Heather honey 2022?

[Erichalfbee]

It must be runny heather honey ? Another unique selling point ... No wonder he gets £15 a pound.

A couple of years ago I helped a fellow beekeeper extracting his heather honey from the New Forest ... he's hoped to loosen it and then spin it out.... No chance. Ended up crushing the lot and putting it through a fruit press .... even then it did not give up easily. Like jelly.

My daughter's partner is from Israel. She has just given me some Sidr honey which is thixotropic too. A very interesting and powerful bite at the end.

 

[Frizzaldo]

Heather honey is tough stuff!! If you accept that the foundation is going to be lost it saves a great deal of angst!!

You can save the foundation by just scraping off the cells back to the foundation, it's a bit of a messy job and may be a lot of faff if you have a lot of supers but I suppose you'd need to weigh up the effort vs adding foundation back to the frames. Frames will also be a little bit drawn (vs fresh foundation) after scraping so may be drawn out more quick by bees the following year

 

[elainemary]

If you are going to crush and press the heather honey the best way I found is to pop the comb after crushing and mashing into a draw string filtering bag and pop into a vertical spin drier as some have said. Line the drum with stainless steel mesh and spin - the vibration loosens it and it will flow nicely into a bucket with a tap. Let it settle and jar up. The cappings are bone dry. Next year use thin super foundation - lovely comb and the remains after cutting out - into the spin drier again. A lot easier than extracting.

Hi Garry a friend lent me his modified spin dryer (v similar to your description) last year, after pressing my heather comb in an apple press through a Muslim bag. I couldn’t get any further heather out the cappings. It was quite a large cake and I broke it down into smaller pieces first. Wondered if my technique could be improved eg do you heat yours first or any other tips?

I have offered some of the washings from my cappings this year, to another friend who like to make mead

 

[elainemary]

You can save the foundation by just scraping off the cells back to the foundation, it's a bit of a messy job and may be a lot of faff if you have a lot of supers but I suppose you'd need to weigh up the effort vs adding foundation back to the frames. Frames will also be a little bit drawn (vs fresh foundation) after scraping so may be drawn out more quick by bees the following year

That’s how I scrape out my heather back to the foundation first, found its crucial not to have much pollen in the super as it can tear the foundation. I’ve used plastic foundation brushed thickly with beeswax and drawn on the spring flow this year, so I can easily and quickly scrape back. Plus I’m doing more cut comb to reduce too much messy extraction

 

[Garry R]

Scraping to foundation is a sticky faff - agreed. Also fresh thin super foundation allows cut comb to be produced with the remains spun out. I had a quick look at spin driers and looks like a pre - owned is about £50. Get a gravity outflow - you don't want a pump. Second hand, a descale and a sterilisation before use. Line with stainless steel mesh to prevent the filter bag poking through the holes in the drum without it. Basically it is an electric extractor with no frame holding facility! A good power wash when finished and a good soak too in cold water - block the exit, fill up, and give it the occasional very sort spin to swirl it around.

 

[elainemary]

I have 3 supers of heather honey from the home apiary and I was hoping to extract using a manual heather loosener. All frames are foundationless. Tried the first one there and eventually had to pack it in and mash the comb to get the honey out. Is it possible to use a loosener with foundationless frames or am I wasting my time? Are there any useful videos on how to use the loosener properly that anyone could point me too? I’m not sure how forceful to be!

Best to use wired foundation for loosening, definitely not unwired or thin, as it won’t withstand the force. This happens - see pic!

Another tip is to use older super combs that have been used a few seasons as they get stronger from general use by the bees. Again must be wired for loosening and spinning in a swing cage or tangential extractor, not a radial

What loosener are you using? I’ve tried the plastic Abelo one and it does work, but it’s messy as the plastic rods are too thick in my opinion. My old fashioned hand held one by Mountain grey which has stainless steel thin pins, is much better but you can no longer buy. Have to keep an eye out at auctions

I’ve attached a photo of a comb I loosened using the Abelo plastic loosener, as a trial which I bought for our association’s use. I simply pushed it until it hit the foundation then wiggled it a few times in the cells before moving to the adjacent piece of comb. It’s time consuming but the comb stays intact during spinning and it spun out well and bees will repair the cell walls.

I’m concluding I’ll use this method for heather blended by the bees with balsam / wildflowers but I will scrape comb for pure heather and do cut comb. Life is too short! Again need a strong wired midrib or plastic foundation if scraping back if you want to keep some of the comb, otherwise use thin and cut the lot out and start again next season

Hope this helps
Elaine

 

[Garry R]

Hi Garry a friend lent me his modified spin dryer (v similar to your description) last year, after pressing my heather comb in an apple press through a Muslim bag. I couldn’t get any further heather out the cappings. It was quite a large cake and I broke it down into smaller pieces first. Wondered if my technique could be improved eg do you heat yours first or any other tips?

