Honey Liquefier

[macow]

Hi Folks,
I have a request for you all. I am thinking about buying a Swienty Dana api therma melter, the pedistal type.
So...., Does anyone have any experience of these types of melter ? Are they any good (using in 5 gallon buckets) ? Will it work on our electricity supply ( Swienty's rated at 230 v )? Has anyone had experience in dealing with this company?
The idea behind this is that i need to process 5 gallon buckets to a high standard and in a short timescale. The honey varies from being fairly runny to set like concrete.
Are there any other types of equipment that would fit the bill.

Many Thanks

Marc

 

[Hombre]

Just to clarify a couple of basic points. UK electricity supply is 230V.

Not 240v or 250V, but 230V - Official.

Swienty is a major player in the European bee keeping equipment world, of which we are a part.

Please post a link to a picture so that other newbies will know what you are talking about.

 

[Poly Hive]

My answer very much depends on how much space you have.

PH

 

[beebreeder]

link to a picture, I thought about it and some on here have one and swear by it.
http://www.swienty.com/shop/vare.asp?side=0&vareid=104400

 

[macow]

Hi All,
Link to pedistal Heater below

http://www.swienty.com/shop/vare.asp?side=0&vareid=109625

Thanks Hombre
Basic is good.

Hi Poly Hive,
I have a fair bit of space 10' x 25' but cost is also a limiting factor. What did you have in mind.
Has anyone had experience of this type of heater?

Thanks
Marc

 

[RoofTops]

The Swienty description surely says it all - it is for melting frames of set honey so the honey can be seperated from the wax.

It would be a very expensive warming cabinet if all you want to do is melt honey in buckets. A bath of temperature controlled water would work but the same company and others sell electrical elements which you stand in buckets to melt it all (api-melters), plus other devices. Take your pick: http://www.swienty.com/shop/default.asp?catid=1158

Towards the other end of the scale is the cabinet with a bulb in which most of the rest of use use.

 

[Ross]

Towards the other end of the scale is the cabinet with a bulb in which most of the rest of use use.

I have just finished helping a friend convert an old freezer with a light bulb and small thermostat. Cost him about £10 in parts (plus a few ciders)

 

[macow]

Hi Rooftops,
Yes it would indeed be a very expensive warming cabinet, but this is not the one that i am asking about -see link in my second post. Have you used one of these? If so how do you rate it.
Warming cabinet is too slow/variable for what i need.

Regards

Marc

 

[Into the lions den]

Warming cabinet is too slow/variable for what i need.

I have to say that the comment above rings alarm bells.

You need to finish the honey to a high standard. Slow and gentle is the only way to go. Fast does serious damage. Hmf (basically a measure of caramelisation with a legal max for sale of 40mg/Kg) increases as a direct function of heating, and at high temps, which you would need for a rapid process, it can destroy honey as a marketable or even palatable commodity in a few hours, even minutes at extreme levels.

There are tables published that you can find online that will show the hazard you face if doing the heating job too fast.

However, after all that warning, there are a large number of these tools in service, from bucket size up to barrel size. They seem very well accepted by their users, but they do only do a single unit at a time whereas a heating box can do several, and perhaps in total be cheaper and just as fast overall.

 

[macow]

Fair comment lions den,
I dont want to use high temps or long durations but i do want to ensure even and complete melting throughout the vessel. I am aware of HMF and the need to produce a quality product. Why would anyone want to take such a unique product and ruin it. What i am looking for is efficiency

Really just trying to see if anyone has had first hand experience of one of these to understand the pros and any drawbacks that they may have. Sounds like this may do the job.

Regards

Marc

 

[YorkshireBees]

Warming cabinet is too slow/variable for what i need.

I built my own warming cabinet from an old freezer and a thermostatically controlled incubator heating element last year. I use it set so the max temp inside it is 35 degs C and it converted rock solid OSR honey into nicely bottleable honey in 48-72hrs. The size is the only thing that I would have changed, as although mine takes 2 x 30lb buckets or my 40kg tank it is too small for my 60kg tank!
Having said that if / when I find a larger fridge / freezer it will not be too much of a job to move the heating kit over to it. The heating element was not running at full power so it should cope ok with a higher capacity cabinet.

IMHO I would not want to heat honey up any faster.

 

[RoofTops]

Hi Rooftops,
Yes it would indeed be a very expensive warming cabinet, but this is not the one that i am asking about -see link in my second post. Have you used one of these? If so how do you rate it.
Warming cabinet is too slow/variable for what i need.

Regards

Marc

Sorry, I misunderstood. I have used the small conical api-melter, which fits inside a strainer. It can melt set honey but it was not easy to do as you had to cut the set honey out in chunks and drop it into the cone. The conical sort are much better suited for warming cold runny honey so it can pass through a fine filter quickly.

I guess the "footprint" types would be the things to use for melting set honey but it will still be a slow business I think for the reasons ITLD points out - too quickly and you risk over-heating the honey.

 

[victor meldrew]

The Swienty description surely says it all - it is for melting frames of set honey so the honey can be seperated from the wax.

It would be a very expensive warming cabinet if all you want to do is melt honey in buckets. A bath of temperature controlled water would work but the same company and others sell electrical elements which you stand in buckets to melt it all (api-melters), plus other devices. Take your pick: http://www.swienty.com/shop/default.asp?catid=1158

Towards the other end of the scale is the cabinet with a bulb in which most of the rest of use use.

I have stuck a fish tank heater into a bucket of honey to warm it . Although it was pre-set to 30C-ish ,I discovered the contact area (honey/glass)was soon coated in caramelised honey .
I would imagine all immersion type heating would suffer from this tendency ?
Dissipating the heat would appear to be the problem .Commercial honey handlers usually incorporate some method of stirring the honey .

VM

 

[Poly Hive]

I was thinking of the converted deep freeze that worked very effectively for me and handled the out put of 80 odd hives with no real issues. If used in conjunction with at timer (I was 25 miles from the premises) it can handle 300 lb at a time no bother at all.

PH

 

[Sean.]

Ross,

Would it be possible to get a parts list of what you have used?

Our fridge / freezer is on the way out, if it does not get a push so I'm looking to convert this as a warming cabinet later on in the year.

Thanks

 

[RoofTops]

I have stuck a fish tank heater into a bucket of honey to warm it . Although it was pre-set to 30C-ish ,I discovered the contact area (honey/glass)was soon coated in caramelised honey .
I would imagine all immersion type heating would suffer from this tendency ?
Dissipating the heat would appear to be the problem .Commercial honey handlers usually incorporate some method of stirring the honey .

VM

Honey will not caramelise at 30C, I suspect the thermostat on your heater was either up the shoot or more likely, because the thing was built to be used in water it simply wasn't designed for something like honey. The thermostat was probably some distance away from the heating element.

The api-melter I used had a metal tubular element a bit like a kettle element. The thermostat had a metal bulb which was soldered to the outside of the heating element so I guess it had a very accurate idea of what the surface temperature of the element was and was able to hold it at the temperature you set.

Api-melters are fairly widely used and if they ruined the honey I don't think they would still be being sold.

 

[macow]

Thanks PH and others,
Off to find a freezer now. It would of been intresting to hear from anyone who had experience of the pedistal heater though.

Regards

Marc

 

[Moggs]

Fish tank heaters are designed to bring a relatively large volume of water to the desired temperature so are generally in the range of 100 - 300 watts. 300 watts will cause serious damage to honey. Slow and gentle is the way.