Used equipment is often available at significant savings. A heated knife for slicing off the cappings from combs of honey. Wet cappings fall onto a screen, and honey drips through to the bottom of the tank and out a spigot. A drum containing a rotating wire basket. Uncapped combs are placed in the basket and the basket is turned by hand or by motor.
Honey is flung out of the combs onto the sides of the tank and drains through a spigot.
As honey settles in the tank, air bubbles and small debris rise to the top and can be skimmed off, allowing honey that is bottled from the honey gate to be clear and attractive. A mesh of coarse screen or cloth directly under the extractor spigot or on top of storage tank. This filters out large debris such as wax and dead bees. Sometimes extracted honey granulates. This is a natural process, and the honey is still perfectly edible.