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The table for printing frames helps the beekeeper to speed up and facilitate the process of pumping out honey. It is more convenient to print honeycombs on the machine before placing them in the honey extractor. The design of tables often differs in size. Each beekeeper tries to choose the equipment according to his needs.
Why does a beekeeper need a table for printing combs?
Honeycombs are made up of cells where bees carry and process nectar. Ripened honey is sealed with lids – zabrus. They consist of three components: honey, propolis and wax. The lids prevent honey from flowing out of the honeycomb cells. To pump out the product, the beekeeper has to cut the zabrus. Only after printing the frame is placed in the honey extractor.
Printing a frame is hard work. Wax honeycombs are viscous. It is difficult to cut the cast without special tools. When processing a small number of frames, beekeepers manage with bee knives, cultivators, and forks. For a large apiary, you need a honeycomb frame printing machine to help speed up the process.
In a homemade version, the device is a table. It is beneficial for a medium-sized apiary. It is made from metal or wood. The main element is a trough with a basket, a wooden cross member and a needle. Everything is attached to the frame. The bottom of the trough is made with a slope for honey to flow. A drain cock is fixed at the bottom point. The basket collects zabrus, cut from the honeycomb. The needle serves as a holder for the frame.
Industrial tables are equipped with a conveyor, electric drive and other devices. There are automatic machines. On industrial tables, printing is often done with hot wire. The glow of the string comes from electricity.
Types of apiary tables and fixtures
Many devices have been invented for printing honeycomb frames. They all differ in design, but the main difference is the principle of operation. It is according to the last parameter that apiary devices are divided into 3 types:
- The cutting devices remove the cast, capturing a small amount of honey with wax cells of the honeycomb. Cut caps after printing require further processing. To separate wax from honey from zabrus, the beekeeper needs to purchase additional equipment.
- The cutting devices do not remove the cast during printing. Caps are cut on honeycombs. Pure honey flows out through the longitudinal cuts. However, cutting machines are not in demand by beekeepers because of their imperfection. The advantage is the absence of wax in the resulting honey. The cut honeycombs of a bee restore faster. This group includes machines with brushes and chains. However, they have even more disadvantages. After passing through the lids, the brushes and chains not only cut the bark, but also clean the wax from the combs.
- Piercing devices consist of many needles. The bristles pierce the lids of the combs, squeezing the honey out of them.
Speaking specifically about each device, then the listing of honeycombs in amateur apiaries is performed with the following tools:
Pasechnye knives are ordinary, heated in hot water before cutting off the caps. The downside of the tool is considered to be low productivity, water getting into the cast with honey. Improved are electric and steam knives. The first tool heats up when connected to a 220 volt power supply, through a 12 volt step-down transformer. Also use a car battery. The steam knife is heated by the steam generator.
A popular tool for beekeepers is the comb-opening fork and the needle roller. The first device cleans the zabrus. The advantage is that there is no need to warm up the fork before work. The needle rollers pierce the lids without scraping the bar from the comb. The tool is made of plastic or metal.
A wax cutter, powered by electricity, resembles a mixture of a bee knife with a carpenter’s planer. During operation, the device cuts off the cast. Connect the resurrection to a 220 volt network.
Amateur beekeepers use a hair dryer and a gas burner to process a small number of frames. The process is based on heating the casting with a jet of hot air. The downside is the flow of melted wax from the top of the honeycombs to the lower cells.
To print honeycomb frames with any tool faster and more conveniently, tables and all kinds of stands are used. The frame with honey is fixed at the optimal height. The beekeeper prints the honeycombs without worrying about the zabrus. Cut caps will fall into a special table tray.
How to make a do-it-yourself honeycomb frame printing machine
It is not difficult to build a machine for printing frames. It is important to know what parts it consists of:
- The basis is a frame made of wood or metal. Sometimes it is immediately made in the form of a box with legs.
- The frame holder is a support.
