I use a pestle to crush the honey - quick work and my wrists don't get sore, mostly because there's not any wrist bending involved in using the pestle.
Are you able to do a lot of comb at one time like this?
I only had three hives with honey to harvest this past year. I took in one super a day - easily did the ten frames in the super quickly. I was filming the whole thing so it took a little more time with the camera and tripod, etc. But if you look at my video you can see how fast it is to crush the honey in each frame - ten frames done in no time.
http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2007/06/honey-harvest-crush-and-strain.htmlWith the three hives I did some cut comb honey (about one super's worth); I did some chunk honey (about two supers worth) and the rest I crushed and strained. For me this whole beekeeping project is a project of love, learning and fun. I'm not trying to produce to sell and I'm enjoying every minute of it (even the tragedies along the way) so I haven't focused on anything except the product and the process and what I can learn as I do it.
What I know for my goals and wishes out of the beekeeping is that crush and strain is fun, quick, produces absolutely delicious honey that doesn't have air added to it or heat applied to it in any way. The process feels like what I want out of beekeeping to me - it's earthy and I'm not part of an "industry" - just a hobby.
The extractor, when I used it at my
Folk School class, felt very industrial to me. We started by taking the thing apart and cleaning it. Then we cut the cappings with an electric knife which created a mess in its space and on the floor and was something else to clean up. Then we put frames in the extractor and ran it (it was a four frame extractor). The cappings had to go into a straining bucket as well as the liquid honey from the extractor to get the bees knees out of it. Then all of that had to be cleaned and the extractor had to be taken apart and cleaned again. The floor had to be mopped and there was mess everywhere. I felt like a part of a factory and didn't feel connected to the bees and the honey like I do when I crush and strain.
So it's a romantic thing for me as well, I guess, as I reread what I wrote.
Linda T in Atlanta