Since I have started bee keeping, I've been working on finding a way to extract the honey. While this is my first honey harvest, it's not the first time for me having bees. This is my third hive and I'm so grateful that I've been able to come through to this point of needing a honey extractor. To that end, since I'm not sure how many more hives I'm going to have, or how long I'll be doing bees, I wanted to make a budget friendly, effective honey extractor.

Supplies

For this project, I made a honey extractor unit and a honey bucket. With that in mind, you will need the following:

2 - 32 Quart Clear Totes with lids
1 - 5 Gallon Bucket
1 - Gama Lid
1 - Drill
1 - Steel Hole Saw Attachment
1 - Drill Bit Set
1 - Sheet of 50 Grit Sandpaper (cut in quarters)
2 - Honey Doors
1 - Tube of Flex Seal

Step 1: Drilling Holes for the Extractor

Using one of the 32 Quart totes, take off the lid so you can access the bottom of the tote from the inside. I then chose the largest drill bit I have in my MiwaIkee Drill and Drive Set. I placed my tote on it's side on the countertop I was working on for better "grip" and some extra room in the box. Then, I just started drilling holes equally spaced in the bottom. Generally speaking, for the sake of weight on the bottom of the tote when the honey and comb are in, I kept the holes about an inch and a half to two inches apart.

Step 2: Sanding the Excess

This simple step helps take off the execess plastic from drilling the holes. While simple - this step is needed to make sure the plastic pieces don't get into the honey when processing.

Step 3: Honey Door Holes

As the Extractor and the Honey Bucket both have the honey door - I'll just show the holes for the bucket. First, since the bucket is thicker plastic then the totes, I drilled a hole with the drill bit first in to the bucket.

Next, I changed out the drill bit with the Steel Hole Saw attachement.

(** At this point you should use the second / bottom tote that doesn't have the holes from the first step.)

Once that's set up, drill the hole for the honey door about two inches from the bottom of the tote, and the same on the bucket.

Each of those holes will have some excess "hangers" as the tote did with the straining holes. So, the final step should be to gently sand off the plastic bits on both the tote and the bucket.

Step 4: Placement of the Honey Doors

Now that the holes have been drilled in both the bottom tote and the bucket, it's time to place the Honey Doors in those holes. First things first, twist the back "bolt" off the door attachment so you can see the threads and the white seal. Then, place the "bolt" on the inside and insert the door portion into the hole from the outside of the tote or bucket. In both cases, the hole will be slightly bigger then then Honey Door. Once the door has been inserted into the hole, place the "bolt" on the inserted portion from the inside and hand tighten together.

Step 5: Glueing in the Doors

For this last step, so the Honey doors don't move around, or leak the precious honey to come, I sealed the doors into the tote and the bucket. I used a product called Flex Seal, a rubber product that comes in different forms. This one allows you to point the liquid rubber into small spaces like caulking. I only used the Flex Seal on the outside, spreading into the space surrounding the door in the hole. Once the Flex Seal is applied and spread into place, it needs to cure for 24 - 48 hours before being used.

Step 6: Cleaning Up and Using the Honey Extractor

When everything is all cut, sanded, glued, and washed out, it's time to put it all together. Stack the two totes one on top of the other, with the honey door tote at the bottom. You can see in these last photos the extractor and bucket in use with my honey processing. I hope you have enjoyed this Instructable and can use it for your own honey processing!