# Decappers?? Thinking Ahead



## beeware10 (Jul 25, 2010)

for less than at least 100 hives I would never consider an uncapper. money is better spent on increase as this is what generates income. It takes a 2nd person to realize any benefit from an uncapper and generates no income. a electric knife or plane makes more dollar sense. good luck


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

SAS said:


> I have almost doubled my hives (from 5 to 9, and growing),


Growing to what level? I thought about making an uncapper that would fill the gap between commercial and backyard. It seems like the sideliners have been left out in the cold.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

SAS said:


> I have also looked at Maxant's chain uncapper, but not sure if I want to spend that much, but I will if chain uncappers are the best?


My first uncapper, other than a hot knife, was a Maxant chain uncapper. The hand operated model, not the automatic one. Great machine for the small operation. You have enough time before next season't harvest. Maybe you could find a used one. They even made a capping melter that went with it. I still use mine, 25 years later.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

I don't have an uncapper, but here are some previous threads ...

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?318018-comparing-uncappers-for-a-sideliner
http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...nt-Chain-versus-Knife-uncapping-New-Beekeeper
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?315734-Maxant-chain-uncapper
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?300393-uncapping-for-100-hives


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

One thing that I have done that has always worked out good is "buying ahead".
I can't remember for sure the exact numbers but it seems like I had about a dozen hives when I bought a 9 frame stainless radial motorized extractor.
And not one of those cheapy-ass plastic ones but a very nice machine.
Was buying it overkill for the amount of hives I had?
No.
I was not buying it for today. I bought it for tomorrow.
Maybe I had 24 hives when I bought the Maxant chain uncapper.
One of the best moves that I made early on.
Was it overkill?
No.
I was "buying ahead."
And you will not believe how many supers of honey that my son & I could extract in a 16 hour day a few years later with those two machines.

When I bought my first bee truck I could haul my entire outfit in one load.
I still have that truck and use it regularly.

If you are drop-dead serious about beekeeping and not just a dabbler, I encourage you to think about making each investment count for the long haul by "buying ahead".

When you make such purchases, it sends back a very powerful message to yourself that you mean business and are going to do well in the future.
These messages cause you to want to be a better beekeeper, attend seminars and state conferences, read books and work harder.

Anyway, this approach has worked out very good for us.
Last purchase was a Swienty automatic bottling machine.
It will bottle 477 one pound jars per hour.

Overkill?


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

SAS - 'sent you a PM.

A former mentor had a Maxant chain upcapper, set on top of a Maxant cappings spinner. He had a side operation, spinning out honey for anyone interested ( in paying his price). It looked like it worked pretty well, for many, many years.

If I ever got back up around 50+ colonies, I might set mine up like that.


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## [email protected] (Aug 1, 2004)

A couple of thoughts:

1. Don't underestimate what you can do with a knife. If you haven't all ready, get a hot knife heated by electricity. Kelley used to make their own, and may still. Most dealers sell at least one version. I know someone uncapping frames from ~700 supers with a knife, but I would not recommend that. But, it is possible.
2. Bee aware that chain uncappers bring along a set of problems relating to 'beating the wax into the honey'. You will need a way to separate the wax. Many just use a huge settling tank that can hold at least a one day supply of extracted honey. They let the wax rise to the top overnight and then skim it before transferring to another tank. Others use sophisticated means of spinning the honey from the extractor to force the wax to the outside of a cylinder and let the 'waxless honey' flow otherwise to a tank. The latter is pretty expensive.

My suggestion...stay with heated knives until you get at least 50 supers you need to process. Then consider an automatic knife system such as a Speed Queen or similar set up offered by dealers. I'd stay clear of chain uncappers until you are a great deal larger than now...say, 500 or more supers.


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## SAS (Sep 4, 2015)

HarryVanderpool said:


> One thing that I have done that has always worked out good is "buying ahead".
> I can't remember for sure the exact numbers but it seems like I had about a dozen hives when I bought a 9 frame stainless radial motorized extractor.
> And not one of those cheapy-ass plastic ones but a very nice machine.
> Was buying it overkill for the amount of hives I had?
> ...


Great info, this is what I was hoping to hear. 

