I know this happened a long time ago but I forgot that I had not made a post about the honey extraction. Because this was so long ago I have forgotten many of the details (good thing I took some pictures).
The black thing on top of the hive is a fume board. on the inside is a felt fabric that I spray a stinky liquid called Bee Go or Honey Robber. The top is an aluminum sheet so that when the sun hits it it warms up really fast and vaporizes the liquid. The bees really hate that smell so they want to leave the hive for a few minutes. That is why you can see so many bees on the outside of the hives.
Here is my setup for extracting. Full boxes of honey on the left then the uncapping tank, next comes the extractor followed up with the bucket with a filter in it.
Here I am using my electric knife to cut off the cappings on the frames to get it ready for the extractor.
My wife was a good help.
After you spin the frames the centrifugal force pushes the honey to the outside of the extractor and it drains into this cool bucket with a filter. The filter is there just to make sure all the little wax pieces and bee parts are not in the hone when you eat it.
My family had a lot of fun helping me out.
Getting every last sweet drop out.
Here is what my hives looked like when I left them with only their brood boxes for the winter.
My hives are at my house for the winter so I don't have to trudge though the field to clear off the hives when it snows.
And in case you are wondering, I harvested 180 lbs of honey from my two hives. That is the same as 7 gallons. I cant wait till next year.
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