Any tips for cleaning honey extractor?

[sweet bee]

Just harvested honey with my very first extractor (yay!)  What is the best way to tackle the clean-up? I have it sitting in the middle of my kitchen floor and there doesn't seem to be a easy way out of this  :shock:  Any tips? 

~Angie

[squidink]

To clean the extractor you can boil some water and tip it around the side to dissolve the honey off or a high pressure hose works really well!

[JWChesnut]

I like cold water from a hose.  A lot of it.  The trouble with hot water is that it melts the wax and the wax coats everything.  Cold water and the wax just washes out as crumbles.   The bees will clean up any spills, but this tends to create a huge amount of chaos (as well as being considered an infection risk).

[sterling]

I put mine outside and the bees clean the honey out. Then put soap in and hose it clean.

[Carol]

Cant wait to try Sterling's method!!   Just need some honey.....

[Kathyp]

bathtub.  shower with hose is helpful.

[BAH]

yup let the bees clean it. I watched as bees cleaned up all the tools. Be sure to put a bit away from hives, if you have more than one, this can become a bit competitive I was told.

[sweet bee]

I ended up having my son move it to the deck and hosing it out, which turned out quicker than cleaning honey off of everything in the kitchen! Oh well, all in a day's fun!  :-D  Thank you for all the replies.

~Angie

[Finski]

.
After 50 years I made a solution. i have a new extracting room.
i put an extractor onto wheelbarrow and carry it out. Then I clean it with garden hoast.
And I let it dry up in the wind.

[tryintolearn]

we set our extractor out in bee yard and within 2 days ...sometimes one day if we place it early enuff its completely clean not even sticky anymore.

then rinse out with garden hose.

[Michael Bush]

I hose it off in the driveway with the garden hose.  Then I scrub it with a scrub brush.  Then I boil a bunch of pots of water and pour boiling water over it.  Then I dry it out with a clean towel.  Then I extract.

[mikecva]

Like most in our beekeeping club, I put mine out on its side, off the ground by ~12" and let the bees have at it. It is usually clean in two days - three at the most. Then wash with hot soapy water and rinse until the cows come home.  -Mike