Honey Extractor for Rural Beekeepers of Guatemala

I was part of a 4-person team of students from Art Center, Caltech, University of Michigan, and Rafael Landivar University working on a sustainable development project with a Guatemalan association of beekeepers called Apiflor. Many people in rural regions of Guatemala live in extreme poverty, earning less than $2 a day. We hope to design solutions to improve their quality of life.

Apiflor is located in San Juan La Laguna, a rural region of Guatemala. The association consists of 30 members and collectively owns 800 bee hives. They produce 48,700 pounds of honey a year, mostly for domestic distribution.

Currently, their centrifugal honey extractors are made of galvanized steel, which contaminates the honey because of corrosion. It has poor ergonomics and they also don’t have an effective filtration process. Since their extractor is a single integrated device, it is very difficult to clean and transport. In addition, it is very expensive and not affordable for the beekeepers.

We have designed the extractor to be made with food-safe aluminum, polyethylene and other cheap, easily obtained materials. All parts are easily disassembled for easy maintenance and cleaning. The hand crank is adjustable to accommodate users of different heights and wheels enable it to be moved easily. The cost of our redesigned extractor is less than 20% of standard extractors.