botteling

[Chef Isaac]

I bought a 6 gallon bucket with a white spigit (sp???) and I just tried it and I do not like it at all. Not good for me....


I was wondering what other people use to bottle with. I would like something simple and not to expensive.

Glory bee sells a used botteling device (plastic rectangle with a lift spigit). Its nice but around $90

[Curry]

I like my 5 gallon bucket with a honey-gate (large opening shut-off). I just put a nylon paint strainer in, and can scrape comb into it and bottle out of it. Cheap and easy.

I can't imagine doing it any other way unless you have 20 colonies or more- it just wouldn't be worth the investment in an extractor.

[kenpkr]

Curry,

I have a 6 gal bucket with a gate (originally used for beer brewing). I like that set-up except the "gate" is really a spout with turn cock shutoff valve. Problem is, the spout opening is too small and honey tends to flow out too slow. (maybe this is the reason for Chef's dislike?) You mentioned that your's has a "large opening shut-off" Please explain, as I would like to find out if I can switch mine for a larger opening or actual gate.
Thanks,
Ken

[power napper]

I got an inch and half plastic honey gate installed into a five gallon bucket and it works just fine for me. Good flow control and filling containers is fairly easy.

[Chef Isaac]

ken:

to make the honey flow faster, place a heating pad under it. Keep it on med. for a whole night and then keep it on low until you run out of honey.

this is the one i am thinking of getting but it is expensive. http://www.glorybeefoods.com/gbf/Shop_ProductDetail.cfm?PC=3&PSC=92&P=11541&Product_Name=dispenser,%205.3%20gallon%20plastic%2 0honey&Token=67.183.247.95:{ts_2005-09-17_21:39:49}-97 8080 (http://www.glorybeefoods.com/gbf/Shop_ProductDetail.cfm?PC=3&PSC=92&P=11541&Product_Name=dispenser,%205.3%20gallon%20plastic%2 0honey&Token=67.183.247.95:{ts_2005-09-17_21:39:49}-978080)

here is the gate i have now. http://www.glorybeefoods.com/gbf/Shop_ProductDetail.cfm?PC=3&PSC=92&P=14114&Product_Name=gate,%20plastic%20bucket%201-1/2

I do not like it. messy!

[Michael Bush]

Honey is messy.

The better you get at the running the honey gate the less messy it will be. Practice adjusting the thumb screw to where there is enough clearance to slide it open and closed without tearing the gasket but tight enough to stop the flow while simply putting the next conatiner under it.

I use the five gallon buckets like you have and have not found anything better for a small producer. Then again it works so much better than anything else I had done before that, I wasn't really looking for anything better. smile.gif

[Sourwood]

Straight from the extractor through a metal double sieve and fine nylon strainer into a 5 gallon bucket with 1.5 inch honey gate. Then directly into a pound jar. Works like a charm for me. Like Mike said, honey is messy but the more you bottle it seems to get easier each time and quicker. Guess that just comes with experience.

Good luck!

[Mitch]

Right on sourwood this just how i do it to.There may be better things but not for the small guy.The botteling tanks are just way to expensive for us little guys.I use 2 buckets with a gate it works great you can be bottleing while the other is filtering or if you have help it goes faster.

[Lew Best]

Can you buy just that perfection gate they have on that tank? Might get the price down a bit; put it on your own tank or bucket.

Lew

[Chef Isaac]

the cost is up there for the gate. like around $40


I have mastered my bucket and gate!!!!

[Hillside]

Mann Lake has one that looks decent.
http://www.mannlakeltd.com/catalog/page81.htm

I have one of these from Dadant.
http://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=35_74&products_id=381&osCsid=8052556d44556b97eac296e88db5192e

They also make one that screws onto one of the 60 pound cube containers. I think these are all about ten dollars or less.

[Konrad]

>>Straight from the extractor through a metal
>>double sieve and fine nylon strainer into a 5
>>gallon bucket with 1.5 inch honey gate. Then directly into a pound jar. >>Works like a charm for me.

When I extracted with the 2 frame extractor, I had to wait and waste time to get the honey thrue the wire strainer.

How can you get it thrue the nylon strainer without heating up the honey?

