Make your own steam apiary knife. Beekeeping knives: their use and methods of making them yourself. Design features of bee knives

The time of honey harvest is the most responsible and important period in beekeeping. Honeycombs are unsealed using special knives and mechanized, if required, machines. You can either buy a machine for printing honeycombs or make it yourself. Let's look at each method in more detail.

Knives

There are several types of knives for working with honeycombs:

Steam.
Electric.

Steam knives must be kept sharp. The blade of such knives comes in two types - with a thick blade, requiring heating, and with a thin blade, without heating. In any case, two knives are required in operation; while one cuts, the other is heated in hot water. A tool with a thick blade retains heat longer and therefore does not require frequent heating. The blade of the steam knife is sharpened at a certain angle, which greatly facilitates the work.

Knives with a thin blade are used without heating in hot water.

The blade of this tool is shorter than that of the steam one.

With such a knife it is easier and easier to perform many small jobs with honeycombs: cutting out queen cells, growths and other irregularities on the honeycombs.

Electric knives for unsealing honeycombs

Electric knives are more modified. Differ from steam themes, what is inside the cavity of such a knife a heating element. Such a tool requires a permanent power supply. Just like a steam knife, it must be periodically washed in warm water to remove any adhering honey.

Stainless steel honeycomb fork with bent needle and wooden handle

The fork is a scraper with sharpened steel needles. It has a handle and a stepped design. When working with such a tool, the honeycombs are damaged less, since the fork does not cut, but removes the caps from the honeycombs. The caps are collected on needles. The fork also needs to be heated.

Machine tools

There are both manual and mechanical machines.

It is advisable to buy a mechanical machine when there is a certain annual production volume, for large apiaries.

Honeycomb printing machine

The manual machine is easy to use and is very popular among beekeepers. It is made from food grade stainless steel. The machine is installed on a desktop to print honeycombs. The honeycomb frame is placed on a movable carriage, pressed with a handle, and then rolled under the cutting element. The knife cuts off the honeycomb caps, the frame is turned over and the other side of the honeycomb is cut off.

Making a desktop for honeycombs with your own hands

To make a table for printing honeycombs we will need the following equipment and materials:

Tank washing machine.
Stainless steel mesh.
Self-tapping screws.
Wooden slats.
Polyethylene film.

We attach two slats to the washing machine tank as a stand for honeycomb frames. We make a gutter under the table from slats; excess honey will flow down it. Cover the gutter with polyethylene. We place the tank to the left of the table, in right side we make a compartment where the honeycomb frames will be placed.

Assembling such a table for printing honeycombs is not at all difficult. The slats are attached with self-tapping screws. A frame with a stainless steel mesh can be installed on top of the tank. During operation, the net will prevent the beam from falling.

A little imagination and desire to make your work easier will allow you to save significant money. Expensive equipment does not guarantee high performance. Automated machines require certain knowledge and experience in operating such equipment.

A creative approach to any method of printing honeycombs, be it a knife or a machine, is already a guarantee of successful honey collection. You can add various improvements to the design of your homemade table according to your wishes. You can make notches on the knives and then the lids will not be cut off, but opened. Honey losses will be minimal with this method of unsealing honeycombs.

Don’t be afraid of innovative ideas, give room to your imagination and creativity and the result will definitely please you!

1. Types of knives
2. DIY table
3. Machine

Pumping out honey is considered one of the main jobs in beekeeping. Before placing frames filled with nectar into the honey extractor, you need to remove thin layer wax from sealed cells. A table will help with this, as well as a knife for printing out honeycombs.

Types of knives

Several types of this tool are used:

electric knife;
the so-called steam knife;
needle fork.

Electric ones are considered the most popular. Such devices differ from analogues in the presence of a heating element inside the working element, so it must be connected to an electrical source. energy. When printing cells, the electric knife must be cleaned of particles of adhering honey and wax, for which it is immersed in hot water for several minutes.

Printing honeycombs with an electric knife

The second type, a steam knife, should be sharp, which will allow you to quickly cut off the wax layer. The blade of such a tool can be thick (requires additional heating) or thin (cuts the wax layer without heating). Note that the second option has a slightly shorter working part than the first; in addition, this device can be used for trimming foundation with drone cells, removing queen cells and other work.

Always use two knives when working with honey frames. While one is used to print the honeycombs, the second needs to be heated in a container of hot water.

Needle fork appearance resembles a scraper. It consists of a plastic handle and a working body made of sharpened metal needles. During operation, the honeycomb caps are collected on needles. Note that when cleaning the fork, it must also be immersed in hot water.

DIY table

To install the equipment described, you need to prepare the following materials:

stainless steel tank from a washing machine;
several wooden blocks;
stainless steel mesh with a small mesh;
polyethylene film;
several self-tapping screws for fastening parts.