My plan is to grow, and no, I am not "just a dabbler." Even though an expensive uncapper is overkill at this stage with so few hives, it won't be in a couple of years. Yes, I only have 9-hives currently. Next year/spring, my hive count will go up, and every year after that. 
That is why I would like to purchase (next spring) one of the uncappers I mentioned, but I want to make sure I purchase the right one.


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## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

I just finished extracting around 100 supers. The next piece of equipment I would like to get is cappings spinner not an uncapper. I can easily keep up with my 20 Frame Dadant extractor with a hot knife. But, the cappings get to be a pain, they have been draining now for several days and they are still heavy with honey. I'm satisfied there's still a couple buckets of honey in the cappings I may never get out. I would like to have a spinner I can uncap directly into then clean out the dry cappings at the end of the day.


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## BobsBees (Jul 21, 2011)

This what I bought this year. Takes a little time to understand the best method. Let the frame do the work with it's weight, not forcing it. Can uncap (1) frame in 15 seconds. So now with that speed I need another (18-20) frame extractor so I can always be putting frames directly into while my wife unloads the first.









https://www.kelleybees.com/Shop/16/...apping/4026/Kelley-s-Electric-Vibrating-Knife


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

BobsBees said:


> This what I bought this year. Takes a little time to understand the best method. Let the frame do the work with it's weight, not forcing it. Can uncap (1) frame in 15 seconds. So now with that speed I need another (18-20) frame extractor so I can always be putting frames directly into while my wife unloads the first.
> 
> View attachment 21724
> 
> ...


Interesting uncapper which I never saw before, but to me, it seems like it would have been better to have the knife blade mounted vertically rather than horizontally so you can see what you're doing.


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## Bob J (Feb 25, 2013)

I use two knives and a bucket of hot water..... One knife in the bucket while I use the other and then switch when things start to drag....

I also use a frame spacer and only 9 frames in my supers.... It makes it so much easier to uncap when the comb is wider than the frame..... ;- )

Plastic-Frame-Spacer-Tool


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

Those who say you can handle 100 hives by hand well, lets just say I disagree. running 100 hives and doing all the extracting and a day job is tough

That said I have a silver queen and the maxtant chain flail (single frame) The maxtant is real nice and is usually the one that gets used. put a plastic tote under it, most of the cappings float to the top and can be skimmed quickly, silverqueen can leave some large wax chunks. 
The silverqueen is faster, no doubt. but needs a drip trough, and some of the wax can hold a lot of honey. Chain flails generate small pieces. I haven't had sore wrist from a hot knife in quite a while.


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## SAS (Sep 4, 2015)

lazybhoney said:


> Those who say you can handle 100 hives by hand well, lets just say I disagree. running 100 hives and doing all the extracting and a day job is tough
> 
> That said I have a silver queen and the maxtant chain flail (single frame) The maxtant is real nice and is usually the one that gets used. put a plastic tote under it, most of the cappings float to the top and can be skimmed quickly, silverqueen can leave some large wax chunks.
> The silverqueen is faster, no doubt. but needs a drip trough, and some of the wax can hold a lot of honey. Chain flails generate small pieces. I haven't had sore wrist from a hot knife in quite a while.


 Thank you for the info. 

Actually, I found a used older MAXANT model 1700 chain uncapper that I'm buying, from a private party. I'm very excited. I have been talking/emailing back and forth with MAXANT, and they have been a great help. Next spring, I plan on ordering the "retro pillow kit" from MAXANT for it. 

I fully agree, "doing all the extracting and a day job is tough."


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

I know of 1000 plus Beekeepers up here that hire kids to scrape frames with cappings forks 
If your talking 10-20 hives, keep your costs low


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

I agree with Ian. I mean why do you have a day job? It is just for medical coverage, right? Hire someone to do the monkey work and price your honey so you make what they make and you haven't lifted a finger. Simple capitalism.


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

I've been doing 500-600 boxes a year by hand with forks for a couple years now, all the help I get is my wife, when she's available. Hoping to get the Maxant chain uncapper and a spinner for this coming season. Heck, I was using a four frame manual extractor up until two years ago too. I tried keeping my costs down as long as I could, but it gets to a point where you are spending too much time in the honey house and not in the bee yards, not to mention all the other things that need to be done on a daily basis.


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

I'd love to see a video of you uncapping with a fork...I always feel like I'm fumbling with things, it would be real helpful to see a good video of it being done well (fast and efficently).

