How exactly do you process your Honey ?

[BrianO]

Hi

I use the word " Process " carefully.

I just extracted approx 60lbs.

As last year my " Processing " consists of double filtering , thats it. Would be really interested to hear exactly what others do from the 0ne off small batch producer like me to the behemoths of the industry !! like ITLD

 

[Thymallus]

You have a lot of "depends" here, Brian.
Double filtered through what?
Are you wanting to store it in bulk buckets until ready to sell/give away/use?
Or are you going to jar it and present it as runny, creamed, soft set, natural set?
For example I run my runny through double stainless steel mesh filters and store. Melt gently and run through 200 micron filter to remove as many large granulation nuclei (crud) as I can. Then bottle.
Others types are done differently

 

[Hivemaker.]

like ITLD

For heather honey, here you go....http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=252711&postcount=22

 

[MuswellMetro]

i coarse filter my honey (700µm filter ) into 14kg buckets and take the water content with a micrometre and let it stand

if it is still runny after a few weeks i take the highest water content honey first and heat it to 34c for two days and flter it through a sweinty (200 µm) cone filter, let it stand in the settling tank for 12 to 24 hrs and jar up

i sell that honey at my door but for shop honey i heat the jars to 65c for 30-40 min then cool fast

For the set honey in melt at 54c for three days and filter through a (350 µm) cone filter and either make creamed or seeded honey

if i know it is OSR i use 7kg buckets and pre filter with 350 µm straight from the extractor and try to cream it before i get a 7g brick of honey

 

[Tom Jay]

Through a nylon mesh double filter out of the spinner into buckets.
Leave it to stand 24 hours.
Skim off the 'froth' generously and use all that stuff personally over coming days.
Jar.

Also: I'm not too cautious when cutting off the cappings, so there is plenty of honey there too. All that goes into the double filter over a bucket [by portions] before the drained cappings are put out for the bees to feast on late afternoon till dark. Of my total 43 pounds this season, 7 pounds of it was honey drained off the cappings and it is as clear as the extracted honey.

ps my bees see no osr nor heather.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

the drained cappings are put out for the bees to feast on late afternoon till dark.

Not a wise thing to do at all - whatever the time of day or night

 

[Cussword]

For heather honey, here you go....http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=252711&postcount=22

Flipping heck! That sounds complicated.

I shall be giving my bees strict instructions to stay well away from heather

 

[Michael Palmer]

You asked for extracting setups of all sizes. Here's my medium sized extracting system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IROmWBYfdF0

 

[BrianO]

You have a lot of "depends" here, Brian.
Double filtered through what?
Are you wanting to store it in bulk buckets until ready to sell/give away/use?
Or are you going to jar it and present it as runny, creamed, soft set, natural set?
For example I run my runny through double stainless steel mesh filters and store. Melt gently and run through 200 micron filter to remove as many large granulation nuclei (crud) as I can. Then bottle.
Others types are done differently

Fair point !!

Great to hear all about aspects of processing.

me, up till 2.45 am last night, jarring.

Spun off, drained through 2 sieves, coarse and finer.

Let settle, and that's it, jarred up.

 

[BrianO]

End result, 100 Plus jars of Beautiful multifloral Honey.

Happy out, wont break any records but have doubled my output year on year !

 

[Obee1]

Through a nylon mesh double filter out of the spinner into buckets.
Leave it to stand 24 hours.
Skim off the 'froth' generously and use all that stuff personally over coming days.
Jar.

Also: I'm not too cautious when cutting off the cappings, so there is plenty of honey there too. All that goes into the double filter over a bucket [by portions] before the drained cappings are put out for the bees to feast on late afternoon till dark. Of my total 43 pounds this season, 7 pounds of it was honey drained off the cappings and it is as clear as the extracted honey.

ps my bees see no osr nor heather.

I accidentally open fed my cappings like that when I got called away mid beekeeping session. By the time I returned to the hive there were bees covering every inch of the cappings pot so I left em to it. I have 2 hives and assumed bees were from both. End result - Within a few hours about three hundred dead bees. ( I gave up counting at 200!) Won't be doing that again.

 

[Cussword]

I accidentally open fed my cappings like that when I got called away mid beekeeping session. By the time I returned to the hive there were bees covering every inch of the cappings pot so I left em to it. I have 2 hives and assumed bees were from both. End result - Within a few hours about three hundred dead bees. ( I gave up counting at 200!) Won't be doing that again.

Sorry for what is probably a stupid question but, why did they die?

 

[Obee1]

They were fighting. by mid afternoon the garden was thick with so many bees that they were crashing into the windows. When I went out later to collect the cappings I was able to watch how several bees would attack one bee and drag it away from the cappings.

 

[Tom Jay]

Not a wise thing to do at all - whatever the time of day or night

What are the potential bad consequences of putting out cappings for the bees to feast on and dry? - in my case it was some two metres in front of a pair of hives, two large trays off the ground. I saw nothing but bees on the trays, and the frenzy lasted a couple of hours and then all calm. What are the problems or pitfalls?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

it can trigger robbing - both bees and wasps, it can attract bees from other colonies, cause fighting spread disease, get the bees into a foraging frenzy and cause a nuisance to your neighbours.
Basically a stupid and irresponsible thing to do.
If you want your bees to clean the cappings put the tray on top of an open feeder board within an empty super on your chosen hive.

 

[Cussword]

Thanks for that, I hadn't thought of that.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

But don't leave it in for too long - they get very creative with their wax sculptures