I have offered some of the washings from my cappings this year, to another friend who like to make mead

I think that you likely got as much out of your honey out with the press which will have squashed the wax into a pretty solid block so really think you have done your best. Wash the wax well. Use the solar wax extractor to melt and filter ready to exchange for making your own foundation so you know where your wax is coming from. Very satisfying. And this is what I did with some of the wax yesterday!! See attachment.

 

[Curly green finger's]

You don’t press or spin it?

Yes I do press and I’m spinning frames , left some heather to drain through nylon sivs

 

[elainemary]

I think that you likely got as much out of your honey out with the press which will have squashed the wax into a pretty solid block so really think you have done your best. Wash the wax well. Use the solar wax extractor to melt and filter ready to exchange for making your own foundation so you know where your wax is coming from. Very satisfying. And this is what I did with some of the wax yesterday!! See attachment.

Beautiful, very clean & gorgeous colour. Can smell it from here. Well done!

 

[elainemary]

Put clearer boards on the 2 colonies I took to the moor. Both had 2 full supers of heather honey and capped, beautiful and white. Really pleased. Rain due tomorrow and showers / lower temps for the rest of the week. Gave them a super each of balsam / flower partially capped honey. Started varroa treatment. Each colony still had 7-8 frames of largely sealed brood but had started backfilling so couldn’t put in any full brood combs I’d saved from Nucs. Maybe later in September depending on how long the balsam lasts. Back to the valley on Monday.

 

[Swarm]

Well done, now that looks gorgeous.

 

[elainemary]

Well done, now that looks gorgeous.

Tastes amazing!

 

[biglongdarren]

I was up yesterday in the Mournes and started taking the first of my honey away. Also found that one of my hives had swarmed, managed to get them into a box. Would have been a dreadful wet and windy weekend for them had i not found them.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I was up yesterday in the Mournes and started taking the first of my honey away. Also found that one of my hives had swarmed, managed to get them into a box. Would have been a dreadful wet and windy weekend for them had i not found them.

Those look great frames!

 

[deemann1]

Best to use wired foundation for loosening, definitely not unwired or thin, as it won’t withstand the force. This happens - see pic!

Another tip is to use older super combs that have been used a few seasons as they get stronger from general use by the bees. Again must be wired for loosening and spinning in a swing cage or tangential extractor, not a radial

What loosener are you using? I’ve tried the plastic Abelo one and it does work, but it’s messy as the plastic rods are too thick in my opinion. My old fashioned hand held one by Mountain grey which has stainless steel thin pins, is much better but you can no longer buy. Have to keep an eye out at auctions

I’ve attached a photo of a comb I loosened using the Abelo plastic loosener, as a trial which I bought for our association’s use. I simply pushed it until it hit the foundation then wiggled it a few times in the cells before moving to the adjacent piece of comb. It’s time consuming but the comb stays intact during spinning and it spun out well and bees will repair the cell walls.

I’m concluding I’ll use this method for heather blended by the bees with balsam / wildflowers but I will scrape comb for pure heather and do cut comb. Life is too short! Again need a strong wired midrib or plastic foundation if scraping back if you want to keep some of the comb, otherwise use thin and cut the lot out and start again next season

Hope this helps
Elaine

I bought the abelo hand loosener last year , its a terrible slow task i had over 20 supers to get done ..
Never again !

 

[elainemary]

I bought the abelo hand loosener last year , its a terrible slow task i had over 20 supers to get done ..
Never again !

agree, I say this every year! All heather extraction by loosening is slow, have come to the conclusion the answer is to switch to more cut comb instead . You get a better price / g, its v popular if it's heather and you can draw new thin foundation on the spring flow for the following season. I have spent too much time and effort trying to save super comb from heather extraction!

 

[pete darbyshire]

I dont think you can beat a hydraulic fruit press for heather honey

 

[elainemary]

I dont think you can beat a hydraulic fruit press for heather honeyView attachment 33738

What make / cost was yours Pete?

 

[Erichalfbee]

These are the ones everybody was raving about here a few years back. I see the prices have shot up though
https://vigopresses.co.uk/cider-juice/presses/hydraulic/

 

[Curly green finger's]

agree, I say this every year! All heather extraction by loosening is slow, have come to the conclusion the answer is to switch to more cut comb instead . You get a better price / g, its v popular if it's heather and you can draw new thin foundation on the spring flow for the following season. I have spent too much time and effort trying to save super comb from heather extraction!

You can say that again about looseners or a corkscrew press was my thought .
Still extracting the last of the heather this week via a press