I'm back from my marathon cutout session on the old family farm. I'll post about it in detail in another thread. The ugliest cutout I did was from a 1950's John Deere tractor from its fuel tank.
Yea, its not uncommon for a hive to get in a fuel tank, but those are normally old gasoline tanks, not diesel. Being a petroleum engineer, I can tell you what you should already know -- gas evaporates, diesel becomes tar. Some of the lighter fractions boil off over time and leave a nasty asphalt.
So this hive was so packed into the tank that only 10 sq in was left. It was loaded with honey. But there had been multiple comb failures in the past, the honeycomb fell to the bottom and blackened either from time or the tar. Needless to say, I didn't take any comb below an inch from the bottom. To be safe, I only took comb over 2" from bottom. The comb shape was the craziest crap I've ever seen. I'll post a video of it later.
So the question is, how safe is fuel tank honey?
I would pass on the honey.
I look forward to the pics and video though
Keith
Quote from: Keith13 on May 22, 2009, 04:23:54 PM
I would pass on the honey.
I look forward to the pics and video though
Keith
Hard to pass. I think I got more than 50 pounds of amber honey out of the tank above the 2" line.
The tractor has been abandoned for 40-50 years.
I figured that john deere honey would have been green :-D
How did you cut the gas tank apart?
G3
Quote from: G3farms on May 22, 2009, 08:42:33 PM
I figured that john deere honey would have been green :-D
How did you cut the gas tank apart?
G3
With a Sawzall and impunity. Took 4 minutes to get it open. 2 hours to cut the comb out.
Looks like good mesquite honey. Crushed and strained it today. About 20-25 pounds.
can wait to see the video
Johnny