PVC and other materials

[guatebee]

In Guatemala most beekeepers can´t afford stainless steel (SS)or other food grade materials like pipes, hoses, gates, etc. For some reason these materials are so much more expensive than regular, water handling gadgets, that it makes "sanitary" honey handling quite unprofitable for the small scale guys.
Most operations are small scale so small equipment could be home-made to suit individual needs. Some creativity plus knowlwdge of material suitability are needed, and this is where I resort to you all in this forum who are willing to shares experiences or data.

Wood is a very common material for building uncapping tanks and strainer boxes. Is wax coating effective on these cases?

SS wire mesh is already expensive, but the SS frame to hold it gets the price way out of grip. What if I attach the SS screen to a PVC pipe frame?

Food grade plastic containers like big barrels can be cheaply converted into settling and bottling tanks, and even uncapping tanks, but drains and gates need to be attached.
I wonder if PVC piping and assesories are OK for honey handling, since it is OK for drinking water?
In fact, PVC adhesive goes on every water supply system. Does anyone know whether honey gets contaminated by flowing through a simple PVC gate or pipe?

Your comments highly valuable for our rural beekeeping development.

Thanks.

Alejandro Nicol
Beekeeping consultant
Guatemala

[Michael Bush]

The honey is a bit more acidic so SOME things that are safe for water are not for honey, but plastic is very non-reactive. I don't think there would be any problems. The honey gates I have on my plastic five gallon buckets are mostly PVC and one is ABS.

[guatebee]

Thank you so much. This kind of simple reply sure helps.