb 4, 2013)

Michael Bush said:


> I have simple theory. It's not worth buying, using, cleaning anything less that the largest extractor I can fit in my door... My first, and so far only extractor, is a 9/18 (9 deeps and 18 mediums) motorized, radial. I can extract more than two of my 8 frame supers in one shot. I have used (but not bought) a two frame non reversible tangential extractor, and I would never buy one. Way too much work and time. You have to uncap, put the frames in, spin 1/4 of the honey (half of that side) out and then flip them, then spin all the honey from the other side, then flip them then spin all the honey out of the first side... and now you have extracted only two frames...
> 
> I just did crush and strain for 26 years and then bought a motorized 9/18...
> 
> ...


One of my previous posts lists the elaborate processing equipment I used to own for 20 hives. All I can say in response to Micheal Bush's post is "Amen".
If I ever get past 20 hives again I will consider an radial extractor only. Tangentials are not worth the money or grief. Until then crush and strain will be just fine.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

BMAC said:


> How much does it really cost for crush and strain?


A hobbyist is going to equate their time as zero dollars. A small operation may do the same if they don't have payroll to contend with. Need could come into the picture if they feel they can't get the job done in the time that they have available.


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

You can't truly speak for all hobbyist to list their hobby time as zero dollars. I know lots of hobby golfers and anglers who like to see paycheck for their invested time. However I understand hobbyist probably do not put a dollar figure on every hour invested.

Still how much does it cost to do crush and strain?
I can tell you it costs approx 7-8 lbs of honey per lbs of wax. So here is some basic math for someone who has 10 colonies as a hobbyist (which is probably hobby selling their honey). Lets say they render 2 lbs of wax per colony per year. Thats 160 lbs worth of honey to sell at well I charge $5.50 per lbs. That would be say $720.00 of valued honey when you consider the cost of labeling and bottling said honey.

How much does a small used extractor cost, along with the time and aggrevation of crushing and straining? You could be making wine or beer instead of crushing and straining!


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Still how much does it cost to do crush and strain?
I can tell you it costs approx 7-8 lbs of honey per lbs of wax.

It's not very many pounds of wax and the figures on converting honey to wax are irrelevant. Drawn comb makes more honey because there is room to store the honey. They draw comb pretty quickly in a strong flow and will amaze you.

>How much does a small used extractor cost, along with the time and aggrevation of crushing and straining? 

I can crush and strain faster than I can extract. It's a lot less time and less work and no messier. I only extract so I can have drawn comb.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

Michael Bush said:


> I can crush and strain faster than I can extract. It's a lot less time and less work and no messier. I only extract so I can have drawn comb.


In all seriousness you could mechanize the crushing and straining to were it is no mess at all and speed would not be an issue because it would be 3 or 4 times faster. It really is about saving the comb.


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## Hamp54 (Feb 4, 2013)

For me mixing vocation with avocation is a strange thing. I have been a professional photographer for over 4 decades on either a part time or full time basis. Years ago when it was more of a glorified hobby I felt completely justified spending ludicrous amounts of money on a lens just because I thought it was neat and had income from another job to support the whole thing. Now I look at any photographic purchase through different eyes. "How many 8x10's am I going to have to sell to pay for this thing" or "Are my clients going to care about what I can do with a fisheye lens or just think it's weird" or "Do I need this piece of equipment to better provide with I think a client deserves from me"

Beekeeping is a hobby and I have no intention of trying to make a living at it. If a person wants an extractor or any other processing equipment just because it's cool to have all that shiny stainless stuff then go for it. As long as it's not at the expense of life's necessities (including marital harmony) then have at it. The truth is if I ever buy another processing set up it will be because I want it…not because I need it.


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

Michael Bush said:


> >
> It's not very many pounds of wax and the figures on converting honey to wax are irrelevant. Drawn comb makes more honey because there is room to store the honey. They draw comb pretty quickly in a strong flow and will amaze you.
> 
> I can crush and strain faster than I can extract. It's a lot less time and less work and no messier. I only extract so I can have drawn comb.


I respectfully disagree. I know bees will draw wax on a flow, and the point is it uses honey to make wax and making wax is going to happen in every operation every year but more so when the bees have to draw same boxes year after year after year. I find it a relevant point. I can also see hobbyist not much caring about this nominal amount of wax or honey as they probably dont care about running out of honey or maximizing profits on labor spent.

As far as crush and strain being as fast as extracting I think that depends on how much extracting needs to be done. I for example can extract 4 (55 gallon) drums a day with my meager setup, which includes 2 other people helping me and we work consistentantly for 10 hours that day. Thats 30 man hours of labor spent extracting. Can you crush and strain 4 (55 gallon) drums of honey in 30 man hours?

Take into consideration of actually putting in drums, storing drums and empty supers. Maybe it can be done but I dont think its remotely reasonable way to extract honey. It would be better to just eat cut comb or sell cut comb than to crush and strain.


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

An 18 frame extractor for 400 hives? Do the math. How long would it take to extract 40,000 lbs of honey(100 lb average)? Oh, my stomach hurts......

Crazy Roland


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

It depends on whether you had two so one could spin while one was loaded. I came up with over 9 weeks, one shift for one and around 5 weeks for the dual set up. Going smaller and using the equipment for a longer period of time is better utilization of your capital investment. I understand that if you are paying somebody to do the task you what it done with the least amount of labor but if you are not paying somebody then capital investment takes front seat.


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