strained/filtered

[beeeee]

Is straining your honey the same as filtering your honey?

[Rader Sidetrack]

This could be a touchy subject!

Humor aside, for a small beekeeper, the practical answer is that straining and filtering are essentially the same thing, it is the size of the holes that the honey passes thru that is significant. If your filter/strainer range from 200 to 600 microns, the controversy around "filtering" should not affect your honey.

If you have expensive equipment intended to filter out much smaller particles, or are doing "ultra-filtration", then its a different situation. Here's one packer's perspective on this:
http://www.burlesons-honey.com/Honey...9/Default.aspx

[bevy's honeybees]

If your filter/strainer range from 200 to 600 microns, the controversy around "filtering" should not affect your honey.

200 micron is a finer strain than 600m, correct?

[Robndixie]

if you let it settle all the legs, wings, and cappings will rise to the top. is there any real reason to strain beyond that?

[Michael Palmer]

To me, the difference is...straining only removes the larger particulates using a cloth or bag. Filtering uses a diatomaceous earth filter that removes everything, including pollen.

[Michael Palmer]

200 micron is a finer strain than 600m, correct?

Correct

[Michael Palmer]

if you let it settle all the legs, wings, and cappings will rise to the top. is there any real reason to strain beyond that?

All the particulates will rise to the top? Not in my experience. When I sell honey, I don't want any bits and pieces in the jar. Call it "raw" if you want, but the bees didn't put it there, you did.

[Robndixie]

All the particulates will rise to the top? Not in my experience. When I sell honey, I don't want any bits and pieces in the jar. Call it "raw" if you want, but the bees didn't put it there, you did.

well i'm not talking about in a matter of minutes. i'm talking about 100 gallon vats that were jarred out of that sat in an un-airconditioned extracting facility in central alabama. by the time we went from extracting to bottling we weren't finding bee parts or any other particles in the jars. this was when i was young and worked for a beekeeper that ran a couple thousand colonies. if you're running a 4 frame extractor and bottling the same day then no, it won't have time for the particles to rise. but we didn't strain anything and until you got to the last few gallons you didn't see particles. if you aren't trying to go from the hive to the table in a matter of hours there is no need to strain.

[BMAC]

Ambient temps always determine how much settling occurs. The southern states are always perfect for unassisted settling like that.

[Robndixie]

Ambient temps always determine how much settling occurs. The southern states are always perfect for unassisted settling like that.

oh, i'm sure there were days where it was 120 degrees or more in that metal building. looking back i don't know how i stood it.
unfortunately hive beetles and varroa mites like things down here too.

[BMAC]

Yes indeed. I always enjoyed extracting when I lived in Missouri. My extracting room (aka Garage) was always bouncing off 100 degrees. I was running a small a/c in the window on me and drank copious amounts of fluid (aka beer) to keep cool and well hydrated.

I never run into honey crystalizing in the comb or honey so cold it doesn't want to spin out of the comb till I moved to NY!

[imkerwannabee]

I've been using a nylon stocking for filtering. Any idea what micron that would be? I suppose they vary.

strawbale

[BMAC]

depends on how often they are worn.

joking aside I bet they are closer to the 600 to 800 range.

[jim lyon]

.....and this is essentially how honey is handled on a larger scale. MP describes it very well. The more time it sits and the warmer the temperature the clearer the honey becomes. Few large producers would have the storage capacity to dedicate holding tanks for honey to sit and clarify for more than a day or so or the ability to warm it much when the weather cools. We typically let a days extracting sit overnight to clarify before draining. That length of time helps a lot but there is still plenty of suspended matter in the honey, enough for the honey to granulate in the drum within weeks when exposed to room temps and cool nights. My suggestion to those not wishing to strain their honey at all but still wanting their honey to remain clear for a period of months or possibly as long as a year is to warm the honey to 120 to 130 degrees (some types of honey may not need quite this much heat) for a matter of hours and then allow it to cool down to a nice bottling temp (100 degrees works well). Take the "skimmings" off the honey and then fill your containers. Yes you will still see an occasional "floatie" but I have found this method of handling to be a nice alternative to a harsher higher heat and filtration process. It's more a matter of different levels of processing for different markets and different customer requirements. Please folks lets leave it at that.

[Michael Bush]

Neither term is specific, but in general use, strain is used for coarse filtering, and filtered tends to refer to a finer straining. So in general usage I would say people who say it is strained are talking about running it through a screen. People who say it's filtered are talking about running it through something quite fine.

[brooksbeefarm]

I strain my honey through the double stainlees steel funnel with the fine curtain material from wally world between the two funnels, works great.From what i've seen and heard in order to filter honey through fine filters the honey has to be heated to get it to flow through.Then the fight starts wether it's honey or syrup like going on in another thread.