Screen for crush and strain

SgtMaj · May 29, 2009, 12:32:23 AM

Ok, so what kind of screen do you use for crush and strain?

I'm using too big of a screen because it's coming through with bee parts in it... but it's the smallest I could find... so what do you use?

Bill W. · May 29, 2009, 12:50:41 AM

We use a double layer of cheese-cloth.

Brian D. Bray · May 29, 2009, 01:05:13 AM

I use either pillow cases or cloth flour sacks. The only other screen I need (tea strainer) is to catch the bees that land in the honey while I'm pressing it out of the combs with my cider press.l

Natalie · May 29, 2009, 01:21:15 AM

I bought the bottling kit from Brushy Mountain it comes with a bucket, gate and three screen inserts in graduating sizes for around $30-$40.00 (I can't remember exactly)

doak · May 29, 2009, 02:47:09 AM

Get a deep fry basket or a large collender and go to Lowe's or Home depot, or what ever you have there and pick up a package of paint strainers. Nylon, and they are big enough to fit a five gal bucket.
Put the fry basket or collender in the bucket for support, then the paint strainer. You will get very fine wax and pollen and nothing else except honey. :)doak

SgtMaj · May 29, 2009, 07:30:41 AM

I tried the pillowcase and it worked well enough... but the honey isn't very clear. Of course, I only had 200 tc pillowcases... I'll pick up a 400 tc for next time. Oh yeah, and I put extra pressure on it just because I wanted to be done faster.

I also tried running some of it through a coffee filter... the honey came out crystal clear, but takes forever to run through the filter and you can't put pressure on that to get it to come out faster.

Oh well, this was only for a single frame of honey I had found in a deep when I went to check the hives to see if one of them had thrown the swarm that landed in my yard yesterday.

annette · May 29, 2009, 07:10:04 PM

Never heard of using a coffee filter. Thats sounds interesting so I am wondering if it actually works. So how long did it take to get through the coffee filter??

SgtMaj · May 29, 2009, 10:01:21 PM

About a cup's worth per every 2-3 hours... it's very slow, but the resulting honey is beautiful, crystal clear.

slaphead · May 29, 2009, 11:08:12 PM

Brian,

I'm very interested in your use of a cider press for crush and strain. How large is your press and how many frames can you process per load?

Thank you,

SH

Brian D. Bray · June 05, 2009, 04:59:44 PM

Quote from: slaphead on May 29, 2009, 11:08:12 PM
Brian,

I'm very interested in your use of a cider press for crush and strain. How large is your press and how many frames can you process per load?

Thank you,

SH

I have a 2 hamper model and can put 6-8 frames in each hamper. I have 5 hives so I get 2 supers of each hive thats 10 supers or 80 frames or 8-10 hampers full. I can run that through the cider press in half a day. The hardest part is pulling the compressed wax out of the flour sacks. I do it outside so when I'm done the bees clean the cider press for me. The next day I hose it off and put it away or start on the apples, pears, and quince.

slaphead · June 06, 2009, 12:04:16 AM

OK I have to admit to having no idea as to how large a hamper is. Is it a couple of gallons?

Thanks,

SH

jimmy · June 06, 2009, 01:02:41 AM

I bought a couple bags from Brushy Mt. it fits in a 5 gallon bucket nicely .Drilled holes in the bottom of one bucket with the sackcloth strainer in it . Placed another 5 gallon bucket with center of lid cut out to allow top bucket to drain in.
Got the idea from Linda's bees website. Place it outside on a hot day the sun will let the honey soften and drain into bottom bucket.
good luck with your experience.

qa33010 · June 06, 2009, 01:14:55 AM

What doak said. I have also will used a NEW cheap pair of nylons if I don't have a paint strainer.

Brian D. Bray · June 08, 2009, 12:32:04 AM

Quote from: slaphead on June 06, 2009, 12:04:16 AM
OK I have to admit to having no idea as to how large a hamper is. Is it a couple of gallons?

Thanks,

SH

Yes about 2 gallons in size.

tillie · June 08, 2009, 08:27:24 AM

The nice thing about the bucket/3 filter combo that Dadant and others sell is that you stack the filters inside each other (coarse on top, finest on bottom). The honey filters clear and beautiful and the bucket has a honey gate on it that allows easy pouring into bottles. I think the whole thing is around $36 or so and by the time you experiment with paint filters (which I never find to work well unless you dampen them first which means water in your honey), find the right bucket, etc., your time spent might be worth the cost of the set.

Linda T in Atlanta

SgtMaj · June 09, 2009, 05:41:34 AM

Quote from: tillie on June 08, 2009, 08:27:24 AM
The nice thing about the bucket/3 filter combo that Dadant and others sell is that you stack the filters inside each other (coarse on top, finest on bottom). The honey filters clear and beautiful and the bucket has a honey gate on it that allows easy pouring into bottles. I think the whole thing is around $36 or so and by the time you experiment with paint filters (which I never find to work well unless you dampen them first which means water in your honey), find the right bucket, etc., your time spent might be worth the cost of the set.

Linda T in Atlanta

Are you talking about these?:

https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=419

trapperbob · June 09, 2009, 08:02:30 AM

go to the paint store and get a 5 gallon paint straining bag for a 5 gallon bucket, look on Mike Bush's website and look up the article on straining honey. This bucket design works very well, no bee particles or wax are left in the honey. A little pollen sometimes but you can float that to the top and skim it off. I have found that this works very well for crush and strain. Hope this helps.

tillie · June 09, 2009, 08:20:31 AM

This is what I bought:

https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=422

I have two sets and have been very pleased. They are what I use for crush and strain:

http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2007/06/honey-harvest-crush-and-strain.html

Linda T in Atlanta where we have very little honey and the flow is OVER!

SgtMaj · June 09, 2009, 09:40:33 AM

Quote from: tillie on June 09, 2009, 08:20:31 AM
This is what I bought:

https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=422

I have two sets and have been very pleased. They are what I use for crush and strain:

http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2007/06/honey-harvest-crush-and-strain.html

Linda T in Atlanta where we have very little honey and the flow is OVER!

Yeah ok, same thing but comes in a set with a bucket... Thanks for pointing that out, I may try that.

I'm surprised your flow is over already... I'm just a couple hours drive North and they're still bringing in lots of clover nectar.

tillie · June 09, 2009, 01:56:27 PM

The advantage of the set is that each filter is finer than the next so you have three increasingly finer filters. I stack them coarse one on top and finest one last before the interior of the bucket.

I also really like and appreciate the honey gate on the bucket.

Yes, our honey flow is over. My bees haven't needed new supers for the last two weeks. We had rain throughout the flow and thus less nectar for honey....gonna be a low crop year for me.

Linda T in Atlanta