You need to attach two wooden slats to the container; they will be used as a stand for honey frames. Next, we make a groove for the honey to drain from wooden slats and films, we install it under the table. The tank must be installed on the left side of the table, and on the right there is a compartment for laying frames. The parts are fastened using self-tapping screws. After this, a stainless steel mesh is attached to the top of the tank.

Table for printing frames with your own hands

When working, the beekeeper prints frames using any of the above tools. The remains of the wax remain on the mesh, and the excess honey quietly flows into the tank. Such a device will take a maximum of an hour, but the benefits of using it compensate for the time spent.

The invention of the steam knife was a real breakthrough in the field of beekeeping. Previously, no knife for printing honeycombs with your own hands has been so effective and easy to use. Beekeepers have finally eliminated the need to constantly dip a rapidly cooling blade into hot water.

Design features of bee knives

The device consists of a cutter with a wooden handle, the blade of which is heated using a soldered “coil” (steam line) made of stainless steel. Steam for heating is supplied through a flexible rubber tube from a special tank - a steam generator. The second tube is designed to drain condensate formed during use.

A factory-made beekeeper's steam knife has the following parameters:

Blade with a hidden channel inside. The width usually does not exceed 250 mm, and the thickness - 2.5 mm.
The heating element is a boiler. A safety valve is required.
A conductor hose that supplies steam to the knife.
Tank with a capacity of up to 5 liters and a weight of up to 1 kg.

The total weight of this type of apiary knife is no more than 1.5 kg. The advantage of this tool is that it can long time support desired temperature, but the process requires constant boiling of water in the steam generator tank. It is also necessary to monitor the fluid level. The knife is designed for printing honeycombs at home or with small size apiaries.

How to use it correctly

Each unsealing process begins with a thorough check of the condition of the rubber pipes and steam pipe. It is important to make sure bandwidth every part because a blockage could cause steam pressure to build up and possibly cause the tank to rupture. Before you start cutting off the wax caps from the honeycombs, you need to wipe and dry all the elements of the knife. To make work easier, it is recommended to sharpen the blade.

The method of working with such a tool is very simple. First, water is poured into your tank through the pipe provided for this purpose. Next, they begin to heat it with any appliance, be it a gas or electric stove.

Water vapor generated during heating flows to the blade. It absorbs heat, which provokes the formation of condensate, which is discharged through the other end of the steam line. To collect liquid, place a container under the edge of the tube. By the presence of condensate being discharged, it is easy to determine whether there is still water left in the steam generator.

When the blade is hot enough, you can get to work. Steam, due to the stability of its own temperature, ensures uniform heating. Having completed the collection, the excess liquid is drained, the bee knives are washed with warm water and wiped dry. For long-term storage It is better to use clean and dry places.

Making at home

The simplicity of the design of the device encourages craftsmen to self-assembly. You will need a few materials to make a steam knife for printing honeycombs with your own hands:

blade plate, preferably either aluminum or stainless steel;
copper tube, outer diameter 6 mm;
rubber hose, inner diameter 6 mm;
metal container 4-7 liters, which can be used as a tank.

The correctness of making a knife with your own hands is confirmed by compliance with certain requirements. First, the cutting plate must be heated evenly. Secondly, the handle fits comfortably in your hand. Thirdly, the blade must sharpen quickly and be maneuverable.

Video: homemade heated bee knife.

Improved honeycomb knives

Larger-scale beekeeping operations have significantly larger production volumes, so they require more powerful equipment. Electric vibrating knives are used there. Its configuration includes, in addition to the standard set, an electric motor.

Like a simple steam knife, a vibrating knife requires the same preparatory manipulations and works on the same principle. The difference lies in the electric motor mounted on the wall, which transmits reciprocating movements to the knife. Naturally, the engine must be connected to a 220V network.

There is also an electric bee knife, the blade of which contains a heating element. The temperature can be adjusted from 50 to 120 degrees, and the blade heats up in just a minute, allowing you to work at a high pace. Its weight is no more than 300 grams. The time of continuous operation is unlimited, this makes the electric knife indispensable in large apiaries.

Heated cutters of all types have greatly facilitated the work of printing honeycombs. The disadvantages are obvious - the need for heating device, water level control and limited tube size (up to 2 meters).

But, compared to ordinary knives, steam knives provide an even cut along the entire length of the frame with honeycombs and prevent water from getting into the honey. A steam knife, unlike an electric or vibration knife, does not require power supply, so it is always used in remote apiaries.

The price of finished products is not at all high and will fully cover all purchase costs, but most beekeepers prefer to make a knife with their own hands, choosing stronger tubes, a larger tank and better metal for the blade.