[fuzzybeekeeper]

I did a removal from under an old trailer house. It was a large nest. I wound up with around three 5-gallon buckets of mainly honey in nice comb.

Unfortunately, the nest was surrounded by the old "pink panther" fiberglass insulation and I refuse to use it "as is" for human food.

What do you do with this much "dirty" honey?

I know most recommend NOT feeding honey from an unknown source to other bees because of AFB problems. My feeling is that a colony this large shouldn't have too much problem with AFB.

If I feed it back, can I be reasonably sure that the bees will recycle the honey and remove any fiberglass that might be in it?

It sure would hurt to have to throw away that much honey.

Fuzzybeekeeper

 

[fish_stix]

Why don't you just filter out the fiberglass? FG is inert and doesn't lend any chemicals to the honey.

 

[mnbob]

The Fiberglass is inert, but there could be colorings to make it pink or coatings to keep stuff from growing in it.

 

[Troy]

I agree that you should not use it for human consumption, but a run through a coarse filter seems like it would be fine to use for bee feed.

Myself I might use it for mead (personal consumption). Any inert particles of fiberglass that remain after coarse straining would easily settle out during primary fermentation and get left behind. You could even run it through a very fine filter after primary fermentation if you want and then let it settle again during secondary fermentation. I'd bet it would be sparking clean after that.

 

[archiater]

Assuming that its a full FG particle and not the shattered bits from one FG particle you would need about a 0.25 micron filter to try to get rid of the intact particle. In the small and large intestines there are lots of crypts, crevices, little potholes and villi (hairlike projections), the inside looks basically like a shag carpet. So the FG can get hung up in there and cause diverticulitis if people are prone to it. Imagine FG in your skin then imagine it stuck in your gut from the esophagus all the way down to the rectum. If its in the honey the bees could move the FG honey from your deeps into your supers.

 

[Michael Bush]

I would feed it back. Bees can filter out extremely small particles. Much smaller than any filter you can come up with.

 

[fuzzybeekeeper]

Thanks, Michael.

My state Apiary Inspector was here Monday and answered the question the same way.

Sounds like a "go" to me.

Fuzzybeekeeper