My name is Deran...im from Sumter county Florida. I have five hives...two carnolian and three feral. I'd hope to find there is a beekeeper close to me...im self taught and doing alright but have questions...i did just buy an A.I. root company 15B cowan rapid extractor...guy had it for years up in the attic in his barn...never even had bees...it looks pretty old although i havent looked it up...has some light rust but doesn't look like its ever been wet...looks like somebody tried to paint the gears and cage on the inside...i dont know what i should do to it...restore it or keep it and use it or sell it...wont tell ya what i paid but it wasnt much :thumbsup: anyways...hi yall and whos here in florida ????
Hi 2kooldad: Welcome to our fourm, friendly as all get out, with some pretty knowledgeable folks as well. If you have questions, you've found the right place. Crackerbee is in Florida but I don't know how close he is to you. There are some others as well. If the extractor is really old it is probably galvanized, the tip being that "somebody tried to paint the gears and cage on the inside." Since the move away from galvanized extractors, a lot of folks have used a product called Camcote, a food grade paint that is safe to use to coat the inside of the old extractors. If you got this extractor cheap, a small investment for a little Camcote and you may have gotten a real sweet deal! :thumbsup:
howdy Deran and welcome... there at least at one time was so many bee keepers (of the migratory kind) in Florida that I would guess there should be one fairly close. a long time ago I hailed from Florida... graduated from high school and college there (Go Gators)... just to refresh this old hard drive Sumter County is in northwest Florida????
Hello 2kooldad and welcome to the forum :wave: Sounds like you got a good start on a bee yard there! Perry thinks the extractor is galvanized and so do I. The cam coat can be bought from Walter Kelley. http://kelleybees.com/CMS/CMSPage.aspx? ... e=products Hope to see you around and don't be shy.
howdy back yall...cam coat huh...sounds good...it was a kind of silver paint so it could be galvinized...it was flaking off (just the gears were painted or galvinized) ok ok...got it for 30 bucks...everything is there except for the spout at the bottom of the tank and i spun it...looks like it works fine...they had one on ebay for 500 bucks...i could by a new extractor and more hives for 500 bucks...but id lose a piece of bee history...hmmmmm...Sumter county is in west central Florida...bout 65 miles north of tampa...lake county huh...we may have to arrange a meeting soon...id like to see+other+hives+besides+my+own...lol.+
Hi there :wave: Glad to have you here, there are some really great folks here. That extractor sounds interesting... hope it works out well for you.
Howdy and welcome neighbor(or close to it)glad you found us,you have a good keep right near you that can maybe give you advice to on what's going on near you,blooms,honeyflow,derth ect.Always good to have someone in your neck of the woods to let you know what's going on.
Welcome Deran! I am in Tampa. We teach beekeeping workshops every third Saturday at the University of South Florida Botanical Gardens if you are interested. You are always welcome.
