The normal methodology of beekeeping – utilizing heavy frames that maintain the honey, and enormous extractors that do the harvesting – is usually a grubby, bodily demanding, time-consuming process that takes up a considerable amount of house together with the hazards of being stung or harming the bees.
Simon Mildren, an Australian firefighter with a ardour for beekeeping, has streamlined the method with the Hivekeepers Micro Honey Harvester system, which sounds prefer it may very well be best for the leisure or small-scale beekeeper with one to 5 hives.
“I didn’t wish to change the best way we look after bees, I simply needed to make it simpler to take pleasure in what they offer us” says Mildren, who can also be founder and CEO of the Hivekeepers firm.
The results of a 2025 Kickstarter that was 437% funded in 5 minutes, the system is designed to scale back pointless steps with a compact user-friendly design that’s sustainable whereas defending the bees and the integrity of the hives. Hivekeepers was additionally a 2025 Australian Agritech Awards finalist for redefining agriculture by means of innovation and expertise.
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The Micro Honey Harvester was the results of six years of experimenting with prototypes together with suggestions from beekeepers worldwide who vented in regards to the frustrations of honey manufacturing being laborious, messy and worrying for each beekeepers and the bees.
Mildren got here up with a versatile system of food-safe BPA-free frames (48.3 x 23.1 x 3.2 cm / 19 x 9 x 1.25 in) which maintain eight reusable cassettes that match into customary Langstroth hives with out the necessity to improve gear whereas permitting for extra additions as required.
The 100 x 100-mm (3.9 x 3.9-in) cassettes are interchangeable, making the system adaptable for various honey yields because the beekeeper can harvest a small part of the body at a time. Every cassette holds about 250 ml of honey, with every body holding eight cassettes that may yield about 2L whole of honey.
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To reap the honey, the beekeeper removes a cassette from the body and pulls it aside into two items, then slides every half (with the waxy layer going through inwards) into the battery-powered transportable harvester. In regards to the dimension of a small espresso machine, that machine weighs about 3 kg (6.6 lb) and has an ergonomic deal with, thus permitting for straightforward transport from hive to kitchen.
The beekeeper then pushes the beginning button, inflicting the central spinner to start out rotating, and the honey is extracted in 20 seconds. Every full body takes about 10 minutes whole, and the removable base permits for straightforward pouring. Cleanup is as fast as a warm-water rinse.
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One cost of the harvester’s lithium-ion battery is reportedly good for greater than two full frames or roughly 20 cassettes. The harvester can even run repeatedly when plugged into mains energy, or it may be powered by a conveyable exterior battery pack.
A Micro Honey Harvester starter pack together with a harvester, two frames with cassettes and two additional cassettes is ready to start out delivery early this 12 months if all goes in accordance with plan. It is priced at roughly US$424.
Supply: HiveKeepers
