Extracting honey efficiently with simple equipment

[@izzeww8487]

That's probably the best workflow I've ever seen (outside of large multi-man operations). Crazy good looking, so much ingenuity with the wheels, heating, cleaning, wax melting, everything.

[@SourwoodFarm]

Thanks I'm really glad you appreciated it. Always more room for improvement though

[@TheMimiSard]

I find the idea of a hair-net beard cover amusing, but also inventive and useful.

[@JamesLeesBees]

Yeah - I just use the steel mesh for filtering my beard hair. :P

[@LittleZephyrFarm]

A great walk through your setup, you have developed a nice efficient setup that’s for sure.

[@SourwoodFarm]

Thanks. It's been a fun evolution

[@nszucs1]

Ryan this is an awesome video! I might steal that honey drying set up idea. I've been using the laundry room in my house but we've been growing and running out of room. I'm a fellow minivan beekeeper too. We traded hot honey at the bee expo!

[@SourwoodFarm]

Thanks...I had some of your honey today😊. I really liked the change to the greenhouse and drying dollies.

[@BrianCooper901]

Your process is well thought out and looks very streamlined! Thanks for sharing!

[@scotthenderson4376]

Very nice learned a bit also. Wish I could take the heat down here and could get rid of the honey. I didn't pull hardly any this year and hoping it won't bit me later.

[@burns375]

nice, well thought out. I use to stack boxes on hives but they would also leave some honey behind in little condensed pockets. it can also be a strain on the hive to clean that much comb and give beetles are a concern in my area. i stack the boxes criss cross to let nearby hives rob out, not much tearing and fighting. If the boxes are stacked for robbing so there is only an entrance on the top they tear a lot more comb and fight much more.

[@SourwoodFarm]

I used to have the same problem until I started putting an empty super under the inner cover. Neat observation on staggering vs stacking on robbing. My home bee yard is so over populated that they would totally destroy the young comb in the feeding frenzy.

[@calabogierusticfarmmarket387]

Love your setup. Great ideas for uncapping and wax clean up. Thanks

[@aanadyia4582]

Wow! Very detailed. A lot of thought and experience went into this. Thank you so much for sharing. I’m a much smaller, hobbiest beek but I have picked up some genius tips from you.

[@SourwoodFarm]

Thanks. I'm glad to hear that there were a few useful tidbits. My goal is to put more useful videos up when I can

[@patrickcrowley6465]

This is a great overview! I’ve been looking for this!

[@samwisegamgee8318]

Nice setup! Just started this year and hoping I get to the point where I can justify a machine extractor like that

[@russellkoopman3004]

Very nice. This is the second video showing the use of an inner cover with wet supers. Few people know about that trick.

[@Drewjober]

I didn’t know you had a channel! I met you and gave you a ride at the bee expo. My family really liked the taste of your honey. The weight difference of foundation I didn’t think about this winter I want to swap out most of my wax frames to plastic. Hope to see you in January

[@SourwoodFarm]

Hey Drew I remember you and thanks for the ride. KZbin is a newish thing I'm dabbling in as folks kept asking. Glad you enjoyed it

[@SouthSaxon1]

excellent set up, thanks mate , gave me some good ideas

[@alanwatts9232]

Nice setup, you're doing well. Blessings.

[@SourwoodFarm]

Thanks

[@oswaldconsultancyltd3150]

Nicely organised with good detail ideas. Thank you.

[@SourwoodFarm]

Thanks

[@Drewjober]

So many good ideas I’m going to try

[@rodneymiddleton9624]

Really nice setup! Thanks Ryan!

[@SourwoodFarm]

Thanks. Always evolving

[@TommyMonroe-w5l]

Great video! Got some good ideas from watching.

[@jamestownsendjrtbees3226]

Nice process. I use blue tape on everything too. I label all the supers in the yard as the season progresses. And a low power dust buster to suck up the window bees is a must. Doesn't hurt them and they can fly back home.

[@SourwoodFarm]

Sometimes I use the bees from the hand vac to boost weak nucs as the bees are not from my home yard

[@philipthomas1285]

Thats a good idea.can you give some information about the equipement you used to heat the room please

[@SourwoodFarm]

The dehumidifier does all the heating while keeping the air really dry

[@michelle_deboraw]

Amazing and helpful!

