A larger
picture is available by clicking on the images
My extracting
line contains an uncapper, chain feed rack and a 96 frame parallell
radial extractor. Extracted frames coming out of extractor.
Deboxer and
uncapper. Uncapper with vibrating heated knives that cut the cappings.
Frames are fed through the uncapper at a speed of 12 frames per
minute. More details of uncapper at work in ling story.
This is a spinner
I used before the Centrifuge. It is made from an old milk vat. The
honey and wax from the uncapper is pumped to the cappings spinner.
Wax is manually removed between each cycle, otherwise the wax would
build up to layer so thick that honey could not penetrate it.
Honey from Extractor
and wax - honey mix from Uncapper is mixed evenly before pumed to
Centrifuge.
A variable speed
Mono pump take the honey - wax to the Heat Exchanger and Centrifuge.
In 2000 I started
using a spin-float instead to handle the wax. Heat exchanger on the
wall.
Frames are loaded
into the extractor by an air ram pushing them in. At the same time
the extracted frames are pushed out on the other side.
New frames are
uncapped while the extractor runs a cycle. One person manage 150 boxes
on a working day. Two persons do 4 cycles per hour, that's more than
300 boxes.
Another model
of dairy farm milk vats commonly used for honey. They hold 2.600 kg
each, and have water circulating in the bottom to allow heating or
cooling the honey.
Honey is filled
on 70 kg containers after fine straining and crystallizing.
In the spring
of 2003 I made a conveyor to transport the empty boxes from deboxer
to the other end of the line. We had been moving them by hand until
now and getting tired of empty boxes all over the floor. This turned
out to be a real progress, and worked very well.