> At the risk of beating this subject to death, I'll stand by my statement
Hey, I'll help you beat, but in the other direction. I can see and
understand your side of the argument, and I think it is very much a
personal thing. Also, I would guess that prices vary wildy across
the world. I am willing to take this to private mail if you like: if
you don't want to, address your reply to the list...at the moment,
follow ups are set to me.
> that it is not worth owning an extractor until you get quite a few hives,
> honey. If you do it outdoors, you're apt to have robbing bees; if you do it
We use a netting style tent. It keeps the bees out, but lets us stay
cooler than being shut up in a honey house would. In fact, we did
get our stuff extracted by a "larger" beekeeper: he had 300 hives,
back when my father had 30. He ALWAYS extracted with the honey house
open because it was ext4remely uncomfortable inside. Also, he is the
largest beekeeper who is ecconomicaly close enough to extract for
us....but I would rather not use his equipment, as his beekeeping
practices have been implicated in wildfire spreading of AFB. O.K.,
so it isn't much fun sitting there cranking for hours, but the way
prices are down here, it is cheaper. We hired an extractor last year
for Aus$25 (plus a $50 deposit). We only extracted on yard (of eight
hives....and we only extracted half because my brother panics every
time he gets stung...) and we got about 80 lb (I think....I can't
convert kg to lb easily...). O.K., so this would have only cost us
$8:00 if we were to get it done at 10cents a pound, but then there is
also the traveling cost of about $20 (or more if we want to avoid the
guy mentioned above).
Now.....if we had our own extractor, we could have extracted both
yards (making a grand total of.....15!!!! yay!!!) because we wouldn't
have had the time constraint of a hired extractor. Over the past
four years, we have hired the extractor every year, adding up to
almost $100 (it wasn't always $25 a time...) We can get a new
extractor for about $230, and a 2nd hand one probably much cheaper,
so it would pay for itself in about eight years.
> Today, I've got a 50 frame radial, with a nice chain uncapper, tanks,
> pumps, filters, etc, and I can crank out a barrel of honey in just a little
> while. Several other beekeepers use the system as well.
That is the system I intend to have in maybe 10 yrs, at which time, I
will be able to get some money back on any extractor I buy over the
next two or so years....money I wouldn't get back if I had hired an
extractor.
> I bought the whole system pretty cheap from a bankrupt beekeeper (plenty
> of them around), and still wonder if it is cost effective. If there were a
I would have done that, but when the oportunity presented itself six
years ago, I didn't have the money.
> good commercial setup within a couple hours, I think I'd still be money ahead
> to load my supers on the truck, and let someone else do it for 10 cents a
> pound. The bigger outfits can run a pickup load of supers in a couple hours,
> and there isn't a lot of mess.
> Now I have to look hard at the costs, because I don't have an outside job
> to support my beekeeping. I suspect those who countered my position do.
My income for the first half of 1994 was about $3000. My income so
far this half of the year has been about $1000, and that includes
getting desperate enough to cash in an insurance policy for $600.
My outgoings have been about twice that.
AND...I have spent over $1000 on getting my bees ready to double in
size, NOT including the queens I want to buy.
> Whatever floats your boat....
> If a beginer still wants one, and doesn't want to spend close to a grand
> for the extractor and accessories, there are a lot of small extractors
Oh....accessories. We have a steam uncapping knife, valued at $45.
And a barrel at about $180. All brought new, and STILL not $1000.
I would have thought that with the aussie dollar being worth about
.76 cents US, our stuff would be more expensive....
I have checked our health regulations, and I believe it is illegal to
use pantyhose as a strainer (although my father always did) and in
most cases it is illegal to re-use a barrel not originaly intended
for honey.
Our state Apiarist association publishes something similar, and I
would guess the count is about the same. The prices are good in some
cases, but it is usualy hard to tell, as it is often total outfits,
including honey house and hives, sometimes even trucks, and it is
difficult to work out prices for the individual components.
Adrian.
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