Extracting Ivy Honey

[Beedogg]

Good news: I have a super and a half of capped honey. Bad news: it is mostly Ivy and seems to have crystalised in the comb. I've spun it vigorously but probably only extracted 20% or so.

What's the best way of getting the rest out?

 

[Wilco]

Feed it to the bees.

I tried extracting it last year and used the heather method of scrape back the wax and press it in a fruit press. It was an awful lot of work. Once the honey has matured it's a really nice flavour.

 

[Skinfaxi]

Scrape it off the comb. Real rustic styley..

 

[Ian123]

Once it’s set like that scrape as above or melt… not a lot of help if you haven’t got the equipment. Rather like rape it needs taking off asap!

 

[Beedogg]

Once it’s set like that scrape as above or melt… not a lot of help if you haven’t got the equipment. Rather like rape it needs taking off asap!

It's tricky though, isn't it. The last lot I took off was too early and had a %water of 21. I kept it on the aga for 4-5 days and it gradually came down to 19%. I wasn't too popular with the wife though, with a great tub of liquid honey balanced on the aga.

So, is it generally best to take it off early and risk it fermenting; or late and risk it crystallising?

 

[pargyle]

It's tricky though, isn't it. The last lot I took off was too early and had a %water of 21. I kept it on the aga for 4-5 days and it gradually came down to 19%. I wasn't too popular with the wife though, with a great tub of liquid honey balanced on the aga.

So, is it generally best to take it off early and risk it fermenting; or late and risk it crystallising?

Better to just leave it in the combs and let the bees have it for winter ....I take my supers off before the Ivy flow so it goes into the brood frames ... having said the ... our ivy down here is still in bud ... another week before it flowers I reckon.

 

[Ian123]

It's tricky though, isn't it. The last lot I took off was too early and had a %water of 21. I kept it on the aga for 4-5 days and it gradually came down to 19%. I wasn't too popular with the wife though, with a great tub of liquid honey balanced on the aga.

So, is it generally best to take it off early and risk it fermenting; or late and risk it crystallising?

As with osr your left with little choice, take the capped frames and shake test the rest, before the availability of cheap refractors it’s what we had to rely on. In fairness it rarely lets you down.
Some ivy around me has been open for 2-3 weeks, the majority is coming in to flower atm. There’ll still be odd bits weather permitting flowering end of Nov. Definitely worth trying to get a crop if you’ve got treatment out the way, there’s a demand for different products.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Better to just leave it in the combs and let the bees have it for winter

our ivy down here is still in bud ... another week before it flowers I reckon.

part from one rogue plant which flowered a couple of weeks ago, it's only in the last few days I've noticed bees bringing in ivy pollen.

 

[Erichalfbee]

part from one rogue plant which flowered a couple of weeks ago, it's only in the last few days I've noticed bees bringing in ivy pollen.

Same here...just in time for the deluge