harvest question

[rriley]

I am only going to have 1 super this year to harvest and hate to rent equipment for that. Has anyone ever tried scrapping off the comb and honey and filtering it that way? If so what did you filter through?

[Ski]

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I am sure there are other places it is described but Tillie does a great job on her blog.
http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/

[Zane]

Robert, sounds like them girls did good up in Chilicothe!! You can use a pair of panyhose, I hear you should use clean ones but if your like me? mine are never used so I have plenty!!! now where did I put them?
I bought some mesh bags that fit in buckets from Mann Lake cheap and fit in buckets well.
When are you going to drop by? hopefully I'll get a chance to bee home some weekend soon!!!!

[iddee]

Go to the hardware store and get a one gallon or five gallon paint strainer bag. It is coarser mesh than hose and easier to handle.

And doesn't make us dirty minds want to post things we shouldn't. :eek: :D

[rriley]

So is it ok to just scrape it off the plastic foundation and strain it through the paint straining bag?

[Troy]

See Tilie's video mentioned above, and I'll offer a bit more advice too.

Get everything set up so you can do it all at once. Do it in the kitchen or right next to a sink.

Get a 5 gal paint strainer bag as previously mentioned. I always wash and thoroughly rinse the strainer and hang it under the ceiling fan to dry for about an hour or so.

Arrange for a way to hang the bag above the bucket to drain. Some use another bucket and lid. Cut most of the center out of the lid so another bucket will stand on top. Drill holes in the bottom of the top bucket. This way then the bottom bucket will contain nicely filtered honey and the top bucket will hold the strainer and wax etc. the holes allow the honey to drain through.

Wash hands very thoroughly as they will get all in the honey. Maybe start the water dribbling if it is hard to turn on and off.

Put the strainer in the bucket. Scrape off your honeycomb being careful not to damage the plastic foundation too badly. Leaving a little wax on there for the bees to draw again is OK too. Squeeze the comb and wad it up into say golf ball sized hunks of wax. Don't worry if you miss some pieces or what ever it will all get sorted out in the strainer bag. Hands get very sticky and it is hard to clean up so try to do it all at once so you don't wash too much honey and wax down the drain.

Let the hanging bag drain for a few hours at least, overnight is better. Make wax into candles and enjoy your honey.

Troy

P.S. If you are not making candles put your wax into plastic zip lock bags, freeze it for at least a day and then mail it to me, and I'll send you a candle back :-)

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[riverrat]

get with the north east kansas beekeepers association they have a list of people in the club willing to extract honey. There might be soemone close by your area that can do it for you. Get in touch with jethro here on the board I believe he is in charge of the list

[BarreBee]

What works for me is the 5 gal plastic paint strainer instead of the bag. The strainer fits in a 5gal pail, and the cover can be put on while it drains in the pail. I scrape one frame at a time into the strainer and most of the honey drains in the pail. I save the wax/honey scrapings and put them into a salad spinner and I usually get a little more. If you let it sit in the sun for awhile it helps it flow better. This is what I've been doing for the last three years and seems to work. I use some of the wax for candles/ lip balm and I collect the sticky pollen wax chunks and feed them back to the bees during the fall and spring. I have two hives to harvest starting tomorrow hopefully if it doesn't rain.

[Joseph Clemens]

So is it ok to just scrape it off the plastic foundation and strain it through the paint straining bag?It's called "crush and strain", many beekeepers use it as a primary or secondary method to harvest.