...there is a way we learn to do tasks when we do them thousands of times that can't be described. I wouldn't be suprised if you do it with less physical effort amd 4x the speed than I can even picture myself doing...it's helpful to see how it can be done.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

deknow said:


> I'd love to see a video of you uncapping with a fork.


I suspect Dean that experience tells you the least you have to do and still be effective. The video would be great for this.


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

deknow said:


> I'd love to see a video of you uncapping with a fork...I always feel like I'm fumbling with things, it would be real helpful to see a good video of it being done well (fast and efficently).
> 
> ...there is a way we learn to do tasks when we do them thousands of times that can't be described. I wouldn't be suprised if you do it with less physical effort amd 4x the speed than I can even picture myself doing...it's helpful to see how it can be done.


I agree, videos can be worth thousands of words! I've really been wanting to get into making some beekeeping related videos, but have been putting it off. I really should do it.

As for using an uncapping fork, I feel I have gotten pretty quick at it with all the practice, but I have no one to compare myself to  I'd say I can do a medium frame both sides in about 45 seconds total, I don't know if anyone else considers that quick or not. I feel that to be quick with a fork, the supers of honey need to be kept warm, like at least 85 degrees. And instead of picking at the cappings with the fork, you need to slide the fork just under the cappings and push it along a couple inches at a time between cleaning the fork off. Again, a video would be much better to explain things.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Most run the fork over the cappings just to break them. If the cell capping is broke, the honey will come out


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

Ian said:


> Most run the fork over the cappings just to break them. If the cell capping is broke, the honey will come out


I thought so too but I have seen and heard of people picking the cappings off.

If scoring works why wouldn't two stationary wire brushes work by pushing the frame between them like what is done with most uncappers?


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Ian said:


> Most run the fork over the cappings just to break them. If the cell capping is broke, the honey will come out


I want the wax, so I go a little deeper.:banana:


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Acebird said:


> I thought so too but I have seen and heard of people picking the cappings off.
> 
> If scoring works why wouldn't two stationary wire brushes work by pushing the frame between them like what is done with most uncappers?


It's just waiting for an inventor.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

I am not sure whether I want to go with a hot knife technique or scratchings.


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

I'm quite sure there are some inventor type beekeepers that have built their own automatic uncapper that works really well, for a whole lot less than a Silver Queen ($7000) or even the Maxant ($2700).

I think the easiest and cheapest to build would be something that just scratches the cappings open, or punctures them. I realize that the Sideliner Uncapper that BM sells ($1450) is along those lines, but I still think something similar could be built for much less money. 

And then there is the uncapping roller that looks like a short paint roller with spikes on it. It looks neat, but I think the whole thing would clog up in no time with cappings and would have to be cleaned out. Maybe an electric heated one would work better. I don't even know how you would go about heating something that rolls around like that.


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

Anyone reading this post and growing should read Harry's post and then re-read it again...
I started with cold knives, went to an hot knife, a maxant plane and now we are running a Maxant Chain Uncapper. I thought the maxant plane was twice as fast as a hot knife and the chain uncapper is twice as fast as the plane. I burned myself much less with the plane than the knife. Looking to a bigger facility next year and perhaps and upgrade the following year, like to think more automation. Most efficient operation I ever saw was Richard Taylor (bee books, movies) out of Ithaca , did a couple of thousand round combs a year and his entire honey house operation consisted of a pocket knife and wax collecting box. What a niche!


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Joel said:


> Anyone reading this post and growing should read Harry's post and then re-read it again...
> I started with cold knives, went to an hot knife, a maxant plane and now we are running a Maxant Chain Uncapper. I thought the maxant plane was twice as fast as a hot knife and the chain uncapper is twice as fast as the plane. I burned myself much less with the plane than the knife. Looking to a bigger facility next year and perhaps and upgrade the following year, like to think more automation. Most efficient operation I ever saw was Richard Taylor (bee books, movies) out of Ithaca , did a couple of thousand round combs a year and his entire honey house operation consisted of a pocket knife and wax collecting box. What a niche!


Right, if you're serious about the business and plan to expand to at least 100 hives, in my opinion, you can't go wrong with a little overkill at the beginning when it comes to extracting and processing the crop.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

jmgi said:


> And then there is the uncapping roller that looks like a short paint roller with spikes on it.


