I am about to pull some honey frames and crush them for liquid honey. I have some filters that I bought from one of the bee catalogs ( I cannot recall which). They are a two piece system with a bowl-like filter and a flat, round screen. The last time I harvested, it was only a few frames, and I was able to put it all in the basket. That will not work this time as I have more frames. I read the crush and strain information on Michael Bush's website, and I like the idea. I saw some sort of cloth inside the bucket. What is this, and where do I get it? Is it reusable or disposable? It appeared to be a filter of its own and then the filtered honey flowed through the top bucket into the lower one. I could filter it again with he stainless steel filters and have very clear honey. Any advice on this is appreciated.
Go get a nylon paint straining bag at the hardware/paint store. They come in two or five gallon sizes, are highly washable and reusable.
Yep you heard it right paint strainer bags and they work great they are nylon and can be used over and over if you want a little more filtering use some cheese cloth in the bottom of the bucket this will help strain a little more pollen out if you get any in the honey The two bucket system works just fine and is real easy and cheap to make.
I believe you have the same strainer that I have. Is yours stainless steel??? Well, guess what I did and it worked. I removed the flat round top screen and only used the bottom deep strainer. The honey came out wonderful with just that one strainer and I was able to fit everything into that one strainer because it sat down deep inside the bucket.
Yes, Annette, my filter is stainless steel. The bowl is about 4 inches deep at it deepest point. I do not think I can get all of the wax and honey into that at one time. I could do it frame by frame, but I am impatient. That said, if I did that, I might be able to observe differences in the honey that each frame yields. Perhaps patience would be a virtue in this situation?
I dont use any filter. I have about 3/16 holes drilled in the bottom of my top bucket. The little bit of wax that makes it through will float.
OK now I understand. Yeah, I only would do 2-3 frames at the most in my strainer.
I used the 5 gal strainer bags from Lowes. put in full combs and squeezed between 2x12 boards with several large c clamps when I first started.. worked really well that drained into a 5 gal bucket with another strainer on it...was all the straining that was needed. just in case you want to try
you cant call it pure UNFILTERED if you run it through a filter
Perhaps strainer is a better word. Even running it through holes in the bottom of the pail is a filter of sorts in that it is a device to remove material from the liquid. A stainless strainer simply does the same thing but removes smaller particles. For my purposes, however, the distinction between filtered and non-filtered has no effect in that I do not sell the honey but merely use it at home and give it to friends and family. I am going to use the holes drilled in the bottom of the pail as Danno suggests in that I think I can catch a lot of the material there. Thanks for all the advice.
you'll be suprised at how little wax makes it through the holes in the bucket
Do you find that the paint strainer or similar bag inside the buckets are not necessary? I am not one to want to make another thing to clean up (i.e. the bag) if it is not necessary.
Does the fact that paint strainers are not food grade at all important? Should they be washed first? And, yes I realize that "food grade" is probably usually only a way to charge more for the same thing - just like "organic".
I didn't like the paint strainer, it took
too much time. I couldn't find a fine metal
strainer so I went to the dollar store and
bought a splatter screen then cut that
screen out and lined the metal strainer,
works real well.
>you want a little more filtering use some cheese cloth in the bottom of the bucket this will help strain a little more pollen out
Cheese cloth will sometimes leave lint in honey ---- use nylon ;)