Subject: extracting honey nylon buckets

From: TOM LEWIS <[email-masked]>
Date: 17 Feb 1995 04:42:46 GMT

I have extracted honey from my bees for 8 years without an extractor.
First, i use plastic super frames with a solid central patterned panel.
I also have a series of three clean nylon 5 gallon buckets.
The bottom one has a honey gate, the middle one has numerous 1/8th inch
holes drilled into it.  The last bucket has had the bottom cut out
of it and serves to create a long enough space to hold several frames
and get the lid on the top bucket.

When its time to harvest, I take a super at a time and after clearing
it of bees, bring it to my stack - o - buckets.  Taking 1 frame at a time
I use a hive tool to scrape the comb into the bucket with a minimum of
damage to the cell bottoms.  I can get 3 frames in the bucket at a time.
I let them drain and then put them in a super to give back to the bees.
   
The honey drains through the holes, settles for a day or so and then gated
into jars.

The bees pick and clean the wax scrap, leaving relatively clean wax.  I
find the bees can redraw the comb in 3-4 days if they really need it.

total cost.. 1 honey gate.

Be sure you use food grade nylon buckets.  Mine came from an ice cream
factory and held cherries for the cherry ice cream. 

be glad to send drawings or more detail
Tom Lewis
Richmond, Va
25 yrs beekeeper