Crush and strain questions.

[Bob Wilson]

1. It seems that a lot of honey is wasted and cast out with the wax after straining. Do people squeeze out or wring the wax to get more out of it?
2. I like everything clean, but it makes a mess. Do people reuse the bottom honey gate bucket (of the 2 bucket strainer method) over several harvest times, or clean everything, every time it is used?
3. Do the paint strainer bags really work better than the round, metal double sieves?

[Ben Framed]

I hope this helps you Bob.



How I Extracted Honey Without an Extractor.
on: October 20, 2019, 07:46:47 am ?

[ author=Ben Framed link=topic=52958.msg475974#msg475974 date=1571568407]
Being this is my first year to have honey and no extractor, this is what I did. I obtained food grade buckets.  Using the top bar of a wood frame, I laid it across the top off the bucket centered,  Mark the spot on the top of the frame on each side where it meets the bucket. Using a multi-function cutting tool, I cut a notch in each side of the wood frame as marked. This creates a slots in the wood frame that perfectly fits the top of the bucket.  The frame will not slip or slide, thus creating a very stable situation. Next remove the bar and mark the very center between the notches, (the bar). There in the center of the bar, (center of the notches) I place a stainless steel screw. This screw is placed where the  point is coming up, out of the bucket, leaving the screw head on the down side. affording the screw  being the very center of the opening of the bucket, as well as the center of the top bar. Make sure the screw point is just slightly penetrated through this bar.  You are all set to extract your honey!  You will need a plastic cooking dip spoon the big Bubba type. 😊.  Simply place the end of your top bar resting on the top of the screw. Using one hand to hold the frame of honey, use the other to gently scrape the comb, as if your are trying to decap the comb. The capping  along with honey will begin to glide down into your bucket! Continue until the one side is completely void of all caping, and honey all the way down to the foundation, with your frame hand simply rotate the frame around, pivoting on the screw. Repeat the the process on this other side of your frame. You will end up with a frame of clean foundation.  Let all extracted honey and comb combination sit for 24!hours. All wax will rise to the top leaving PURE honey on the bottom. Using another clean bucket and (I used a plastic dipper, (mate to the original scraper). With a stainless steel Spaghetti screen type strainer, Dip the wax off the top and place in the strainer. Immediately the excess honey will begin streaming into the second bucket. Along with how much clean untouched by human hand honey will accumulate in this second bucket. Also instead of placing the (empty frames of extracted honey) back in boxes for the bees, I placed these into a third clean bucket vertically stacked closely together.  Again you will be surprised as to how much more honey will accumulate in this third bucket, and how clean and pure. This makes little mess and lots of untouched by human hands honey!! I used this process using more buckets and strainers collecting almost 200 pounds this first year! Good luck and have fun!

One more thing after all is drained, then place empty frames into your suppers the bee will clean them up! After they are cleaned place back in the hives and the bees will immediately begin to draw out the foundations once again if there is a flow on!
[/quote]

[cao]

Regardless of your method of honey extraction, you will have some wax with honey on it or pans/buckets/utensils with honey on it.  My cappings and pieces of comb are let drain overnight then either set outside for the bees to finish cleaning up right then or stored for a later time.  One other option with the wax would be rinse the wax with water an save the honey water to feed back later in the year.  The extractor, sieves, buckets and all the other equipment are set outside for the bees.  After a day or so these are then cleaned with soapy water and stored away.   My opinion is that no good honey is wasted.

[Acebird]

1. It seems that a lot of honey is wasted and cast out with the wax after straining. Do people squeeze out or wring the wax to get more out of it?
2. I like everything clean, but it makes a mess. Do people reuse the bottom honey gate bucket (of the 2 bucket strainer method) over several harvest times, or clean everything, every time it is used?
3. Do the paint strainer bags really work better than the round, metal double sieves?

My last extraction before coming down was a drip method.  I don't crush the wax because I use foundation.  You only need to tear down about 3/4 of the cell depth to get almost all the honey. It does take time but very little space.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/81EDAvUHHa6XMosp6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/aZNk85ZwRwL856Fo6
Very little mess.  And yes a paint strainer has way more area then a sieve and easier to dump.
The wax can go into a plastic jug.  I was using pretzel containers from Cosco.  In a week you will have clear honey in the bottom which you can drill a hole in the container to capture the honey.  I just fed it to the bees when I was trying to expand.  Another use is mead.

