French Press for extraction

[smallswarm]

My swarm of bees rejected the bait hive I had set up with the super of honey they made this spring. I felt rejected too, but then felt justified in harvesting it. If I can't have another hive, at least I'll have honey, and make my family and friends happy with wonderful gifts, right? Okay, so to the point.

Has anyone tried using a French Press coffee maker to extract honey from chunks of cut comb? I was thinking it would be perfect for small batches, as there would be very little wasted.

[latebee]

  You might try just crushing and straining. Or you could use an old crockpot set on low,but I don't have any experience witha french press. Enjoy your harvest!

[tillie]

I'm confused.  I thought you were the guy who was only interested in keeping bees and not honey, but if you want honey, here's a link for a very easy way to filter honey one jar at a time:

http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2006/09/phase-two-of-honey-harvest-helpers.html

This way you don't mess up any equipment and the honey filters right into the jar - we had a great time doing it. 

Any equipment you use to get your honey should be as simple as possible because the more stuff that has to be washed, the more places for honey to be lost in the process - the only French press I have seen is quite small and has multiple parts.

Captain Kangaroo used to say, "Simple pictures are best"  :-D

LT

[smallswarm]

tillie: You should read the post before you reply. As I stated, I tried to give the honey back to them in a bait hive, but they didn't take it, so it was going to be wasted on ants, beetles and roaches, etc. unless I pulled it.

[fcderosa]

Go to Lowes or another hardware store and purchase a paint strainer bag.  Fits in a bucket, strains the honey wonderfully, separates the wax and contains the wax for rinsing, and washes clean to be used again.  Oh, did I mention they only cost $3.00? :-D

[tillie]

fcderosa:
To do the jar to jar honey harvest method in my post above, we also bought a paint strainer and used it as the filter - it worked great on two jars and didn't work as well on the third.  I think it is because we used it in two layers and the holes didn't line up.....that's the best explanation I can come up with.  The guy who has the method on his website uses mosquito netting, but I couldn't find any of that at Lowe's.

But doing the jar to jar method is quick and fun - especially to do with kids who want results FAST!

LT in Atlanta

[fcderosa]

Purchase the paint strainer for the five Gal bucket.  I work the bucket then fill mason jars from it.  Have recieved lots of compliments this year on how clear the honey is.  Use the same bags separating the grain from wort when making beer.