Extractor justification

[Mason]

Well I did it.  I talked myself into pulling the trigger on an extractor and harvesting supplies from Brushy Mountain.

This is my 3rd year of beekeeping and I have one very successful hive, another producer to a lessor extent and a new package hive.

By the time I got bottle, caps, an extractor, capping bucket etc etc plus shipping it was over $600.  I'm cheap.  I don't like spending money so I had to mentally come up with a justification to get the equipment.  Here's how I did it.

I could rent the extractor from the local bee club for $15 a day.  I estimate two days per use at $30 per harvest.  Add to that 25 miles one way to get the extractor.  100 miles total,  15mpg, $4 per gallon is an additional $44 per harvest.  So the hard cost of renting the extractor would be $74 per harvest.  Not counting disposable costs like bottles and caps.

If I harvest the honey off my giant hive now I can reuse the boxes this year.  Now I don't have to go purchase additional boxes which is also a 50 mile round trip.

Now for the clincher.  I estimate those mediums to be at least 40 lbs.  3X40 120lbs less waste and wax we'll call it 100lbs of honey.  $8 per pound equals $800....extractor justified. Right?

[VolunteerK9]

LMAO. Are you trying to justify the expense to yourself or your wife?

Thats sounds exactly like a financial diagram I lay out to the wife whenever I want something.

[slacker361]

yes it works for me.... enjoy the new equipment

[Riggs]

I just wrote all that down so I would have it to show my wife in a couple of years. I hope it works out well for you.

[Mason]

Yea,  I think the "stuff" is going to hit the fan when this order arrives. 

I'm just practicing on you guys.

Pretty good huh?

Any suggestions on how to handle the completely wrecked kitchen after my first harvest?  I have been told you will only extract and bottle honey in your wives kitchen once.  I'm going to make the most of it.

Should be a "sticky" situation...........HA!

[dean0]

To further justify the expense of purchasing an extractor to your wife, you now own a piece of equipment that you can rent out for $15.00/day.

[iddee]

I paid a hundred bucks for a used stainless extractor and 25 bucks for a used electric knife. One dollar each for food grade buckets with lids. 8 dollars a dozen for pints, 9 for quarts, with lids. Sure glad I didn't use your math.

[Mason]

I paid a hundred bucks for a used stainless extractor

Glad you got a good deal.  I saw a few on ebay for over $200 plus shipping, no warranty and they only held 2 frames.  The Brushy Mountain starter extractor will fit 4 mediums.  I have been looking for used but nothing has turned up and as always I'm on the bees schedule.

The extractor, capping tray, a bucket with honey gate, knife and scratcher for $415.  I could have done without the knife and scratcher and food grade buckets are easy to find.  The extractor separately was $295.  The capping tub (which really looks like a nice thing to have was $95 alone.  So I would have spent $390 for the capping bucket and extractor.  The package got me a bucket, honey gate, scratcher and knife for $25.  Shipping was also cheaper getting the starter kit. 

I ran the bill up another $200 getting some gloves, bottles, caps, fume board, Bee Go and a couple of capping bags.  $90 shipping was the only thing I think I really got hosed on.

This is what I am calling a "capping bucket".  It really looks like a nice piece of equipment.  Sure,  I could have done it another way  but a job is always easier if you have the right tools.

http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Multi-Use-Straining-System/productinfo/295/

I can always fall back on "I can sell it anytime I want" line

[slacker361]

yes the shipping out of brushy really sux... I am not sure nut it looks like as most companies, they make a profit even on the shipping.... I will have to find the no shipping deals or a supplier with better shipping deals..

[garys520]

Brushy Mt. late December.  I make a list and add to all year, then put my order in when the free shipping is announced.   The free shipping is a real blessing.  I did have to order  Mite Away Quick Strips and pay for the shipping, couldn't wait until Dec. 

[joebrown]

Just having frames of drawn comb after extracting is worth it to me! I love the fact that my bees do not have to pull comb during the honey flow. This is a waste of valuable time since the honey flow is typically only a month or so two times a year.

[hardwood]

Sounds to me like you have a career in politics if you wish!

Scott

[VolunteerK9]

I ran the bill up another $200 getting some gloves, bottles, caps, fume board, Bee Go and a couple of capping bags.  $90 shipping was the only thing I think I really got hosed on.

I can always fall back on "I can sell it anytime I want" line

You will be thankful you went ahead and got the Bee Go...all that type stuff seems to disappear around June.

I tell my wife ..'You have your nails done which is a dead expense and with this I can make a profit' (So far, Im still in the red though)

[AliciaH]

Any suggestions on how to handle the completely wrecked kitchen after my first harvest?  I have been told you will only extract and bottle honey in your wives kitchen once.  I'm going to make the most of it.

Should be a "sticky" situation...........HA!

My husband compained about the sticky kitchen...right up until I caught him in this position:


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That's peanut butter toast he's holding under that line of honey!

He hasn't said a word since!   

[Michael Bush]

It's like buying a new car.  You can't justify it with only a few hives.  But if you want to spend the money, go for it.

"All this seems obvious enough, and yet time after time I have seen novice beekeepers, as soon as they had built their apiaries up to a half dozen or so hives, begin to look around for an extractor. It is as if one were to establish a small garden by the kitchen door, and then at once begin looking for a tractor to till it with. Unless then, you have, or plan eventually to have, perhaps fifty or more colonies of bees, you should try to resist looking in bee catalogs at the extractors and other enchanting and tempting tools that are offered and instead look with renewed fondness at your little pocket knife, so symbolic of the simplicity that is the mark of every truly good life." --Richard Taylor, The Comb Honey Book

[ziffabeek]

Alicia - that is priceless!  HA!

love,
ziffa

[zzen01]

Keep ALL of your receipts and you can take it off of next year's taxes.

[VolunteerK9]

I just think you are so far ahead of the game with drawn comb to reuse  than if you crushed and strained every year.

[iddee]

Richard Taylor is right, but I do have an 8 X 16 foot garden, a small ford gas tractor, and a large ford diesel tractor.      

[Mason]

I do have an 8 X 16 foot garden, a small ford gas tractor, and a large ford diesel tractor

I'm so jealous.  I'll need to work harder to justify a tractor let alone two of them but someday...

This is looking better and better as the buyers remorse wares.  This weekend I can pull some honey and reuse my boxes and frames.

Brushy got the order out on the same day with Thursday delivery.  This weekend I plan to pull a couple of supers and re-use the boxes and frames.  Now I don't have to get more boxes AND get some honey.  Hopefully.

I think the gambling aspect of beekeeping is what keeps me interested.  Scared money never wins....it can't.