how many times do you sieve

[Cuckmere couple]

so i use the standard double strainer sieve and the process i follow is

- spin and then sieve into a honey bucket from extractor
- allow to settle for a day or so in airing cupboard
- sieve again into settling tank with tap and back into airing cupboard for 24 hours
- then into jars

do i need the double sieve or am i duplicating the process required?

 

[Anduril]

Strain once, then once settled use cling film to remove the top layer of the honey.

 

[Codford]

 

[Adam Bee]

Strain once, then once settled use cling film to remove the top layer of the honey.

Can you explain this in a tiny bit more detail? Please?

 

[Cuckmere couple]

ah ok

forgot the cling film

worked a treat last year

adam

you use a sheet of cling film, let it rest in contact across top layer of honey....lift carefully like a hankerchief in a trick (sorr for description) so sides all re-join and keep the crud inside

 

[Adam Bee]

Ah. Interesting. Like: pinch the middle of the cling film and lift up?

 

[Anduril]

Ah. Interesting. Like: pinch the middle of the cling film and lift up?

Yes and the scum comes up with it, leaving a miniscule amount in there. But don't throw it away, scrape it off the cling film and find a use for it.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Double metal sieve here. Not twice

 

[drex]

I do occasionally sieve twice, but only if it has stood in the buckets for a long enough time to start to form a few crystals. Have been caught out, pouring straight into tank to make soft set, and the few crystals were enough to encourage coarse setting rather than the smooth of the seed honey.

 

[Rosti]

so i use the standard double strainer sieve and the process i follow is

- spin and then sieve into a honey bucket from extractor
- allow to settle for a day or so in airing cupboard
- sieve again into settling tank with tap and back into airing cupboard for 24 hours
- then into jars

do i need the double sieve or am i duplicating the process required?

I do filter (using a standard coarse/fine combination sieve), but I only sieve once on exit from the extractor to primary storage. If you are filtering multiple times then you should challenge yourself as to why. If you are attempting to recondition a honey then fair enough, give it a go. If not then consider if you are intervening for the sake of it rather than with value. Honey is inherently inert to microbial growth. Dormant spores will pass through a sieve, as will very fine insect body parts/organic matter, assume that material will still be there however many times you filter. If a honey looks clean, then that is as much as a trad passive filter can qualitatively deliver. Multiple passes at the same filter size still lets the same size of particle through … multiple times. Filtering increases surface area and therefore the threat of aerobic recontamination, our houses are very far from sterile, especially if pets live with you.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

thanks Rosti and others

single straining here plus judicious use of cling film...

 

[Beefriendly]

I find it really slows granulation (after liquefying a bucket) if you run it through a 200 micron filter...leaves the pollen but takes out larger particles that form granulation nuclei.

 

[Ian123]

I filter osr on extraction inc micro cloth, there is then no need to melt and filter later honey is ready to warm tank and cream