Has anyone tried the Simple Harmony Farms Uncapper

[Ben Framed]

I have seen this product on a couple videos and was wondering if anyone here has this? If so are you happy with it?

[Robo]

Never used one but have never been a fan of "perforating" solutions.  Honey is hard enough to get out of a completely uncapped cell let alone trying to get it to flow through a perforation.   Like sucking honey through a straw    Looks like for around the same price you can get the Lyson table top steam uncapper, which I have used and like.

[Ben Framed]

Thanks I will look up the Lyson  and check it out.

[amymcg]

I just bought a simple harmony farms uncapper. It?s the easiest thing I?ve ever used and I wish I?d had it all along. Amazingly simple.

It?s a pain in the ass to clean. Need hot water really.


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[Ben Framed]

I just bought a simple harmony farms uncapper. It?s the easiest thing I?ve ever used and I wish I?d had it all along. Amazingly simple.

It?s a pain in the ass to clean. Need hot water really.


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Thanks Amy . Sounds good so far!  As far as cleanings, do you have to clean it in the middle of uncapping, or does it seem to make it through your extracting project before cleaning is required? In other, roughly how many frames can you uncap before it starts giving you trouble? Does it clog?  Or does it not clog and not give you trouble during the process? Thanks for your answer.

[amymcg]

It doesn?t clog and it was very easy to use. Didn?t need to do anything to it at all the entire time we were uncapping.
My stepson did all the uncapping and he had never done any of the extracting process before.

Basically a new frame pushes any old cappings through to your uncapping tank so there?s no way for it to really clog. Also the way it?s put together it auto sizes to your new frame.

There?s a video on YouTube of a guy using one to fill a very large extractor and he never really slowed down. That?s what really sold me on it.

I really feel it?s the best purchase I?ve ever made. Literally uncap a full frame in seconds and there?s less honey in the cappings tank than with a knife.


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[oisin-h]

Yes - and for a number of reasons, I would not recommend it.

It does not work with Hoffman type frames - I'm in the UK and most people use hoffman type frames - I think about 70% in all. When I found this out, I asked SHF to mention this on their site as it's an expensive item and useless if you have Hoffman type frames but, to date, I don't see this references so I'm posting a warning here.

It works reasonably well if your frame sides are completely straight and are parallel AND if the cappings are well proud of the frame sides. However, it needs two passes at right angles to each other (i.e. to create a 'cross' cut) to enable honey to flow. For this reason, I would recommend that supers with wide spaced castellations be used. It is difficult to puncture cappings that are not proud of the frame sides. I resorted to scrapping with a knife blade to puncture low patches of cappings.

However, I also agree with Robo - a lot less honey is extracted through the perforated cappings than those uncapped with a bread knife. - I haven't done a controlled test but observationally, a lot more honey 'sticks' in the frames after extraction compared with frames uncapped with a bread knive. About 75% of my super frames are hoffmans so I had to raid the kitchen for a knive to uncap them so the visual comparison was easy. I also found that I had to spin frames for much longewr than bread-knife uncapped frames to get any reasonable extraction.   

Finally, and this will only be proven next year, but the uncapper fairly shreds the comb that extends beyond the frame sides. I suspect that when the bees try to repair this comb for re-use next season, it will result in very uneven cappings which will make the process next year less efficient.

Not recommended - a nice idea in theory and well designed and constructed but unfortunately, quite poor in execution. Also, v expensive!

Regards,

Oisin H 

[BeeMaster2]

Oison,
Welcome to Beemaster. 
Jim Altmiller

[Ben Framed]

Thank you oisin-h for your detailed answer-reply. Also welcome to Beemaster! What a great in-depth users opinionated first post. Personally appreciated!

Phillip