Extracting Honey - 2014

bottom of the extractor.
On Wednesday, I extracted honey from my two bee hives located on the  Heinemeyer Estate off hwy 20.  After taking the honey from the hives (minus any bees), I brought it home where I had set up the extracting equipment in the garage. The two hives yielded 3 and half gallons of honey. For those that have never seen the extracting process, I have included a few photos.

 Honey comb is made up of thousands of hexagon cells. The honeybees store honey in these cells and when the honey is ripe, they cap the end of the cell with wax(these white cappings are being shaved off with a hot electric knife).

Note the golden color of the honey that is exposed when the cappings are removed.

 

Uncapped honeycombs are placed in a centrifuge called an extractor

 

As the honeycombs are spun around, the honey comes flying out of the cells and settles in the bottom of the extractor.