Difficulties straining honey

[omnimirage]

I've been using the crush and strain method for a while now. It worked fine at first since I was extracting a few frames at a time but for the last six months, I've had nothing but trouble with each endeavor. I need a better way to strain the honey due to issues with clogging during the straining process.

I?m maintaining a neglected apiary site, and the honeycomb there is rather black and disfigured. I've laboured lots to get all the clumpy crap out of it and strain it into a liquid. I'm almost finished: I have fifteen kilos of mostly honey. There's still a lot of clumpy stuff in there, and I've poured it into a honey strainer. It's not seeping through. The strainer uses two layers; the bottom part is liquid, the top part is mildly crystal. I've been stirring it and stirring it to little success. I'm guessing perhaps the pores are clogged? Not sure if I need to pour the honey back into the bucket, clean it, and then redo it. Maybe I need to apply some heat source to it? Not sure what efficient heat source I could use. I can't easily put it in the sun, and that option won't be available to me after summer. I've thought about using an outdoor flood light to warm up the honey.

I've tried a lot of other methods, including the paint strainer and a bucket straining system. Though it was effective, I found the wax tended to stick to the strainer, requiring me to try and unstick it, take it out of the strainer, recrush it and put it back in. It was a cumbersome, inefficient process, and the strainers are too expensive. The bucket system involves one bucket sitting on top of another, with holes drilled into the bottom and a strainer placed there. I then pour the honey into one bucket, which goes through the strainer and holes and seeps cleanly into the bucket below. This also could be placed outside, but it tends to clog at the bottom. The other somewhat effective method I've used is some honey strainers I've bought off ebay which work moderately well. Clumps of wax are a little annoying to deal with, but fairly easy to recrush and restrain.

I also have another smaller batch of honey that I'm trying to do a last strain of. The darn honey has now crystalized in the strainer, and it's not easily turning into a liquid. It's currently reaching 35 Celsius here, so I've put it in the sun with a piece of glass over the strainer (to protect from bugs and assist in heating) but it won't melt.

I'm at quite a loss as to what to do. My methods are not working and I would like some insight/direction. Not sure if I should abandon the crush and strain thing and invest in a spinning drum.

[Kathyp]

It's hard to do if the honey is not at a warm temp.  35 degrees should be warm enough, but here is what I do

I first strain through something like a pasta strainer.  big holes that only catch big stuff.  Then I use cheese cloth.  small batches so that I can turn the clump fairly often.  It can take a couple of days to finish dripping through.

as yours is crystalized, the only thing I can think to do is put it in a large pan, warm it on LOW heat (it will take some time) and then let it cool.  Most of the wax should come to the top and the liquid honey can be strained again.

I don't like much straining for mine, so bits in it don't bother me.  People like the raw authentic look   

In order not to ruin the honey, you must use the lowest temp possible to liquefy the honey and float the wax. 

use a slotted spoon or something like that to remove the wax and then poor back through strainer.  Don't tell your significant other if you are swiping one from the kitchen!!   

[BeeMaster2]

I use a net that is designed to go into a 5 gallon bucket. The net goes in the top bucket of a 2 bucket system. The bottom of the top bucket has the removed leaving a rim that holds a perforated metal that provide support to the net. The bottom bucket has gate valve.
It works real well.
Jim

[Wombat2]

My capping collector and strainer is a shallow wire mesh drawer meant to be used as a wardrobe accessory from the "Storage Solutions" section in the local hardware (Lowes?) This sits nicely in a large plastic tote bin that I added a gate valve to.

It holds about 10-12 full deep frames of comb with the lid on and left 24 hours most of the honey drains through - I then run the honey through a double metal sieve into my storage buckets.

Stirring honey that is starting to crystalize will encourage it to do it more so - that's how to make creamed honey ;)

[omnimirage]

I found that the freshly created comb, when it's all white and golden, is much easier to strain than the dark, blackened comb. Does using a queen excluder, to prevent the comb from turning dark like that, help honey straining by not making it as clumpy?

Yesterday it was thirty eight degrees. I had a bucket outside, on bricks, with a glass panel over the strainer: still didn't strain. It has gone rather thick. Could have I creamed it by stiring it? My other one still isn't dripping. I guess I'll have to pour it back in a bucket, perhaps try to heat it up, clean the sieve then try again. I need some effective way of heating up a bucket.

[Wombat2]

What were your bees on? here on the coast we have areas of Jelly Bush - the honey is thick and wont flow - similar apparently to heather honey and needs a press similar to an olive press to get it out - that said it's worth $35 /kg

[superbee]

Sometimes if the comb is really black and hard it is very difficult to extract. There becomes a point of diminishing returns where it is not worth the effort.

If your comb is crystallized I use a reptile heating mat with a thermometer control into a insulated box.  I place the probe into water to make sure it measures as similar as possible to the honey.  I set the temp to 99 degrees Fahrenheit. It can take a few days for the honey to liquefy.  I then use a heather honey press or sausage press with cheese cloth to press the honey out of the wax.  It works good for problematic combs, but it is a lot of work and cleaning for little results.

