MINIMA Automatic vertical steam Uncapping machine

01 · 47 OR 48 CM: CHOOSE WELL

The head is the decision you cannot undo

The machine is built in two versions and you choose when ordering: a 48 cm head for Langstroth and Dadant US frames, or a 47 cm head for Dadant Blatt. One centimetre apart, but it is the one that decides whether the frame passes between the blades.

Before ordering it pays to measure a real frame from your apiary rather than trust the format's name: on mixed-build or second-hand frames the top bar length does not always match what the catalogue says it should.

02 · THE BLADE RUNS ON STEAM

A hundred degrees and not one more

The blades are heated by their own steam generator, 1,850 to 2,200 W, which reaches them by hose and returns the condensate to its own tank. The generator is a separate box of 290 × 260 × 230 mm.

Steam has an advantage that does not depend on electronics: at atmospheric pressure it does not go past about 100 °C, so the blade cannot run away. An electric element with a drifting thermostat can, and at the cut that means scorched honey stuck to the edge.

03 · THE GUIDE IS MANUAL

What is automatic is the blade, not the loading

The frame goes in by hand through an entry guide; from there the machine cuts both faces. In other words, the operator sets the pace, not a drive chain.

That is the difference from chain uncappers, which swallow frames without stopping and cost several times this. For an apiary that uncaps in batches rather than on a continuous line, a manual guide is not a shortcoming: it is what keeps the machine inside the budget.

04 · THE CAPPINGS STILL HOLD HONEY

The tub drains; it does not squeeze

The 1.5 m tub collects the cappings and carries a filter and a 2” tap to draw off the honey that runs on its own. But drained cappings still hold honey trapped in the wax, and no uncapper solves that.

Recovering it takes the next step: a press, a cappings spinner or a melter-separator. Budget for it from the start, because that is where the honey missing at the end of the season has gone.

Mind the calibre too: that 2” tap is DN 50, and the house honey line runs in 1½” (DN 40).

05 · WHERE IT SITS IN THE RANGE

The way into automatic uncapping

Within the Lyson range it is the first automatic step: above it sit the Classic with bench and the Premium, which climb in price and in output. Below it, the manual steam uncappers.

Tub and blades are acid-resistant stainless steel, and the legs are powder coated. It weighs 112 kg and the tub is a metre and a half: have the space ready before the lorry arrives.

06 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Measure your frames' top bar and pick the version when ordering. And budget for a separate cappings recovery system.

See it working