KUGA Honey Extractor Reversible 4/8-Frame Dadant/Langstroth

01 · IT DOES NOT TAKE LAYENS

And in Spain that is said before anything else

It is built for Dadant and Langstroth frames. The Layens frame does not fit: it would need adapters, or working only with standard half supers, which for a Layens outfit is not a solution.

The alternative is in our own range and the gap is smaller than it looks: the MÁLAGA universal 6-frame reversible is €2,061.98, barely €301.98 more, and it does take Layens as well as two more frames a load. If you work Layens, that is the comparison to make.

02 · HEATHER, AGAIN NO

Even if the old sheet used it as an example

Automatic reversing really pays on dense honeys: chestnut, eucalyptus, heavy rosemary. That is where emptying face by face, with the cells pointing at the drum wall, gets out what a radial leaves behind.

But Calluna heather honey is thixotropic: it gels inside the comb and no machine spins it out, however many programmes it has. It has to be stirred or pricked first. Worth knowing before buying with that flow in mind.

03 · THE LID CUTS THE START

And here it is standard

The lid is 4 mm plexiglass, so you can watch the cycle without opening, and opening it interrupts the drive. Worth pointing out, because it is not the norm in this range: on far more expensive honey-house machines, the stop-on-opening is a paid option.

One note no sheet usually makes: cutting the start is not braking. A loaded Ø 800 drum keeps spinning on its own inertia for a good while after the motor is cut. The lid stops it starting while open; it does not stop dead what is already turning.

04 · 150 W AT 230 V: IT PLUGS IN

Which in this category is no small thing

The motor is 150 W at single-phase 230 V with digital control: three automatic programmes — soft, medium and hard — and a manual mode to shape the curve. In a honey house where the big machines call for three-phase, this one plugs in anywhere.

The drum is 304 stainless steel with a conical bottom, which stops honey standing when you drain it, and the outlet is a 2-inch valve. The adjustable legs give a total height of 1,350 to 1,390 mm: just enough for the valve to clear the settling bucket without decanting by hand.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Dadant and Langstroth, single-phase, and no Layens.