Looking for ideas to speed up my process. Currently have 13 hives. After extracting I collect into five gallon buckets and then pour honey through a strainer using the nylon mesh material I bought from Walter Kelly Co. Seems to plug up easily and takes a long time to go through the fabric. Considering using several strainers of decreasing mesh size. Anyone have any ideas on what works for them?
When I only had 10 hives I had 2 strainers and many 5 gallon buckets. I would strain 1 bucket and then change the strainer and strain the next bucket. While the second bucket was straining I would clean the first strainer to be used to strain the next bucket.
Clint
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Clinton Bemrose
just South of Lansing Michigan
The fine nylon mesh commonly sold for straining honey works best when the honey is heated enough to pasturize it.
I use a homemade strainer that consists of a couple of icing buckets, a nylon paint straining bag with elastic and a wooden block. You can see it at: http://bwrangler.litarium.com/harvest/
It's toward the bottom of the page.
I use it for my extracted honey and for liquid honey from my top bar hive. It works equally well for both.
As I store my extracted honey in the icing pails, little mess is generated while straining.
Regards
Dennis
[This message has been edited by BWrangler (edited August 07, 2004).]
What works for me is - gravity.
Everything from the extractor goes into
a 150 gallon SS milk tank. There it sits for a few days. Then I "bottle" into 5 gallon buckets. Only the last 10-15 pounds actually goes through any sort of filter. I run the very last bit from the tank through a double strainer.
I purchased a very large funnel shaped, SS strainer from a restaurant suppy place.It fits prefectly over my 5 gal. buckets. I strain everything through it, first. Then through the nylon bag strainers to catch the small stuff. It works great and it can be done in stages.
BWrangler,
I like your strainer and have the paint strainer and the buckets. I understand everything except the block of wood. What is the purpose of the block of wood?
I use plastic frames so I scrape the wax/honey off the frame and into a nylon screen (no extractor required-saves time). I let the honey drip out of the wax, then put the wax in a large blender and blend it to small pieces. I paste the wax back on the frames and put them back in the hives they were stolen from. The bees build the comb back on the plastic frame by the next day. I've heard honey doesn't crystalize as quickly when processed this way (doesn't get air in it).
>put the wax in a large blender and blend it to small pieces. I paste the wax back on the frames and put them back in the hives they were stolen from. The bees build the comb back on the plastic frame by the next day.
Naw..., your kidding, right? If not, would you please expand on this?
not kidding about pasting wax back on... it works, give it a try. But you have to put it back in a colony you robbed, for some reason an unrobbed colony just spits out the wax. The bees will chew the wax and place it right back on the plastic frame. They keep the good wax (cappings, etc.) so the frame looks like new. If you don't blend to little pieces, they'll still put the wax back on, but you get some clumps (not perfect).
sorry- I was just informed from my wife that what I use is not a "blender", it's a mixer. I use a Kitchenaid "mixer" which is heavier duty than a handheld. Leave enough honey in the wax so that it's not dry.
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