[Ben Framed]

Regardless of your method of honey extraction, you will have some wax with honey on it or pans/buckets/utensils with honey on it.  My cappings and pieces of comb are let drain overnight then either set outside for the bees to finish cleaning up right then or stored for a later time.  One other option with the wax would be rinse the wax with water an save the honey water to feed back later in the year.  The extractor, sieves, buckets and all the other equipment are set outside for the bees.  After a day or so these are then cleaned with soapy water and stored away.   My opinion is that no good honey is wasted.

Actually Cao since I posted that a couple years ago I found some white plastic strainers at The Dollar Tree, (one dollar each), that fit perfectly over the top of empty icing buckets from Kroger. I went back and bought several more strainers. When a full strainer of wax is left on top of these buckets, you will be amazed at how much more honey you will accumulate in a few days. Out of site out of mind. About three days will do it. And the left behind loose wax will feel almost dry to the touch.  Leaving almost no wasted honey. Wax will be ready to melt.

[Kathyp]

I like everything clean, but it makes a mess

Wrong hobby?? 

Just kidding.   

Here's how I used to do it and it is not a fast process:  Squish as much as I feel like squishing.  Put about one cookie sheets worth into a strainer bag.  Hang bag(s) over bucket(s).  Squeeze a bit to remove what I can after it has dripped.  Put wax out for bees to clean.  Melt wax and save in blocks.

Ben is right about letting the wax drip for a few days if you have space and patience for it.  almost all of the honey will drip out.
I didn't clean the buckets until I was done.  That's a waste of labor and honey. 

I do keep a lot of damp cloths around for hands and drips.  Warm water in the sink to dump tools in as they get too sticky to use. 

yes, messy.  Yes, you leave some honey for the bees.  Yes, it's slower and maybe a bit messy.  Warmer rooms make it go more quickly. 
Great for aggression reduction and upper body strength!

[BAHBEEs]

Note...Having faced this a number of times.

If you say have a dead out winter hive from a bad cold spell and you end up harvesting the entire hive as all that is left is a ball of dead bees in the center of it and a huge amount of Honey/Pollen (I had 2 do this this winter).  You need to pay attention to Pollen heavy frames and isolate them to be processed together separate from the frames with all honey.  The honey you get form the pollen heavy frames will be stunningly hazy with huge amounts of suspended pollen.  Filtering it all out of any large volume is nearly impossible on the small beekeeper scale.  My Allergy sufferers like it.  When you do the crush out on the pollen heavy frames is when you get the large amount of pollen.

[Acebird]

One other option with the wax would be rinse the wax with water an save the honey water to feed back later in the year.

If you don't freeze the honey water it is going to ferment . No?

[Bob Wilson]

Thanks for the responses. I can always count on Beemaster advice.

[cao]

  If you don't freeze the honey water it is going to ferment . No?

Yes it probably will.  I put it in a 2 liter bottle and throw it in the freezer until I need it.

[Hops Brewster]

1. It seems that a lot of honey is wasted and cast out with the wax after straining. Do people squeeze out or wring the wax to get more out of it?
2. I like everything clean, but it makes a mess. Do people reuse the bottom honey gate bucket (of the 2 bucket strainer method) over several harvest times, or clean everything, every time it is used?
3. Do the paint strainer bags really work better than the round, metal double sieves?

Casting out your wax?  No siree! There's gold in that stuff.  Take a quick peruse of fleabay for the latest going retail rate. Sell it to your friends and neighbors, just slightly less than they would pay at the craft store.  Or even wholesale it to a bigger beek in your area.   

You might also use it yourself for a wide variety of things; make your own foundation, lube for your muzzle loader bullets, wax your bow strings, make candles, wax the thread for your hand-sewn leather projects, etc., etc.  It's a very long list.

and yes, the paint straining bags work rather well.  You can pick up a bag full of gently warmed wax/honey and squeeze out quite a lot of lower-grade honey to use in cooking.  I wear nitrile gloves for this step.

[Beelab]

I use a honey press, fruit press, to squeeze the honey out of top bar or foundationless comb. Then the leftover wax goes into a paint strainer suspended in a bucket.
The wax from the strainer bag goes into my electric wax melter, set on 70 degrees Celsius, without water. The honey will end up under the wax. I let it cool down and remove the wax disk floating up top.
I do the same with cappings.
The honey is used for mead.