Old comb has lots of cocoons and propolis.  It is much stronger than fresh white wax.  The queen excluder will decrease the cocoons and keep the wax easier to crush but can bring lots of other problems.

[Wombat2]

If you need to warm honey you could build what I did - http://www.beemaster.com/forum/index.php?topic=47833.0
Used it earlier this week on half a drum (10Kg) of crystalized honey - liquid in 48 hours

[omnimirage]

This is my current set-up:

https://imgur.com/a/D2d0Q

I'm having little hassle with what I'm currently trying to strain. Though, it's been proving difficult to try and actually have this last lot of wax actually strain. It doesn't appear to be seaping through, no matter how much I crush it. I'm thinking about getting an outdoor flood light for such, but am unsure.

These other buckets are going to be difficult to strain. There's too much wax and general impurities that must be strained: I'm thinking about getting a bigger strainer to work with. These little honey strainers aren't big enough when working with full 27 liter buckets.

[Wombat2]

Too much wax in the trainer - I use them for the final step when there is very little wax in it. Go to Bunnings and in the flat patch storage area they have open mesh wardrobe drawers. Get one about 100mm deep 450 wide and 600 long then go and find a plastic tote bin with lid that the mesh tray will fit and hang in the top on the side lip.

Load the bulk wax/honey mix into the mesh tray in the top of the tote bin and put the lid on leave 24 hours and most of the honey will have drained into the bottom of the tote bin. If you want you can add a honey gate valve into the bottom of a narrow end of the bin. Drain the honey from the tote bin into the double mesh sieve and what ends up in the bucket will be ready for consumption

http://youtu.be/Dee9j0wd1hU

[omnimirage]

That sounds like an incredibly effective idea. Just to confirm, "plastic tote bins" are food grade plastic and safe to have honey in there? Seems it'd be very beneficial to have a honey gate on such. How would you otherwise pour the honey from the bin, into the honey sieve sitting on the bucket? Are honey gates difficult to install?

I'm heading to Bunnings tomorrow. Going to try this floodlight.

[BeeMaster2]

That sounds like an incredibly effective idea. Just to confirm, "plastic tote bins" are food grade plastic and safe to have honey in there? Seems it'd be very beneficial to have a honey gate on such. How would you otherwise pour the honey from the bin, into the honey sieve sitting on the bucket? Are honey gates difficult to install?

No I have installed 2 of them. One in a bucket and one in the bottom of my rectangular decapping container. For this decapping container you need to add a strainer above the gate.
The trick is to get the correct drill bit that is just large enough to allow the threads  to pass through the hole and to leave just enough room at the bottom to allow you to put the nut on.
Try it.
Jim

[amun-ra]

omni 43mm whole saw is the size to get fits most honey gates on the market
please where r u aus is a big place and we may bee able to help more if you give us a town eg im in Townsville and have similar issues

[Wombat2]

That sounds like an incredibly effective idea. Just to confirm, "plastic tote bins" are food grade plastic and safe to have honey in there? Seems it'd be very beneficial to have a honey gate on such. How would you otherwise pour the honey from the bin, into the honey sieve sitting on the bucket? Are honey gates difficult to install?

I'm heading to Bunnings tomorrow. Going to try this floodlight.

The fine print on the labels of the ones I've looked at say somewhere they are food grade- and the end of my video shows a gate valve - and yes its handy to have. when you are ready to do the straining through the double sieve I use a block of wood under the back to get a bit of a tilt and you can adjust the flow out the gate into the double sieve so you cane be "hands free" but dont go far and keep an eye on it. I have found if you leave the honey 24-48 hours(or more before final sieve most of the fine wax floats to the top and doesn't clog the fine sieves until the last bit.

[omnimirage]

I live in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia.

I went to Bunnings, and the only mesh they had wasn't food grade. They also didn't have any food grade plastic tubs. They more or less said that as a Warehouse, they don't stock that sort of thing, which is quite unfortunate. I guess the Bunnings in Queensland is different, oh well, back to square one.

[Wombat2]

If you want to be 100 % sure its food grade then look at these - http://www.peopleinplastic.com.au/Product/ta1209-140l-rectangular-tank-natural You can also chase up some stainless security mesh to strain though but most is powder coated and would be the same finish as the baskets from Bunnings which have stood up to a lot and the honey doesn't sit in it to leach anything out as the powder coating is baked on.

I use the above company for my honey jars with tamper proof lids - might like to look at those as well and spread the freight over a bigger order.

[Richard M]

I've run mine through a cheap plastic colander above the strainers; it seems to be effective in removing the larger stuff. They're $5 from Woolies.

[Acebird]

Along the lines of what Wombat suggests you can get a spaghetti strainer for your first strain.

[amun-ra]

Tabebuia palmeri is my biggest problem when full of flower the bees love them and so bring back a load of honey this stuff cannot be strained it will drive you mad trying
so usually gets fed back to the bees check if they grow in SA Townsville streets are lined with them so every year we go through the same thing.

[Acebird]

this stuff cannot be strained it will drive you mad trying

What does it do at what temperature?