Preventing Off Balance Honey Extractor

WHY CAN’T I USE THE HIGH SETTING ON MY HONEY EXTRACTOR?

As a child, I always assumed we skimped on the amount spent on the extractor we had. No matter what I did, I could only use the low speed or else the entire thing would shake and rock uncontrollably. Dad stepped in and shared a little secret he had been doing to turn that sucker on high (on the second side of the comb) and I thought it would be a great secret to share with all of you. Sometimes it isn’t the money spent, but the time spent learning from those who have lived through times where making due taught them the resilient nature of using intellect.

THE SECRET TO BALANCE

Typically, as we stand there and take frame after frame from the boxes, we set them in the extractor without a second thought - but there is a technique that helps balance everything out and enables you to set the extractor on a higher speed without any issues.

After you have uncapped the combs and set them aside, pick each one up and feel the weight of them. Whether you choose the lighter of the four, or the heavier, put the combs equal in weight directly across from one another. The left over two can go directly next to those. What this does is balance the weight as evenly as possible so that the extractor can spin without interference or having to compensate for uneven placement. Another thing you’ll want to pay attention to is that the ear of the frame is facing in toward the metal T-bar of the extractor. Above in photo 1, you’ll see a bar that comes out towards the right side of the photo. The ear slips into a pocket at the bottom that prevents them from falling over and causing off balance spinning. As you place frames and then manually rotate the extractor barrel to place a new frame in, you’ll notice the ears alternate from left to right.

Since you cannot spin on high regardless of when you first set new frames in, spin the first side twice. In other words, once side two is done spinning on high speed, go back to the first side and spin on high as well. This will ensure you have completely emptied your comb.