If the roller is the width of the frame it is going to miss a lot of cells because of the irregularity of the surface. Bees don't make perfect comb.
I would like to have someone explain to me why the uncapper has to go so fast.
Here we go... my idea is to make it cheap and slower. With two stations the operator loads one and takes a finished frame from the other station which was previously loaded into the uncapper. That means (based on what I have seen) the time required to actually uncap a frame is the time it takes to load a frame in an extractor. What would be the point of going any faster unless you are queuing.


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Acebird said:


> If the roller is the width of the frame it is going to miss a lot of cells because of the irregularity of the surface. Bees don't make perfect comb.
> I would like to have someone explain to me why the uncapper has to go so fast.
> Here we go... my idea is to make it cheap and slower. With two stations the operator loads one and takes a finished frame from the other station which was previously loaded into the uncapper. That means (based on what I have seen) the time required to actually uncap a frame is the time it takes to load a frame in an extractor. What would be the point of going any faster unless you are queuing.


I was actually talking about the manual uncapping roller that is sold by the supply companies. If you incorporated that same idea into an automatic uncapper, then you would still have the same problem as you do with automatic knives or chain flails with not getting the lower areas of wavy comb, which would require using a capping scratcher anyway. 

You are right, in reality, the uncapper only needs to be as fast as it takes to load the just finished comb into the extractor, which is pretty fast in my opinion. I mean, how long does it take to put a frame in the extractor, 4-5 seconds at most, if the extractor is right next to the uncapper? If you got two extractors going, while one spins, the other is being loaded.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

jmgi said:


> You are right, in reality, the uncapper only needs to be as fast as it takes to load the just finished comb into the extractor,


Actually it is double that time. You have to take one out before you can put one in. 8-10 seconds just to remove the caps is a long time if you are not involved with that part of the process. That is like an eternity.


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## Eduardo Gomes (Nov 10, 2014)

johng said:


> I just finished extracting around 100 supers. The next piece of equipment I would like to get is cappings spinner not an uncapper. I can easily keep up with my 20 Frame Dadant extractor with a hot knife. But, the cappings get to be a pain, they have been draining now for several days and they are still heavy with honey. I'm satisfied there's still a couple buckets of honey in the cappings I may never get out. I would like to have a spinner I can uncap directly into then clean out the dry cappings at the end of the day.


This makes perfect sense to me. My employee and I we had extracted more than 900 supers this year with the knife. My next investment will be a capping spinner not an uncapper.


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Acebird said:


> Actually it is double that time. You have to take one out before you can put one in. 8-10 seconds just to remove the caps is a long time if you are not involved with that part of the process. That is like an eternity.


You don't have to take a frame out if the extractor is empty.:s


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Eduardo Gomes said:


> This makes perfect sense to me. My employee and I we had extracted more than 900 supers this year with the knife. My next investment will be a capping spinner not an uncapper.


Some people just have more endurance than others.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

jmgi said:


> You don't have to take a frame out if the extractor is empty.:s


after the first cycle how do they get out of the extractor? Do you burn them? You got some star trecky thing that beams them out? Let's not discuss a production batch only being one extractor cycle.


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Acebird said:


> after the first cycle how do they get out of the extractor? Do you burn them? You got some star trecky thing that beams them out? Let's not discuss a production batch only being one extractor cycle.


Let's not get nit-picky Ace, this isn't a race.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

jmgi said:


> Let's not get nit-picky Ace, this isn't a race.


Nit picky? If you are trying to develop a process on paper overlapping time cycles are important. It can make a big difference if your dwell time goes from 3 to 6 seconds.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

When running multiple extractor loads, its far more efficient to have a holding rack of some sort that holds approximately as many frames as the extractor. An extractor load/unload operation should be maybe 1/10th the time required for uncapping.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

jim lyon said:


> When running multiple extractor loads, its far more efficient to have a holding rack of some sort that holds approximately as many frames as the extractor. An extractor load/unload operation should be maybe 1/10th the time required for uncapping.


Here's a visual on a larger scale. Beside the men uncapping is the "merry go round" which was nothing more than the guts from a 45 frame extractor with a drip tray below that drained into the sump. I've spent a lifetime in extracting rooms and NOTHING irritates me than an idle extractor waiting for frames.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

jim lyon said:


> Here's a visual on a larger scale. Beside the men uncapping is the "merry go round" which was nothing more than the guts from a 45 frame extractor with a drip tray below that drained into the sump. I've spent a lifetime in extracting rooms and NOTHING irritates me than an idle extractor waiting for frames.