- A metal pallet is installed on the bottom of the frame or the bottom of the box. Honey will flow into the container.
- A basket for collecting pieces of wax and lids is made of fine mesh.
- The metal tray of the apiary table is equipped with a drain tap.
By size, the beekeeper makes a table for printing frames with his own hands at his own discretion. There are no special requirements here.
Drawings, tools, materials
The drawing of the table is shown in the photo. There is nothing complicated in the design. The material of manufacture is wood and stainless steel. Aluminum will do. From the tool you will need a standard set:
- saw:
- drill;
- Bulgarian;
- a hammer;
- passages;
- screwdriver.
If you make a steel frame with legs for the machine, you will need a welding machine.
Assembly process
It is easiest to assemble an apiary table with your own hands from wood, but you can use a ready-made tank from old household appliances. The process consists of the following steps:
- A wooden table is knocked down from a bar and a board. The height of the legs is made such that the serving person does not stand constantly in a bent state. The width of the structure must match the size of the frame. There are no restrictions on length. The machine is made without a cover. Instead, one part is occupied by frame holders. A cross beam is attached to the second part of the table. A container for collecting honey is placed on it. The pallet must be made of stainless steel or aluminum.
- A comfortable table is obtained from a stainless round tank of a washing machine. The bottom of the tank has already been slanted. There is a drain pipe at the bottom point. It is cut off with a grinder. A drain valve is inserted into the hole. The table rests on metal legs. The frame is welded from a rod 10-12 mm thick.
- During the printing of the frames, honey will flow out of the combs. It must be separated from the wax. The filter is a metal mesh with a mesh size of 3 mm. For her, emphasis is placed on the table. The mesh is stretched over a frame of slats. The element is made removable. The frame holders are ordinary wooden slats, fixed across the table.
- The final assembly of the table designed for printing frames is the installation of a drain valve on the honey collection container. Shut-off valves use ball valves. It is fixed in the table tank with a threaded adapter with nuts.
Too long table beekeepers are not advised to do. Inventory will need to be stored somewhere. It is important to respect the width to fit the frame.
The video shows an example of an apiary table:
Is it possible to make the Kuzina cultivator yourself for printing honeycombs
Popular among beekeepers is a honeycomb uncapper, called the Cousin cultivator. The device is convenient to use when printing winter frames. The tool consists of a bed. On one side, teeth are fixed, forming a comb or fork. On the opposite side is a handle. In the diagram, number 3 indicates a limiter pressed by an elastic plate 4. The elements limit the depth of the fork inside the frame.
The bed of the cultivator for printing honeycombs is made of stainless steel 1 mm thick. A U-shaped blank is cut out 18 mm wide, 75 mm long. For a fork, take a steel plate, bend in half. Sewing needles No. 7 are inserted between the strips. The plates are clamped with a clamp, soldered from both ends so that they do not separate and firmly hold the needles.
The limiter roller is cut from a piece of aluminum tube with a diameter of 22 mm, a length of 58 mm. A rubber hose is pressed inside with a thin tube with a diameter of 4 mm, forming a channel for the axis. The pressure plate is cut out of stainless steel 1 mm thick and fixed with a bolt to the frame. A handle is cut out of a similar metal. In relation to the frame, it is fixed at an angle of 50 о. The rotation of the restrictive roller occurs on a pin, which allows you to adjust the depth of immersion of the fork in the honeycomb during printing.
How to operate a honeycomb frame printing machine
The process of printing frames with honey depends on the device used. The table is only a support for the frames.
How to print a honeycomb
To print honeycombs, the frame is placed in the table holder. With a fork, knife, cultivator or other device, the zabrus is removed. The lids fall off and remain on the filter screen of the table. Honey flows into the tray with a drain tap. At the end of the work, the removable elements of the table are disassembled, washed with hot water.
Conclusion
The table for printing frames is made stable, light and compact. Most of the inventory will be stored in a shed or attic. It is more convenient if the table is collapsible or partially folding.