Konrad

[Robert Hawkins]

I do it by extracting in a heated room. Turn on a space heater.

Hawk

[Sourwood]

I extracted this summer in a closed garage. It was pretty hot in there so the honey flowed very quickly and easily. I did it with a 9 frame radial and had no real problem with the honey backing up in the filtering system I used.

Now I didn't mention it earlier but I do let the honey sit in the bottling bucket about 3 days to a week before bottling it in the pound jars. Helps let the air/foam come to the surface instead of in your jars.

[Robert Hawkins]

Like SW, I forgot to mention lettin git sit for two days for the bubbles to settle up.

Hawk

[Konrad]

Thank you all!

Strange...
When I extracted it was around 32C = 89F
Have asked the bee coop, how hot the honey needs to be to get it thrue the nylon, they said 65C, that's about 150F, it sounded way too high I was
willing to heat it up and never bothered trying. I'm missing something...is your honey thin as water, or my nylon allot finer?
Kornad

[Hillside]

I use a 600 micron followed by a 400 micron filter from Dadant. The honey flows through at a reasonable rate even at 80 degrees F. If it's getting late in the season and getting too cool, I shine a heat lamp on the lower part of the extracter near the outlet. Seems to work OK.

[Robert Hawkins]

I use the standard metal strainer. I've heard that additional nylon removes too much of what we want.

http://www.dadant.com/catalog/images/M01312l.jpg

Hawk

[Joel]

What is the nylon removing that we want?

[Mitch]

Joel
The finer your strainer the less pollen youn have in your honey some people want more pollen.I have customers who swear a little honey every day helps there allergies.


I have been useing nylon paint straniner it is not as fine as the strainer cloth i got from Kelley bees.You can find them in any paint department.the only reason i use the nylon is it is much easey er to pull it out put another in and keep extractiing.With the metal strainer only you have to wash it out and i do not likr putting any moisture in the honey i do not have to.
I have a heat tape from kelley Bees i put around my extractor It gets now where near 150 deg.i for get i think it is around 115.Is the honey is just warm it flows much better.

[Joel]

We've been using sheer curtain material on about 10,000 to 15,000 lbs a year for several years. Has worked well for us although we definately have a "head" (wax and other particualtes) in our bottling tanks after a couple of runs. Mainly in the 300 lb tanks which requires them to be cleaned more often than if we did a more refined filtering. It is a pain emptying and cleaning tanks seems every other week. I don't know what the mesh is but it strains faster than the metal strainers so I assume it is less than that. Can you actually see the pollen in the finer nylon strainers or is it obscured by everything else? I'm assuming no wax gets through at all. I had thought some pollen would always get through but I guess if your talking microns maybe not. I quess I wouln't go finer unless I hear a real advantage, other than tank cleaning.

[dickm]

I have a question.

http://www.glorybeefoods.com/gbf/Shop_ProductDetail.cfm?PC=3&PSC=92&P=14114&Product_Name=gate,%20plastic%20bucket%201-1/2

The gate pictured here has a tab that hangs down in the lower right quadrant. It looks like it would help with drips. Can any one explain this to me?

Dickm

[BULLSEYE BILL]

It puts pressure against the set screw when you lift the gate. It helps keep you from lifting the gate too high so you have better control. You can also go past it and it will hold the gate open.

[Walt McBride]

Dickm, if you use one of the plastic honey gates pictured from Glorybee that you were asking, what the tab on the lower right quadrant was for, operate it and you will soon see why it was placed there. I wondered why my self before I installed it. After I started using it it became apparent. Initally when the gate is opened and the slot in the gate is now no longer under the thumb screw but the tang is and helps keep the gate from being pushed out untill the gate is opened full bore. This gate is made of plastic and will flex outward due to the tank head pressure unless part of it is under the thumb screw or wide open. I find that this gate will also drip honey that accumulates after several
cycles on to the out side of bottles such as quarts when in the filling process of that bottle. I think that the Cadillac of all gates
is a ball valve. Easy to controll and positively no drips. I use a 1" one with a PVC street elbow attached to a 15 gal. plastic tank. There was some cost involved but in the long run it was well worth it.
Walt