Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Ben Framed on June 19, 2021, 02:19:42 am
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For you hobbyist, what is your favorite way to uncap honey frames for extraction purposes? One of the above mentioned in the title or another method? Have you experimented with more than one method? Thanks
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I use a bread knife and a scratcher, mainly because its what I have. Thought about a roller, but wonder just how much of a cell they open up, could cause blow outs and have not got past the price of a plane yet. I can only get so much for my honey.
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We have tried most of the uncapping tools. The main one we use is the serrated uncapping knife from Mann Lake. We also the standard scraper and a Pollibee uncapping fork that you pull to remove the capping.
Heated knives get too hot and burn the honey. The roller does not work very well, it does not open the cells up fully.
Jim Altmiller
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I use a filet knife 8" long. I like the flexibility of the blade. I tried a serrated knife but it seemed to tear more than cut.
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Breed Knife works for me, will try a hot knife this year.
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Serrated bread knife for me. I picked real long and flexible one up at a flea market and love it. Any caps that get missed get a quick scraping with a regular fork or serving spoon.
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The backwards uncapping fork in the 3 inch size and the standard tine scratcher are all that is needed. The backwards fork is really quite amazing at how fast and clean cutting it is.
.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210619/6ebfacccb295ae8da379ac8ac2a5ae40.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210619/0d1cd699a68c80f4155c7a17fedd7daa.jpg)
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The backwards uncapping fork in the 3 inch size and the standard tine scratcher are all that is needed. The backwards fork is really quite amazing at how fast and clean cutting it is.
.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210619/6ebfacccb295ae8da379ac8ac2a5ae40.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210619/0d1cd699a68c80f4155c7a17fedd7daa.jpg)
This is exactly the thing I got last season and it worked really well. Recommend.
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We use a hot knife with a foot pedal power switch. It keeps the knife from getting too hot. Something like this:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07VSF64RM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_F0VCVDK14NERYDFQRZ1C?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 (https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07VSF64RM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_F0VCVDK14NERYDFQRZ1C?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1)
Then a tine scratcher to get whatever the knife doesnt.
I normally only use the knife on the comb that is pulled out even with the top bar of a frame.
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I made my own switch that I also hooked a light to so I know the hot knife is on or off.
https://youtu.be/WG9_Zz0Xtho
For a small number of frames you can use an ordinary hive tool. You can use it for low spots too. I learned that you could do this quite effectively when I helped a commercial beekeeper extract. One guy stood over a 55gal drum covered with expanded metal and went to town. He was precise and fast. Frames went into a 60 frame extractor. Loaded one while the other was spinning.
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Got a hot knife, a cold knife and a roller. Don?t use any of them. I use an old long bread knife (emphasis on old). Also have to use a scratcher now and again on low caps.
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The backward uncapping fork seems to be easiest for me.
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The Maxant planer is my favorite bee tool.
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Serrated bread knife for me. I picked real long and flexible one up at a flea market and love it. Any caps that get missed get a quick scraping with a regular fork or serving spoon.
Same here. Bread slicer and a fork.
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Thanks for all the input and suggestions folks. Appreciated!
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We use a hot knife with a foot pedal power switch. It keeps the knife from getting too hot. Something like this:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07VSF64RM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_F0VCVDK14NERYDFQRZ1C?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 (https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07VSF64RM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_F0VCVDK14NERYDFQRZ1C?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1)
Then a tine scratcher to get whatever the knife doesnt.
I normally only use the knife on the comb that is pulled out even with the top bar of a frame.
I?ve been meaning to go to the beauty section at Walmart to get a ?tine scratcher? my self.
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Have been using a steam uncapping knife for the last 40 years. I tried an electric knife about 5 years ago but went back to the steam knife.
Kev
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(https://i.imgur.com/mOR9CQH.mp4)
Found a video of the plane. You can run it faster than what I?m doing here.
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My current favorite is an uncapping plane. Much easier on my wrist than the knife. For fully drawn plastic (Honey Super Cell and PermaComb) I often have to use a punch. I just got all the fixings for a steam knife. I might like that better. One thing that improved any of the heated plane and knife configurations was a foot switch so I can turn it off between frames so it doesn't scorch. My hands are too messy to be plugging and unplugging it all the time...
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We use a hot knife with a foot pedal power switch. It keeps the knife from getting too hot. Something like this:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07VSF64RM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_F0VCVDK14NERYDFQRZ1C?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 (https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07VSF64RM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_F0VCVDK14NERYDFQRZ1C?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1)
Then a tine scratcher to get whatever the knife doesnt.
I normally only use the knife on the comb that is pulled out even with the top bar of a frame.
I?ve been meaning to go to the beauty section at Walmart to get a ?tine scratcher? my self.
You may get something similar at the beauty section at walmart. The one I ordered, as pictured by HoneyPump, came in just today. The tips are very sharp. Not as sharp as a leather sewing awl by close, very close. The rig from walmart 'might' do the job but I would think the sharper points would definitely be an asset.
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The backwards uncapping fork in the 3 inch size and the standard tine scratcher are all that is needed. The backwards fork is really quite amazing at how fast and clean cutting it is.
.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210619/6ebfacccb295ae8da379ac8ac2a5ae40.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210619/0d1cd699a68c80f4155c7a17fedd7daa.jpg)
Really? I got a backwards thing last year, tried it on one frame, and abandoned it. What a mess! I must have been doing it wrong.
Cold serrated bread knife for me.
Sent from my SM-J737P using Tapatalk
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Matt,
You have to clean the wax off of it after every swipe to keep it working properly.
Jim Altmiller
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Matt,
You have to clean the wax off of it after every swipe to keep it working properly.
Jim Altmiller
Jim would a stainless steel brush be the quickest, easiest method for this? Maybe using one swipe on each side of the backward uncapping fork to do so?
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Judy does all of our uncapping. She just uses her finger pushing the wax towards the tip of the tines.
Jim Altmiller