I used a merry go round, it worked well,
I ran a 36 frame Jones, I scratched a load in 15 or so min onto the merry go round, emptied and repeat. Extracted 15-20 thousand pounds like that.


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

We have a 40 frame uncapping tray which works well to keep the extractor running, a silent extractor is painful when you are looking at a few hundred supers waiting to be emptied. Kelley used to sell a one piece extracting set up that had two smaller ( I think 20 frames?) extractors feeding into a clarifier ( i think it was a clarifier) for around $4500. It always struck me as an efficient way to run. Two 40 frame units with one running while the other is loading seems more efficient than loading an 80 framer, uncapping the next round into an uncapping tray and then loading those into the empty extractor when it is done. We have also stacked empty supers over the clarifier so they can drip into it and filled them with the next round of frames. No sticky tray, close at hand to load, warms the honey a bit.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Joel said:


> We have a 40 frame uncapping tray which works well to keep the extractor running, a silent extractor is painful when you are looking at a few hundred supers waiting to be emptied. Kelley used to sell a one piece extracting set up that had two smaller ( I think 20 frames?) extractors feeding into a clarifier ( i think it was a clarifier) for around $4500. It always struck me as an efficient way to run. Two 40 frame units with one running while the other is loading seems more efficient than loading an 80 framer, uncapping the next round into an uncapping tray and then loading those into the empty extractor when it is done.


I agree and it's also more efficient use of floor space although the smaller extractor either has to run at a pretty high rpm or a bit longer to compensate.


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Just curious, those of you who run 40 frame or larger extractors, what would you say is the average run time you use? For me, using 20 frame Maxant's, I run close to 10 minutes a load.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

jmgi said:


> Just curious, those of you who run 40 frame or larger extractors, what would you say is the average run time you use? For me, using 20 frame Maxant's, I run close to 10 minutes a load.


10 minutes will usually get the job done with most extractors though with lower moisture and/or cooler honey it may take an additional 5 to 10 minutes. A lot depends on how quickly you can get up to maximum speed without ruining frames.


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

jim lyon said:


> 10 minutes will usually get the job done with most extractors though with lower moisture and/or cooler honey it may take an additional 5 to 10 minutes. A lot depends on how quickly you can get up to maximum speed without ruining frames.


I agree. My 10 minute spin cycle assumes warmer supers.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

jim lyon said:


> When running multiple extractor loads, its far more efficient to have a holding rack of some sort that holds approximately as many frames as the extractor. An extractor load/unload operation should be maybe 1/10th the time required for uncapping.


Hug? If the extractor is 10 times faster than the uncapper then you would need 10 uncappers to prevent the extractor from waiting. I know you don't mean that.

JMGI was speaking of his operation where he works alone, smaller for sure. I was imagining one operator doing both jobs. Yes the through put is less but the efficiency is greater


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Acebird said:


> Hug? If the extractor is 10 times faster than the uncapper then you would need 10 uncappers to prevent the extractor from waiting. I know you don't mean that.
> 
> JMGI was speaking of his operation where he works alone, smaller for sure. I was imagining one operator doing both jobs. Yes the through put is less but the efficiency is greater


Perhaps I didn't phrase it as clearly as I could have. Let me put it this way. The act of loading and unloading an extractor should require about 1/10th the time it would take to uncap a load of frames. If you are trying to efficiently run continuously, the remaining 90% of the time is extractor run time. When we are running mediums in a 120 frame system our extracting time is usually 8 to 9 minutes with a load/unload time of a little under 2 minutes. So roughly 10 minutes from shutdown to shutdown. Deeps require a bit more run time.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

That is better. So the uncapper has to provide to the (second) extractor 120 frames at the rate of 1 frame per 5 seconds in order to not have wait time. This looks doable with one person IMO.


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## Qkrwogud (Nov 2, 2015)

I saw a youtube video of someone using a hair drier to melt the caps off then proceed to use an extractor.
Seems much more cleaner and efficient than using a knife or roller. Am I missing some obvious downsides to doing this?


