Filtered Honey

[PaleoPerson]

At what stage is honey classified as being filtered?

I have only seen generalisations about filtered honey i.e. 'to remove extraneous solids and pollen grains' and the like. However, here in the Uk, what size filter would deem the honey to be filtered, 10mm, 1mm, 200 micron, 100 micron, etc etc (just random sizes listed, no significance implied).

 

[oliver90owner]

The question might arise: when is honey not honey? Answer: when it contains anything that is not honey?

The cut-comb brigade are happy to have comb mixed in naturally; the honey brigade may well not want their honey to contain large amounts, if any, of wax, let alone anything else.

One could sieve, if that is not filtering, collecting nearly all the wax, and most other bits, in the honey (by virtue of 'draining' through the wax on the sieve).

The resultant honey after settling and skimming would be as 'natural' as practical, while being free of other particles.

So I would say any process which does not remove more solids (than that procedure) would yield an identical product (in that one could not conceivably differentiate the two).

I use a 200 micron cloth which appears adequate, for all intents and purposes, to provide a close enough product to the afore-mentioned process of separation.

I am sure an efficient centrifuge would be able to do a similar job of removing smaller particulates (pollen) and eventually remove most of those too.

We should not be aiming to remove all the pollen as that is part of the honey in it's natural form.

Regards, RAB

 

[Eyeman]

In the past we first strained it throught a 1mm sieve then 'filtered' it through a 100 micron bag which produced a beautifully clear product.
Now we only strain it through the sieve and market it as 'unfiltered contains small wax and pollen particles. The customers prefer this 'unfiltered' version and it saves us time in the processing.

 

[Bcrazy]

When you filter the honey is it heateed gently to allow the flow through the filters of ones choice?
If so once you warm or heat honey you change the original product to one that has destroyed the enzymes,Raised the HMFfactor, Reduced the viscosity and density, Destroyed sugar tolerant yeasts, and Reduced the moisture content.
So is your honey the same honey from the frames as going into the jars for sale? Answer No it is not.

Mo

 

[Polyanwood]

I put some of mine through the conical bag that I thought was 20 microns. I got it from Thornes I think. Shiniest honey I have had. I wonder if it will sell better than the more murky honey or not. no heating required.

 

[Eyeman]

So is your honey the same honey from the frames as going into the jars for sale? Answer No it is not.

Oh yes it is.
My honey warmer is set to 35 degree C so honey temp never goes above natural brood chamber temp.

 

[PaleoPerson]

Thank you for all of your replies, but no-one has actually been definitive on the aperture size that you must not go below to remain 'un-filtered'

The process I currently use is to strain direct from the extractor with a coarse filter and a fine at 0.5mm. Then when I jar up, I use a 200 micron.

The question still remains though, at what size (as far as the regulations are concerned) does honey become classed as filtered.

 

[DulwichGnome]

This web site,
http://www.bigpedia.com/encyclopedia/Honey
credits "The National Honey Board" with these two statements,

"Filtered Honey Honey processed by filtration to remove extraneous solids and pollen grains."

"Strained Honey Honey which has been passed through a mesh material to remove particulate material (pieces of wax, propolis, other defects) without removing pollen."

But I can't find it on their site,
http://www.honey.com/


Oh and did you know that September is National Honey Month?

Mike.

 

[Poly Hive]

My view is that filtered honey is filtered by pressure.

Think of a well known honey company........ and liquid honey. Why does it stay liquid? Because all the particles are out. Nothing to seed the formation of crystals.

I used 400 micron cloth for my filter bags. However i do not consider that honey to be "un-naturally filtered" as left to it's own devices it certainly behaved as honey should.

Mine was cleaned via a 2800rpm spin drier.

Hope this assists.

PH

 

[PaleoPerson]

Ok, I think I have it now.

Strained I understood and forms the first part of my process.

Filtered (the bit I was struggling with) ignoring the removal of detritus/wax etc, it is the removal of pollen grains that appears to be important. Therefore, it must be classed as filtered if you remove pollen. The filter size required will then vary depending on what the bees are foraging on as the pollen grain sizes will be different for different species.

Some information I have managed to find is that pollen sizes vary dependant on the state of hydration, but basically fall into a number of categories (see http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jb/2010/612017.html):

very small <10 micron
small 10-25 micron
medium 25-50 micron
large 50-100 micron
very large >100 micron

So my suspicion is that if you filter out particles smaller than 100 micron, then it will be classed as filtered honey (although there is the possibility that you could be filtering pollen larger than 100 micron)

As a reference point, OSR pollen grains are in the 24-27 micron range.

It all depends on forage.

 

[newportbuzz]

from william kirks book "A colour guide to pollen loads of the honey bee"
the largest pollen grain size i could find was 127 micron(oenothera biennis l [onagraceeae]) with the vast majority below the 80 micron range.

I use a 200 micron mesh clued onto a 3 ft pipe as i dont have a centrefuge or a bag handy. the weight of the honey pushes its self through. the honey looks good. i stuck with 200 micron to avoid removing pollen