How To Build A Honey Extractor

In order to get the honey from your beehive you have to be able to extract the honey from the honeycomb. In order to do this you need to have a honey extractor.

There are manufactured honey extractors available on the market, that typically cost approximately $200 to $300, about the average cost of starting a new beehive of honeybees. If there is a group of beekeeper's in your area then you can pool your money together to purchase a honey extractor to share. If you are not in a large beekeeping area and do not want to spend a few hundred dollars on a manufactured honey extractor you can make your own.

The materials you need to build a honey extractor includes: 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 rods, 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 because you definitely don't want to use that for your beekeeping endeavor. The tools you will need for constructing your honey extractor includes: an electric drill, a welding machine (and preferably you should have 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 the 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 cm from the end of the rod.

At the opposite end of the rod you will want to thread the second wheel.. 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 to bolt onto the rod. Make sure that two cm of rod protrude from each side.

When this is complete you will need to cut a slit that is 10mm deep and 3mm wide into the end of the rod. After this process then you'll need to thread the lock the nuts together at the end of the rod. After the nuts are in place use the welding machine to permanently lock them into place. Fasten the wire to the spokes of the bottom wheel rim, approximately 5-8cm from the rim. You have now successfully made the basket for 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. Awesome, you just created your own honey extractor machine at an affordable price minus your labor and price of any materials you bought.

If you don't feel like trying your hand at making a honey extractor then you can purchase a new or used honey extractor from Ebay. Remember, the honey extractor is an important part of getting the honey off the comb so if you're looking for a honey extractor for sale check out the deals below:

Honey Extractor's For Sale