Uncapping Fork Wide

01 · THE 55 MM

For the comb that was not drawn level

A knife cuts along a plane: it rests on the frame bars and takes off whatever stands proud. The trouble is that no comb is drawn perfectly straight, and the areas that ended up below that plane come out of the extractor unopened, with the honey still in. A 55 mm tine reaches that hollow and pierces the capping where the blade cannot.

02 · THE SPACING

Three millimetres: it neither skips cells nor drags the comb

With the tines very close together the fork turns into a blade and takes off too much wax; too far apart, it leaves closed cells between passes. 3 mm is the compromise that opens continuously without pulling the comb along. Work by tilting the fork and lifting only the film of wax, with overlapping passes and light pressure: if you feel the comb dragging, you have gone in too deep.

03 · MAINTENANCE

Clean it without bending the tines

Wax builds up between the tines and that is where forks get ruined: pulling it out roughly spreads them and they lose their even spacing. Take it off with really hot water the moment you finish, while it still runs, and if you need to help it along work along the tine, never across. One bent tine leaves a line of unopened cells on every pass.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

A fork opens more wax than a knife and drags more particles: count on straining well as it leaves the extractor.