Honey extractor

A honey extractor is a mechanical device used in the extraction of honey from honeycombs. A honey extractor extracts the honey from the honey comb without destroying the comb. Extractors work by centrifugal force. A drum or container holds a frame basket which spins, flinging the honey out. With this method the wax comb stays intact within the frame and can be reused by the bees.

Bees cover the filled in cells with wax cap that must be removed (cut by knife, etc.) before centrifugation.

Types of extractor

Extractors are either tangential or radial depending on how the frames are put into the basket.

Radial baskets have the top bar of the frame facing outwards while tangential baskets have one side of the comb facing outward. Large commercial extractors are radial and rely on the upward slope of the comb cells. This slope allows to extract honey by applying centrifugal force toward the upper edge of the comb (opposite to the direction of gravity while in the hive). The amount of work during extraction is reduced in the radial type because the frames do not have to be turned over to extract the honey from the other side of the comb (however some extractors are capable of turning combs automatically). Hobbyist extractors can be hand or electric motor powered. If the extractor is hand powered, it often has accelerating gear to spin with less effort.