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Qkrwogud said:


> I saw a youtube video of someone using a hair drier to melt the caps off then proceed to use an extractor.
> Seems much more cleaner and efficient than using a knife or roller. Am I missing some obvious downsides to doing this?


Having not seen the video, I won't say it couldn't work, but it just seems to me that the wax would re-harden after you take the hair dryer away from the comb, and reseal the cells again to some extent.


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

I'm up to 30 hives now and I used to use a heated uncapping knife early on. My hand would be numb by the time I was done so I knew I had to find another way. I bought a Maxant chain uncapper and cappings spinner 2 years ago. I can't imagine going back to doing it the manual way. Over buy if you've got the funds. I make a few substantial purchases annually to reduce my net honey income for tax purposes. After a few years I've got a 20/36 Dadant radial extractor, Maxant uncapping tank, Maxant chain uncapper, Maxant capping spinner Jr., 2 Maxant 16 gallon heated bottling tanks, Nassenheider auto bottler, and this year I'll be getting a Maxant gravity clarifier and Maxant honey pump. 

Not showing off, I'm showing how after a few years of rolling profits back into the business the assets can add up nicely. My big picture is to have all of my equipment purchased for a nice side income once I'm retired so I'm making sure to buy above what I need now. Worst case scenario I won't use the equipment to it's fullest, but I'll save time. Kept in good shape it should also be easy to sell off at half price when I'm ready many years down the road.


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## [email protected] (Aug 1, 2004)

The only piece of equipment I don't have is a spinner, but I'd love to have one. The models costing about $10,000 work great, but I can't justify that. How does the Maxant Jr. work? I've heard complaints that it is a bear to clean/empty. Is that your experience?


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

Personally, no. Once I learned how to use it by adding the wax through the top hole (don't take the cover off) in scoops at a time (not all at once) it works beautifully. Once it was done there's a flexible screen in there that you put in there before adding the cappings. It allows you to pull the slightly compressed cappings off of the sides very easily (much in chunks). I merely scooped them out and dropped them into a bottling tank set at 200 and added some water to the cappings. The next day turn off the bottling tank. The day after that poor off the liquid (I feed it to my nucs), pull the puck out and get rid of any loose slumgum. Put the puck back in there and turn the heater back on. The third day put an old sock over the spigot and pour the molten wax into a 3-5 gallon bucket. Once you get down to nothing but slumgum stop pouring into the bucket. Pour some hot water in the bottling tank and turn off it off. The last day pull the thin puck out of the bottom (the water allows it to break free quickly but is otherwise useless) and put it in a solar wax melter. I used to spend weeks letting the cappings drip dry, and they never really did. Melting them down was a chore as well as I only had a solar wax melter. The spinner and bottling tank are both huge time savers for cleaning and melting cappings.


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## SAS (Sep 4, 2015)

D Coates said:


> I'm up to 30 hives now and I used to use a heated uncapping knife early on. My hand would be numb by the time I was done so I knew I had to find another way. I bought a Maxant chain uncapper and cappings spinner 2 years ago. I can't imagine going back to doing it the manual way. Over buy if you've got the funds. I make a few substantial purchases annually to reduce my net honey income for tax purposes. After a few years I've got a 20/36 Dadant radial extractor, Maxant uncapping tank, Maxant chain uncapper, Maxant capping spinner Jr., 2 Maxant 16 gallon heated bottling tanks, Nassenheider auto bottler, and this year I'll be getting a Maxant gravity clarifier and Maxant honey pump.
> 
> Not showing off, I'm showing how after a few years of rolling profits back into the business the assets can add up nicely. My big picture is to have all of my equipment purchased for a nice side income once I'm retired so I'm making sure to buy above what I need now. Worst case scenario I won't use the equipment to it's fullest, but I'll save time. Kept in good shape it should also be easy to sell off at half price when I'm ready many years down the road.


I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one, when it comes to over purchasing/being prepared for the future.

I'm not at 30 hives yet, I hope to be soon (another year or two). The few hives I currently have (9 and growing),take a toll on my wrist when uncapping. 

I originally started this thread, on account of wanting to get some info on uncappers. After reading a lot of the replies, I started feeling like an idiot, on account that I can't uncap hundreds of frames in a short amount of time, as some have stated. 
In fact, before reading your reply, I was thinking about canceling the used MAXANT chain uncapper I committed to (which I'm purchasing for less than half the cost of a new one); but after reading your reply, which I appreciate very much. I plan on going forward, and make the purchase. 

