how much to strain

[Cuckmere couple]

so

have our 80lbs in two buckets settling

i put it through a double sieve into buckets from extractor

do i now remove the scum (will try Millet cling film method) and then strain again and leave for air bubbles to rise before jarring?

 

[drex]

That's what I do, except I do not bother straining again, as it would achieve nothing, having been through the the sieve once already.

 

[enrico]

Leave for 24 hours, remove scum if you have to and jar up. If you don't remove scum just keep the last couple of jars for yourself. Worth taking a refractometer reading from the top of the honey before you jar up as that is where the water level will be highest. The lighter honey rises to the top. In my experience anyway!
E

 

[Cuckmere couple]

yes will definitely take reading

it seemed honey from one hive had a slightly different flavor and color to the neighboring hive....worth ever keeping separate to test?

 

[Curley]

Might be worth keeping honey from different apiaries separate as some customers want the honey the bees closest to them.
Don't filter again unless you are using a finer filter 200 micro say. In which case do it before the settling period.
Don't forget as well as small bits that float, there are small bits that sink - check that first jar.

 

[enrico]

I always try and keep honey with different colour or texture separate, sometimes if you mix honeys they can separate in the jar giving a two tier effect.sometimes it looks good but if the bottom one crystallises and the top one doesn't it looks like mould. The more choice you can give your buyers the more interested they become.

 

[Popparand]

I let it settle for 24 hours then straight into jars. The honey gate takes the honey from below any scum. When all that's left is scum I'll think up a way to deal with the residue.

My first two boxes yielded darkish honey. And the last three progressively lighter. I kept the two separate. So the jars of the later honey are not all of a uniform colour.

Turn a problem into a selling feature: Your bees take nectar from different sources as each wild flower comes into bloom - a true reflection of the changing season and the provenance of your honey!

 

[deemann1]

Is the stainless steel double sieve enough of a filter
For jaring ?

 

[alfazer]

Is the stainless steel double sieve enough of a filter
For jaring ?

Yes, for general use or sale. You only need finer if you enter it in a honey show.

 

[Ian123]

Is the stainless steel double sieve enough of a filter
For jaring ?

i would say no for sale but yes for your own consumption/friends and family, you may still find grit or small specs after the normal steel mesh filtering and most small scale bottling tanks take the fine micron cone shape mest available form the suppliers

 

[Erichalfbee]

Keep a couple of jars, labelled. Make it the start of a collection of every years crop

 

[Ian123]

just to add if you have the ability to melt your buckets when set then i would only bottle 1 bucket at a time. if you bottle all together then in a few months and cooler weather a lot of summer honeys will sart to set whilst this is still fine you tend to get larger crystals in summer honey due to the longer setting period and it does not show your honey in its best light...i just rough filter summer honey on extraction and into buckets, when you come to bottle buckets are melted and its into a tank that includes a fine strainer that whilst still warm it easily passes through. If its spring rape then it gets fine filtered directly after extraction and into buckets. Simple reason for this is i dont want to completley melt the crystals to pass through a fine strainer when doing soft set

 

[Madge]

.... If you don't remove scum just keep the last couple of jars for yourself. ...
E

Yes, the frothy layer on top is mine. I rather like it.

 

[Swarm]

Double strainer, plenty and perfectly good for sale as well.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Double strainer, plenty and perfectly good for sale as well.

Perfectly good for showing as well.