Floating stuff

[Hobie]

First-time extractor, here.

What is that stuff that ends up on the surface of the honey bucket after straining? Kind of whitish, I hate to say scum because that sounds bad. The last few jars I bottled are all cloudy, I assume because of that stuff.

Should I have skimmed it off before bottling? If so, what is a good method for skimming?

I'm not picky, so I'll keep those jars for myself, but I'd like to know for the future.

[Dan Williamson]

First-time extractor, here.

What is that stuff that ends up on the surface of the honey bucket after straining? Kind of whitish, I hate to say scum because that sounds bad. The last few jars I bottled are all cloudy, I assume because of that stuff.

Should I have skimmed it off before bottling? If so, what is a good method for skimming?

I'm not picky, so I'll keep those jars for myself, but I'd like to know for the future.

Depends on how well you strained it. If its very finely strained (filtered) then the "scum" is mostly microscopic air bubbles. Likely that is the main reason for the cloudiness as well.

If you strained (filtered) it only a little then it could be tiny pieces of wax, trapped air (air bubbles), pollen etc.

I usually allow the tank (bucket) to settle for several days even up to a week in warm environment. Many of the air bubbles, wax etc will float to the top.

When you have a honey gate in the bottom of tank or bucket you can bottle from the bottom and avoid most of the "scum". Sometimes no matter what you do its very difficult to get all of the cloudiness out without heating the honey up to a much higher temp.

[Jesus_the_only_way]

A good way to remove that "scum" is to lay a piece of cling wrap on top of it and press gently all the way around then lift it off. It will pick it all off the top with the cling wrap. works amazingly well. Just wait a couple days like Dan said then try this before bottling.
Tom