How to Build an Electric Honey Extractor

Build an electric centrifuge to extract honey from combs.

If you have beehives or access to them, you need a device to extract honey. Inside the beehives, frames hold the waxy beehive combs where the honey is stored in small cylinders. It's almost impossible to get the honey out without tearing the comb and making a huge mess. However, if you build a small centrifuge, you can extract the honey and collect it inside a small barrel. This is how commercial beekeepers do it, and the only way to produce clean, comb-free honey.

Things You'll Need

• 20-gallon food grade plastic barrel
• Jig saw
• Cordless drill
• 1-inch drill bit
• 6-inch flange
• 30-inch steel shaft, 1/2-inch diameter
• 5-gallon food grade metal bucket
• Arc welder
• 1/4-inch bit
• 1/2-inch bolts, washers
• Adjustable wrench
• Bearing, 1/2-by-1-inch with housing
• 1-inch screws
• 3-inch pulley
• 1/4 horsepower electric motor
• L-shaped vertical mounting bracket
• 2-inch pulley
• 8-inch belt
• 1-inch screws with washers

Instructions

1. Turn the barrel upside down on the plywood. Trace around it with a pencil. Use a jig saw to cut out the circle. Drill a hole through the center of the plywood, using a cordless drill and 1-inch drill bit.

2. Weld a 6-inch flange to the bottom of the 30-inch steel shaft. Stand the shaft up centered vertically inside the 5-gallon can. Screw through the holes on the outside perimeter of the flange, using a cordless drill and 1/4-inch bit. Penetrate through the bottom of the bucket. Insert 1/2-inch bolts through the holes and tighten with an adjustable wrench. Drill holes randomly through the sides and bottom of the bucket with the 1/4-inch bit.

3. Insert a 1/2-by-1-inch bearing with housing into the hole in the plywood. Using the mounting screws on the housing, screw it to the top of the plywood with 1-inch screws. Drop the plywood base with bearing over the vertical shaft. Tap the bearing down on the shaft so that 2 inches of the shaft protrudes out through the top of the plywood. Mount a 3-inch pulley on top of the shaft.

4. Mount the electric motor upside down on an "L" shaped vertical mounting bracket so the end of the motor shaft is 2 inches from the bottom of the "L." Use 1/2-inch bolts with washers. Mount a 2-inch pulley to the bottom of the motor shaft. Stand the motor and bracket on top the plywood, 8 inches from the other pulley coming up from the bucket. Place an 8-inch belt on the two pulleys. Pull them tight by tugging on the motor and then screw through the bottom of the "L" bracket to secure the motor to the plywood. Use 1-inch screws to mount the bracket to the plywood.

5. Place the honeycomb frames inside the 5-gallon bucket. Grab the plywood assembly with both hands and lower the bucket assembly down into the barrel. Clamp the plywood and motor assembly to the top of the barrel around the perimeter of the barrel with four hand clamps.

6. Plug in the motor. As the bucket spins, the centrifugal force will pull the honey out of the combs, where it will drip out into the bottom of the barrel to be collected.

Tips & Warnings

• The larger pulley on the motor is for speed reduction, but you can change the spin ratio of the bucket by changing pulleys. Smaller pulleys mean more speed. Larger pulleys mean more power.

• If you experience excessive vibration, clamp a 48-inch bar clamp to the bottom of the barrel.

References

• Mother Earth News: How to Build a Honey Extractor