# Solar extractor?



## wvbeeguy (Feb 20, 2011)

Dadant still sells wax foundation-- understanding that each pound of foundation uses 6-8 pounds of honey to create that is entirely your decision. on a smallhobby scale it may not be a consideration- good luck with your beekeeping endevor.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

Everything is a trade off, forcing the bees to make new comb can reduce honey surplus. But I do it when I do comb honey. I have a great demand for drawn comb so I would not destroy any unnecessarily. However if the bees wax has a value to you equal to or greater than that of honey. Why not solar extract. I know beekeepers that never take honey. one even says he doesn't even like honey.


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

If I understand you correctly you place full frames in a "glass top box" and placed it in the sun to extract the honey? Or are you just harvesting the wax?


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## Wandering Man (Jan 15, 2016)

Eikel said:


> If I understand you correctly you place full frames in a "glass top box" and placed it in the sun to extract the honey? Or are you just harvesting the wax?


Well, plexiglass, actually.

I would pull one or two frames from the hive, stick them into an old (but clean) pair of my wife's panty hose, then place them in a tray in the extractor. The sun would melt the wax. The hose would filter out any impurities, and a second tray would collect the honey with a layer of wax on top. 

I ended up with jars of honey and wax.

I couldn't afford an extractor at the time, so this was the poor-mans version of honey extraction.

This was also before we had an internet. My only source of information was books and catalogs. 

This time around, I'll have two hives, access to a lot more information, and can probably afford an extractor, if I decide to go that way.


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

Thanks for the feedback, I'd not heard about a solar extractor.


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## Wandering Man (Jan 15, 2016)

I found a photo of it from 1984. It looks like it needs a bit of repair.

The hardest part of building the thing was finding the metal trays (not shown). My father in law had a welder friend who built those for me.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

An alternative honey harvesting method that does not involve an extractor is "crush and strain". The comb containing honey is mashed in a container, the result is poured through one or more strainers to filter out wax, bee legs etc, and then bottled.

Here are two related threads, with some photos and even a video in the second thread:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?237938-Frames-for-harvest-w-o-extractor

http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...strain-extraction-apparatus-(pic-3-min-video)


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## Wandering Man (Jan 15, 2016)

The solar extractor wasn't messy at all.

At the time, my wife taught school and hose were a weekly purchase.

She rarely wears them any more.

Do you think women would think I'm weird if I went up to them and asked for their used panty hose?


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## Eddie Honey (May 30, 2011)

I just haven't seen a measureable difference in honey harvest between having a good strong hive draw out new wax vs giving a hive drawn comb. Last year I got 4 supers of honey and the bees had to draw all new wax vs the year before when I got a bit less honey and the bees already had drawn supers. A lot of variables such as weather and strength of flow but that's my observation.


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## ralittlefield (Apr 25, 2011)

Wandering Man said:


> Well, plexiglass, actually.
> 
> I would pull one or two frames from the hive, stick them into an old (but clean) pair of my wife's panty hose, then place them in a tray in the extractor. The sun would melt the wax. The hose would filter out any impurities, and a second tray would collect the honey with a layer of wax on top.
> 
> ...


Wax melts at about 144 degrees F. So using a solar extractor may heat the honey to the melting point of the wax, and perhaps significantly higher. Is that a concern for you?


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## Wandering Man (Jan 15, 2016)

The honey always tasted fine. We produced more than enough for two families. Our honey outlasted the hive by a couple of years.

If the heat had any effect on the honey, I don't know what it was.


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

> Do you think women would think I'm weird if I went up to them and asked for their used panty hose?


And yes, they'd likely call the authorities


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## Wandering Man (Jan 15, 2016)

ralittlefield said:


> Wax melts at about 144 degrees F. So using a solar extractor may heat the honey to the melting point of the wax, and perhaps significantly higher. Is that a concern for you?


So, now I'm curious.

Should I be worried about the honey being heated?


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## bbbthingmaker (Sep 26, 2010)

Heating honey to 144 degrees probably kills all the enzymes, antibodies, etc. It can't help the taste either. You may as well be eating flavored corn syrup.


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