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22nd August, 2008 - Every Hobby Must Have Accessories Having gone through a trial run honey extraction last month with just 2 honey frames, we had discovered that with a few accessories, the process could be made easier.
With Ciaran wanting to become a carpenter/joiner and Dan's dad a bit of a dab-hand when it comes to wood and the main honey harvest scheduled for this weekend, it seemed like the perfect opportunity (or should that be excuse) to get the power tools out.
2 accessories were required - first off, the actually honey extractor moves around when the honey is being spun out and the honey collecting bucket is an inch too big to fit under the honey extractor.
The solution to this problem was to screw the feet of the honey extractor to a wooden 'T' which would allow the user (Dan) to stand on the 'T' while spinning the honey to keep the extractor stable.
A side benefit of this 'T' was to raise the honey outlet tap by 3 inches so that the bucket fit comfortably underneath.
The second accessory was a little more complicated.
Each honey frame is 'capped' with wax which needs to be cut off before the honey can be spun out.
As this wax is valuable and also has a significant amount of honey, it's important to be able to put the cuttings into a collecting box as well as work at a comfortable height.
To this end, Dave & Ciaran set about making a special (and soon to be patented!!!) frame that would make the process of 'uncapping' the honey frames much easier and less messier.
Using all the odd pieces of wood lying around and a few bought-for-the-job screws, the frame was soon built and it was down to Ciaran to sand all the corners (using a power tool, of course!) before declaring the project finished.
In a couple of days, these new, homemade, accessories will be put to the test - time will tell whether these items will warrant storage for next year or become kindling for the winter fires! View The Blog Read All Bee Stories |
