Purchasing a shed to use as honey house.

[CWBees]

I want to purchase a shed with a wood floor to use as a honey house and storage shed. One of the sheds comes with Advantech Flooring which is supposed to be pretty waterproof. What I would like to do is waterproof the wood floor and have it slant towardsd the center of the shed where I will place a drain. Has anyone had experience with this?

[Jeffzhear]

I have processed honey out of a wood floored shed in past years. Mine had linoleum on the floor. The walls got spattered with water, etc. and it was tough cleaning it up...Personally, I would go with concrete, so much easier to clean-up and it's a bit more resistant then damp wood to bugs (like ants)chewing on it...

[CWBees]

Another alternative is to use the shed for part of the contents of my garage and use the garage to extract honey. It won't have a drain but it will save having to lay a concrete floor for the shed.

[randydrivesabus]

i think some states have honey house requirements.

[Bee Draggle]

I am currently using a purchased storage building with a wood floor to extract honey. It’s not ideal but economical if you are a hobbyist and don’t have that many hives. The floor is bare wood and this year it will paint it with a double coat of heavy duty floor enamel that water will bead on. With no drain you have to wet mop the floor. One technique an older beekeeper shared with me is to spread several layers of newspaper all over the floor. When you are done extracting just gather up all the sticky newspapers and burn them. Very little cleanup.

[Grant]

Missouri has relaxed its rules on "honey houses" in what they called a Jam-and-Jelly law. Basically, if you are not processing stuff that will spoil, there are no laws for sanitation, three sinks, etc.

Now to be sure, common sense and good hygiene are part of my extraction, but I just don't like the government telling me what has to be done. some of there laws and regulations don't fit honey, but if it's the law, then it's the law.

We went through this process when our church renovated the kitchen. Technically, we cannot hold "public dinners" because we don't have a fire-supression hood over the stove. But it's okay for church members to fix and eat dinner because they are not part of the "public."

I'm in the process of converting an older greenhouse to a honey house. The concrete floor will be sealed with paint. The walls are concrete halfway up. I'm resetting the glass side walls and putting a solid roof overhead.

I just got tired of setting everything up, working around my family's intrusion, cleaning up, etc., in an area that was far from bee tight.

If you have no local health department laws (and sometimes it doesn't pay to ask), then work your best common sense arrangement.

Grant
Jackson, MO

[Andrew Dewey]

In Maine the requirement for processing honey that you intend to sell is that your walls, ceiling & floor must be easily cleanable. You need a 2 bay sink and hot water. Other than that it is largely common sense sanitation. But you'd best have a permit before selling anything...

[Grant]

This thread got me thinking about a 24' by 24' building we built when I was in college. We built the building on the family farm in MN. After we dug the footings and formed up the concrete forms, we had to wait until an inspector came and stuck his tape measure down the hole to insure they were deep enough and below the frost line. We framed up the building but had to wait until the electrical inspector came, who then cursed the plumbing which had been approved by the plumbing inspector. And then there were all the permits to build, set back regulations, septic regulations and with every permit and inspection there were the fees. And I'm sure the original plans had to be approved by someone as well.

Missouri is a great state.

Grant
Jackson, MO

[bluegrass]

Advantec is indestructable, I know....it looks like OSB, but its not......you can soak the stuff in water and it will not come apart.

[Mabe]

If you want to carry the ease of cleaning and maintenance a bit further you can use white "milk paneling" on the walls so they can be hosed off as well. It's available at most lumber yards and goes on sale periodically. Easy to install. We use it in the dog kennels too. I'm a bleach junkie so got white.

Mabe:)