Choosing your harvesting and extracting equipment when you're a beginner with a couple of hives or a commercial beekeeper with hundreds of hives is much easier than figuring out what you need when you fall between these groups. Read on to see what we recommend getting for equipment, followed by scenarios of how you would use these tools at all levels of beekeeping.
(Looking for a more exact science? Use our guide on how to size your uncapping and extracting equipment, which includes an equation to help you determine your needs.)
The beginner beekeeper (one to five hives)
Many beginner beekeepers start with one, two, or three hives. When extracting time rolls around, it's easy to handle the number of honey frames produced with handheld uncappers and a hand-crank extractor. The quality of these tools and the honey extractor you choose is fully up to you. Below are some of our suggestions for getting started.
When you are ready to start harvesting with your first few hives, some beekeepers make enough for friends and family but have little floor space for extracting. They also want easy cleanup. If you are looking for start-up equipment with additional flexibility and the potential to grow, then the Extracting Kit is the way to go. As your number of hives and harvesting work grows, add a motor kit to crank no more. Add an Uncapping Tank and a few extra buckets with strainers to keep the honey flowing. The Lyson 4 frame extractor is the heart of the smaller operation and will support the growth of the other extracting steps. Consider a solar wax melter or double boiler for processing the wax cappings. Cleaning up with this system is easy and the equipment stores nicely in a closet or attic.
Here's what is included in the Extracting Kit:
How you would use these setups:
Perfect for a small space or kitchen for the extracting party. Set up the extractor near a table where you can uncap and reduce the drips while moving the frames to the extractor. Next to the uncapping area, stack your supers for easy access and less work getting them uncapped. Keep an eye on your buckets and strainers to keep them from overflowing. When full, place a lid on the buckets until you are ready to bottle your honey.
The committed beekeeper (up to 15 hives)
Are you getting to the point where your apiary is multiplying and your first extractor isn't keeping up? It may be time to move up to a radial 12 or 20 frame extractor. No frame flipping is required and one cycle pulls the honey from 12 or 20 medium and shallow frames. The equipment for uncapping and straining will also need to grow with your extractor to prevent a bottleneck in your process. Multiple double stainless strainers or a small single-wall tank are required at this level to settle your honey overnight.
The equipment recommended below works well with a 12 or 20 frame extractor. If you think you might grow your operation even larger in the future, there's no harm in getting a larger extractor now that you can “grow into” over time.
How you would use this setup:
The 12 frame extracting setup here is similar to the beginner setup above. Find a clean place near a sink or water supply that can be used for longer periods. The main difference is that this equipment is bigger and more challenging to move for cleaning or storage.
The sideliner beekeeper (up to 40 hives)
More honey, more problems? Things are getting serious now! The equipment to handle this many hives is getting larger and more automated. Consider setting up a permanent or semi-permanent extracting area that is easy to clean, where you can easily store and set up your equipment. It's time to ditch the buckets with strainers and increase the volume of your honey filtering and wax processing systems. A honey sump with perforated baffles helps remove large particles of wax. A pump is recommended to then lift the honey to a bottling tank with a strainer. A large settling tank or bottling tank can be used to clarify the honey before bottling.
How you would use this setup:
How you stage and handle your full honey supers is now more important. Bring the full supers near the uncapper for easier access to the frames. Leave room to take empty supers out of the room or your way after the extraction. Consider how many helpers you will have around to pour buckets into settlers. If you are extracting without help, then think about getting the sump with a pump. Wax cappings honey can drain to the sump or a bucket for easy recovery. After the honey is ready to bottle, an automatic bottler will greatly improve your efficiency over a honey gate.
The serious beekeeper (up to 100 hives)
You're now past the point of this beekeeping gig being a side honey hustle and it's time to step up your game to streamline your harvesting and extracting process. Automation and pumping are now needed to keep things moving. In our Betterbee honey house, we made 13,000(!) pounds of honey with an automatic uncapper, two 30 frame extractors, a honey sump, and honey pump. The honey was clarified in large tanks and then bottled using an automatic bottler. An automatic uncapper, sump, and pump are highly recommended. Bottling with an automatic bottler is necessary. Consider our bottlers with a turntable to get the bottling complete.
Check out all the products we recommend at this beekeeping experience level below.
How you would use this setup:
At this point, a dedicated, well-thought-out area for honey processing is needed, with access to hot and cold water for cleaning, and equipment for full and empty supers. A bottling area for that last step in the process is also a good idea. The uncapper and extractors should be positioned around the sump to allow for easy honey draining. The pump sends the honey/wax mixture to clarifying/bottling tanks for later bottling. This option with this equipment and two 30 frame extractors can support a large honey crop. The system does still require labor to move frames between the uncapper and the extractors.
The large commercial beekeeper (over 100 hives)
If you have over 100 hives, drop everything and get yourself a 40 Frame Lyson Mini Line. The Mini Line combines all the separate extracting steps into one serious piece of equipment. Full supers are brought into the uncapper feed (with optional deboxer), and the wax cappings are squeezed with the cappings extruder. Uncapped frames are held on a frame slide to load into the extractor when ready. The extractor can be programmed to timed speed steps to allow the beekeeper to do other tasks. Empty frames are pushed onto a rack for easy installation in the supers for removal. Learn what is included with a Lyson Mini Line below.
- Shop the Complete Mini Extracting Line
- Uncapping: Line Uncapper
- Extracting: Line 40 Frame Horizontal Extractor
- Storage & Bottling: Lyson Sump; add on a Premium 200L Bottling Tank (not included in the line) and an Automatic Bottling Table (not included in the line)
- Wax processing: Cappings Extruder or (Wax Processing Tank or Rotary Wax Melter not included in the line but recommended)
- Honey pump: Lyson Honey Pump
- Add-ons to consider: Honey Dehydrator (for use on extracted honey with too high moisture content)
How you would use this setup:
The Mini Line brings efficiency to the honey house. Fewer people are required to process large amounts of honey. The frames are not individually transported from the uncapper to the extractor, which saves on labor. The honey house layout is important for moving large volumes of frames/supers and clarifying the honey for bottling. An automatic bottler with turntable will efficiently process the large amounts of honey from the Mini Line.
Final thoughts
Whether you are just getting started or looking to grow your honey business, you have many options for what to choose to harvest your honey crop. This can get confusing as you grow, but we are always here to help. If you have additional questions regarding sizing your setup, email us at support@betterbee.com or give us a toll-free call at 800-632-3379, and we'll be happy to offer our advice. However, the different levels above are what we have tried with our own Betterbee honey production enterprise, and we have found great success within each tier. Happy beekeeping!
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