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Subject:
From:
KIRK VISSCHER <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 30 May 1992 12:07:00 PST
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The problem of how to extract honey without the investment in a centrifugal
extractor is a common one for the beekeeper with only a few hives.  I can o\
offer a few suggestions.
1) Find another beekeeper who has an extractor and work out an arrangement to
have him/her extract your honey.  Arrangements of this type I have known of
varied from a charge of 8 cents per pound, plus the wax, to 50% of the crop.
Since extracting is a big, messy job, another sideliner with the equipment
might be well pleased to just have you work together with him/her, doing both of
your combs.  There might also be possibilities of buying equipment jointly with
other beekeepers.
2) produce only comb honey, either section comb, or more realistically, cut
comb honey.  For most large scale beekeepers comb honey production is too
labor intensive for its returns, leaving a market niche for the small producer.
Section comb honey requires good honey flows to produce a good product, and so
it is not so well suited to all areas, or as the use all the surplus the bees
produce.  Comb honey is no longer the familiar product it once was, so
marketing much of it may take some looking.
3) crush and drain combs.  This works, but I wouldn't want to do it on a scale
larger than one colony, and it is quite wasteful both of honey which remains
in the crushed combs and the bees' efforts producing wax, and yours preparing
frames with foundation.
4) heating wax and honey is VERY bad for the quality of the honey.  Honey which
has been heated sufficiently to melt wax is likely to be detectably burned
(sugars caramelized), and even if not, the flavor is adversely affected, and
enzymes etc in the honey are denatured to the point that it is unacceptable to
those who believe in special health values of honey, or markets in Europe.
 
Those are pretty much the options, and, as you see, the dialemma remains.  I
think number 1 is the best alternative, if you cannot justify the investment
in an extractor, and maybe even if you can, since the cheapest extractors are
much less efficient, and the mess made extracting is fairly daunting.  For
those who take up beekeeping to watch bees not to sell honey, nearly any
arrangement that gets them back their combs empty and in good condition may be
advantageous (that is more or less my position as a bee researcher, where our
fairly abundant honey crops get in my way more than anything).

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