> It's also why we went to 5 and even 7 horizontal wires > (with wrap and tie) for embedding our beeswax here in > Southern Arizona, to gain better cmb strength when > extracting to prevent blowouts, and also avoid beeswax > contamination. If the extractor is blowing out comb, then there is a problem with the extractor. The most popular design here in New Zealand extracts foundation without damage - even foundation drawn on "thin super" foundation (25 sheets full depth per kilo - made for comb honey production) and 3 wire frames. The fundamental element (related to comb damage) of this extractor is that the baskets are designed from the ground up to support the face of the comb, not the frame itself. This also allows running higher hot room temperatures for dealing with crystallized honey. The designer was a commercial beekeeper with a flair for engineering design, so has the knowledge of both worlds. They have a website...... http://www.beetech.co.nz/extractor.htm Cheers, Peter Bray_________________________________________________________ Airborne Honey Ltd., Pennington St, PO Box 28, Leeston, New Zealand Fax 64-3-324-3236, Phone 64-3-324-3569 http://www.airborne.co.nz [log in to unmask] -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---