Cloudy Honey - filtering methods

[cat]

After harvest last fall I originally filtered my honey through layers of cheesecloth, and it had noticable wax in it. So with some extra time this winter I though I'd try some different filtering methods. I put some jars in a warm room over night and filtered some of it through two layers of pantyhose. Now this honey doesn't have any wax particles in it, but it immediately looked cloudier than before, and has stayed that way for a week or so. Did I ruin it somehow?

[Jerry Kinder]

Did you wash the pantyhose first?

No, seriously. I have been told that when using plastic filters, they work better if you wash them first and wring them out as best you can just before using them. It wets the fibers and this reduces the surface tension as the honey flows thought the filter which in turn, cuts down on micro bubbles in the honey. I'm not sure if that is the problem but it sure sounds like it from your description.

If that’s the case, then the honey should clear up eventually. Warming it a little would speed it up. The other issue is the potential for pollen in the honey; if that’s the case then you need a finer filter.

[bigbore]

I have seen places listing "bags" to filter and strain through from 200 microns to 600 microns. might try them. if it is just air. time will solve it.

[fish_stix]

Why not just order the filter set from Dadant or others, with 200, 400, and 600 micron filters. Takes care of all the problems!

[CentralPAguy]

Do you think that your honey might be crystalizing -- The reason that I say that is that I had honey that I had bottled last year that was in the cold and it started crystalizing. Put it in hot water and see if it gets clearer.

[sqkcrk]

I don't FILTER my honey, I STRAIN it. There is a technical difference and I think we should try to speak the same language and use the same terms.

Cat, was your honey cold when you strained it thru cheesecloth. If it was, you made two errors in my opinion. It should have been warm and you should have used nylon cloth. I imagine you only have a small amount of honey, so warming it might be difficult. But I believe that would help w/ your problem.

It isn't ruined. It's still honey. Go ahead and use it or sell it or whatever you were planning on doing w/ it.

[Michael Bush]

Cheesecloth tends to add some very minute fibers which act as seed for crystals. It usually crystallized very quickly after straining through cheesecloth. I find this nice as when it crystallized quickly it tends to be nice and smooth and I can sell it as creamed honey. But if you don't want that, don't use the cheesecloth. The cloudiness is almost certainly crystallization. The wax will always float to the top and is not an issue. Once can skim it or, take a piece of saran wrap and lay it on the "scum" and pull it off with the saran wrap. Then I put the saran wrap on a plate and scoop the honey off with a spoon and put it on my toast for the next few days...

[cat]

Thanks for all your replys. It was warm when it went through the cheesecloth last fall, and all the jars have been fine, no crystalization yet. The only reason I messed with a couple jars now was to experiment for next year. It was the nylon that made it cloudy. I warmed a jar up a little and that cleared it up, so it must be crystalization. It all still tastes great! I think I'll order a set of the plastic filters that fit on buckets.

[Vance G]

I believe you have little tiny air bubbles making your honey cloudy. When you warm the honey, they can more quickly make there way to the top of the container and woy lah! Your honey is unclouded. But, it could be starting to sugar too. When it sugars that way it becomes cream honey. This is good too!

[dcross]

I think I'll order a set of the plastic filters that fit on buckets.

IMO, the two hundred micron one is useless, my honey will barely flow through when heated and already passed through the other two. I don't use it, bought a second six hundred so I can clean one while the other works.

[msapostol]

We use that stainless steel double sieve, but we also sieve it pretty much right out of the hive. Even though we only had two hives that produced honey, it made for a long afternoon, but it was better for us just to get it done instead of having to go through the extra step of warming it later.

Plus, you can clean up all the stickiness in one fell swoop.