[@rickwarner516]

The silicone mat has holes in it please explain more about it and thank you for sharing this information and video

[@SourwoodFarm]

If your asking about the solar wax melter mat it actually is solid. The pan is tilted and there is a fine mesh filter cloth at one end where I cut an opening to let the hot wax out.

[@TracysBees8713]

Can’t wait to get honey next year.

[@SourwoodFarm]

Ha! I'm so glad to be finished

[@TracysBees8713]

@@SourwoodFarm I bet

[@craigeverson-vd1kt]

Great video! I learned a lot. What did you use as a bottom under your supers that you stacked on the furniture dolly? Do you also have something under it to catch honey drips? If so, what do you use?

[@SourwoodFarm]

I made homemade custom dollies screwing casters to 16 1/4" x 20" 1/2" thick zip sheathing. Then yes I have a silicone mat or a piece of election sign plastic and then a 3 1/2" rim that's cut to allow airflow

[@damainkerek810]

Great process!

[@domecc]

Cool！

[@karensmith78]

Informative video. What is the brand of the bread knife? What I have on hand is not flexible.

[@SourwoodFarm]

I picked up the "T.V. Knife" at a thrift shop and really like it but so does our family for cutting bread. Unfortunately the new version is thicker steel so I spent some time grinding it thinner and taking off the aggressive teeth. If you can find a used one on eBay that says made in Taiwan you are golden. The teeth might need to be delivered out a bit still

[@BeekeeperTV]

👌👌

[@GrowCookPreserveWithKellyDawn]

Do they not use propolis where you are? All of my frames are practically glued together and so hard to pry apart.

[@SourwoodFarm]

That can certainly happen in the brood nest but is not typically much of a problem with honey supers here as they are only on the colony a month or two

[@GrowCookPreserveWithKellyDawn]

@@SourwoodFarm I guess I must leave mine on too long.

[@SourwoodFarm]

@@GrowCookPreserveWithKellyDawn could be but the type of bees you keep and your environment also are big factors along with time. One nice advantage to the warming tent is that the propolis is quite soft at 95 degrees

[@nathancartwright1748]

Thanks for the video

[@chelseadawn2312]

Where do purchase your rim for the top of the honey storage buckets? Do you make them or can they be purchased? Thanks!

[@SourwoodFarm]

I make them from buckets that have met the end of their useful lifespan. Offset metal shears are amazing at cutting them

[@Tinycreekbeecompany]

Very nice set up! What are you using for your uncapping tank? It kind of looks like a stainless steel utility sink. I thought about using one of those since the drain is in the middle.

[@SourwoodFarm]

It's a 36" stainless home sink I bought used. It's not ideal as it's a bit to shallow and about 8-12" shorter than I would like. I like that the drain is out the bottom so the extractor can push right up to it and thus less drips on the floor

[@claybunner1059]

Hey Ryan Great video!! Where did you get your round bucket dolly’s from?

[@SourwoodFarm]

Walmart has them for around $15

[@aaronparis4714]

So when you pull your honey why don’t have to tester ? Why don’t you let the honey cure on the hives and then pull it when it’s ready ?

[@SourwoodFarm]

I pull by the super so I'm not inspecting each frame. The drying tent allows for that harvesting effencay without worry. Sometimes I need to get supers off spun and back on hives to keep up with a heavy flow or unique nectar harvest. Also at the tail end of a flow the bees often won't cap the last honey

[@BeekeeperTV]

😅

[@benjamindejonge3624]

Great

[@bligon11]

what do you mean by "proud"?

[@SourwoodFarm]

Ahh..good question. It's a construction term to mean sticking out further. So if you use 9 frames the bees will draw the comb "proud" as in our past the frame so it's fat and easier to uncap. New foundation is often drawn in a ten frame setup and the capped comb is recessed and thus harder to uncap.

[@bligon11]

@@SourwoodFarm Thanks! I "assumed" that it what was meant but just wanted to be sure.

[@nickosuperintendant9514]

How much you selling the honey for?

[@SourwoodFarm]

I mostly sell honey at the farm, local markets and small shops in our area but I also have it on my website for shipping. sourwoodfarm.square.site/honey

[@toprakanaciftligi8037]

Niceee3

[@BeekeeperTV]

Why dont u wear a big mask to protect the face from stinging bees 😂😅

[@I_leave_mean_comments]

Wow. Really nice setup. Subscribed.

[@SourwoodFarm]

Thanks. I missed a lot of details in retrospect but I suppose those will be for future ones