Thank you.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Broad perspective


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

SAS said:


> I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one, when it comes to over purchasing/being prepared for the future.
> 
> I'm not at 30 hives yet, I hope to be soon (another year or two). The few hives I currently have (9 and growing),take a toll on my wrist when uncapping.
> 
> ...


Your very welcome. Once you get your chain uncapper you'll chuckle at second guessing yourself. It's like when I went from a reversible 2 frame Kelly extractor to a used 20/36 Dadant electric that needed refurbishing. I only had 10 hives and it was over 5 times what I paid for the Kelly, and that was before I started working on it. After using it the first time I couldn't believe I went so long with the 2 frame extractor and wish I would have upgraded sooner. I bought the Kelly used off of Beesource and sold it for what I bought it for.

The only hick-up you'll find is once you remove that bottleneck to your harvesting others will make themselves very apparent. Thus all the various equipment I've got. I do believe I'm running out of equipment to buy! Though...a honey house is on the horizon that will allow me to bolt my equipment down instead of moving it to my garage for every harvest (I've got access to enclosed trailer for transport and all my equipment is wheeled for easy maneuvering). Oh, a honey house would be a nice time saver...


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## SAS (Sep 4, 2015)

D Coates said:


> Your very welcome. Once you get your chain uncapper you'll chuckle at second guessing yourself. It's like when I went from a reversible 2 frame Kelly extractor to a used 20/36 Dadant electric that needed refurbishing. I only had 10 hives and it was over 5 times what I paid for the Kelly, and that was before I started working on it. After using it the first time I couldn't believe I went so long with the 2 frame extractor and wish I would have upgraded sooner. I bought the Kelly used off of Beesource and sold it for what I bought it for.
> 
> The only hick-up you'll find is once you remove that bottleneck to your harvesting others will make themselves very apparent. Thus all the various equipment I've got. I do believe I'm running out of equipment to buy! Though...a honey house is on the horizon that will allow me to bolt my equipment down instead of moving it to my garage for every harvest (I've got access to enclosed trailer for transport and all my equipment is wheeled for easy maneuvering). Oh, a honey house would be a nice time saver...


 

Thanks again for your input!! It was very helpful!


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## Live Oak (Oct 11, 2008)

SAS said:


> I would like to get some input on uncappers for the future, to help me decide what to buy next year.
> 
> This was/is my second year, and I hate the time spent on uncapping frames. Last year it wasn't a big deal, it was new and fun. This year, I have almost doubled my hives (from 5 to 9, and growing), with almost 4-times the frames to uncap.
> 
> ...


This is our 9th year beekeeping and we have gradually purchased ahead as has already been mentioned above. 

We decided to buy the Mann Lake Sideliner Decapper

http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/category/page103.html

It is very similar if not nearly identical to the Brushy Mountain model. 

Overall it is a VERY well built and excellent quality piece of equipment. It DOES have its limits though. As long as the honey frames are drawn out well past the frame, this uncapper makes uncapping unbelievably faster and MUCH less damage to the comb for the bees to fix. In cases where the comb is lower than the frame, the old scratching fork or pin roller/uncapping punch must be used. We use 8 frame spacers in all of our honey supers. Normally this makes for nice thick honey frames but this season was a weird case in which the girls did not make much and what they did make was very skinny in most of the supers. 

http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/category/page100.html

We ran about 50 hives this season and plan to expand again next season. On average we place 3 honey suppers on each hive so this Sideline Uncapper though expensive was WELL worth every penny in my opinion.


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## SAS (Sep 4, 2015)

Live Oak said:


> This is our 9th year beekeeping and we have gradually purchased ahead as has already been mentioned above.
> 
> We decided to buy the Mann Lake Sideliner Decapper
> 
> ...


 Thanks for the info on the Mann Lake Sideliner uncapper. 

As I mentioned at the start of this thread, my plan was to purchase a Sideliner uncapper from Brushy Mountain, or Mann Lake. Fortunately for me, I found a older used MAXANT model 1700 chain uncapper that's in excellent condition, for less money than ether Mann Lake's or Brushy Mountain's sideliner uncappers, so I bought.


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