Keep your Hive Tool sharp!

Hi fellow steemers! Glad to have you with us.

One of the most used tools of the beekeeper is the hive tool. There are several styles . Most common is the one shown in this picture.

The red one is the 'official BeeMaid' hive tool the other is a Princess auto Paint scraper. The beemaid Hive tool is a little heavier and I think tempered better so it will take levering better. It will also hold and edge better. Yes you need sharp edges on your hive tool. Doing so will make your work easer.

Match the bevel on the tool with a file to sharpen.

The second one is a bit hard to see. You are essentially putting a long bevel on the inside of the tool the outside on both ends is flat. You want to keep the tool flat all the way across. You what the blade flat with a sharp corner is you need to have all the surfaces you clean flat and 90 deg to each other. This keeps the fit of the boxes tight so the don't fill the gap with propolis making getting the boxes apart hard.

Hives tools come in different lengths widths and weights. If you get a choice make sure it feels good in your hand as you should NEVER put your hive tool down. If you do you will lose it.

This picture shows I hold the tool.

The bottom two fingers hold the tool leaving my thumb index finger and middle finger free to grasp boxes, frames, catch queens or what ever. I can spin the hive tool around change it's position in my hand to accommodate what I am doing at any given moment.

This is what I know of as a Maxand. I have had it I really like it for honey as the hook on the end is great for levering out heavy honey frames. It works well for separation frames as well that is square par on the other end is for. I have had one but I find it heavy in the hand for a day of work and much less versatile for cleaning equipment.