In order to get honey from your
beehive you have to be able to extract the honey from
the honey comb. In order to do this you have to have to
have a honey extractor. There are manufactured honey
extractors available on the market, they typically cost
approximately $200 to $300, the average cost of starting
a new hive of honey bees. If there is a group of
beekeepers in an area they will sometimes pool their
money together to purchase a honey extractor that they
share. If you are not in a large beekeeping environment
and do not want to spend a few hundred dollars on a
manufactured honey extractor you might want to make your
own.
The materials you will need to build a honey extractor
include; a metal rod that is at least one meter long and
is thickly threaded, two bicycle wheel rims, two pieces
of wood, one meter of 2-3mm fencing wire, a large metal
drum, ten bolts for the metal rod, four 400mm sections
of 8mm threaded rod, a self centering bearing, six coach
screws, and one pillow block bearing. When choosing a
large metal drum for your homemade honey extractor make
sure that is was never used to store potentially toxic
materials. The tools you will need for constructing your
honey extractor include; an electric drill, a welding
machine (and preferably some welding experience), a
socket set, and a hack saw.
The first thing your going to do is remove the end of
the drum that does not have two pouring holes, the newly
opened end will be the top of your honey extractor. Use
the coach screws to attach one of the pieces of wood
across the bottom of the drum. Once the wood is in place
use coach screws to secure the pillow block. After
inserting the threaded rod through the center of the
first bicycle rim, securely bolt the rim to the rod
approximately ten centimeters from the end of the rod.
At the opposite end of the rod you will want to thread a
but for the other wheel, the second wheel will rest on
this nut. When both of the wheel rims are in place you
will want to drill holes in four spots around each
wheel, when this task is complete you use the 8mm rods
to lock the wheel rims together. Use two nuts onto the
rod. Make sure that two cm of rod protrude.
When this is complete you are going to cut a slit that
is10mm deep and 3mm wide into the end of the rod. After
this thread the lock the nuts together at the end of the
rod. After you think the nuts are in place use the
welding machine to permanently lock them into place.
Fasten the wire to the the spokes of the bottom wheel
rim, approximately 5-8cm from the rim. You have now
successfully made the basket of your honey extractor.
Take your newly crafted extractor basket and place it
into the drum, settling it on the pillow bearing. Now
you're going to want to bolt a second piece of wood to
the sides of the drum and the self centering bearing.
After drilling a screwdriver bit into the chuck, place
the chuck into the slit into the slot in the top of the
threaded rod.
Detailed instructions and photos about making a homemade
honey extractor can be found at
www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2005/september/honeyextractor.htm