When you are a beekeeper, there are a few pieces of bee keeping equipment that are essential items to have in your arsenal. The box you keep your bees in is the most important aspect of your beekeeping, but there are many other tools that you need to simply make beekeeping possible.

One of the most important tools you will ever have is known as a smoker. This tool is absolutely essential, because when you do not have one, bees can tend to become incredibly aggressive and difficult to work with.

When you do have a smoker though, your bees will be very calm and easy to work with. The more passive you can have your bees be when you are working with them, the better off your overall beekeeping project will be.

Another essential tool that you need when you are working with bees is known as a feeder. At times, bees may face difficulties when attempting to find the supplies they need to thrive. If your bees are not thriving, you will certainly not see very high levels of production. When your bees are thriving though, you can be sure you will see a level of production that is satisfactory. A feeder tool will ensure your bees are always thriving.

Along with these other tools, another important tool you will need to buy when you are working with bees is a beekeeper suit. When you have one of these suits, you can keep yourself safe at all times. Working with bees is not exactly the safest task you can venture into, especially when you are working with a large amount without protective gear, but when you have a suit on during your escapades, you can be sure you are in a fairly safe situation at all times.

There are many different tools that a beekeeper must depend on in order to keep their colony safe and thriving. The most important bee keeping equipment that you can buy will always be relevant to the level of thriving your colony can achieve and the amount of safety you can maintain when you are working with your bees.

The most common form of honey harvesting is with a mechanical device called a honey extractor. This device uses centrifugal force to extract honey without destroying the comb. The preservation of the wax comb is important because bees will use it multiple times to rebuild the cells that comprise honeycombs.

An extractor can be manual or electric. It can hold from two frames to upwards of 100 or more frames at a time. It is used by the hobbyist and commercial beekeeper alike. In some developing countries where honey is a commercial crop, the beekeeper may place the comb into a press and use manual pressure to squeeze honey from the combs.

The two main types of extractors are tangential and radial. The types are defined by how the frames are placed into the basket or drum. Tangential are usually restricted to small beekeeping businesses. Commercial extractors are almost always radial.

Tangential extractors allow only one side of a comb to face outward. The frame must be spun twice, once for each side of the comb. In between the spins, the frame must be removed and turned over so that the spinning basket flings out honey from each side. In radial extractors, the top bar of the frame faces outward, so that honey is removed from both sides at once. This is less labor intensive and allows more frames to be extracted at a time.

In either style of honey extractor, centrifugal force forces the honey out of uncapped cells where it runs down the sides and settles on the bottom. The honey is drained from the extractor with a tap or honey pump. Beekeepers who sell the entire comb and the honey get more money for the product, but it also costs more to get the next crop of honey since the combs must be rebuilt before more honey can be stored.