I hate honey extracting! so any tips please.

[pargyle]

thanks - assume you don' extract on the garden wall

Only when the bees are not about otherwise it gets a bit interesting !

 

[Jonnyl]

Do not ‘smoke’ bees off honey frames. There is a risk, particularly if there is uncapped cells, of tainting the crop, so it should be regarded as bad practice.

Filtering, as opposed to sieving, is better done as a separate entity to extracting.

"Filtering as opposed to sieving...." That's interesting. Can you explain the difference? I use a standard 500 micron (i think), one of those double stainless steel things. It sits directly under the gate, passes through and drips into the settling tank. Is there a better method? Thanks.

 

[bobba]

If you fancy a trip across the county border you can do mine!

I am genuinely tempted, but distance may be an issue. If you relay want some help, PM me when you are ready extract.

I am in the process of buying house, it may or may not complete soon. If I still dont have the keys by the time you are ready, then I may be able to help.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I am genuinely tempted, but distance may be an issue. If you relay want some help, PM me when you are ready extract.

I am in the process of buying house, it may or may not complete soon. If I still dont have the keys by the time you are ready, then I may be able to help.

Thanks for the very kind offer, I was joking but I do find extraction a bit of a pain.
I'm lucky to have a honey room so that when I've finished for the day I can just clean down and leave rather than having clear away all the equipment. I extracted in my utility room for the first couple of years but SWMBO made it clear that it was not going to happen again after spending the following days clearing up all the drips!

 

[Erichalfbee]

"Filtering as opposed to sieving...." That's interesting. Can you explain the difference? I use a standard 500 micron (i think), one of those double stainless steel things. It sits directly under the gate, passes through and drips into the settling tank. Is there a better method? Thanks.

That’s a sieve
It’s what a lot of people stop at and nothing wrong with it

 

[Jonnyl]

That’s a sieve
It’s what a lot of people stop at and nothing wrong with it

So what's filtering, I was under the impression they were the same. By the way Eric I found a similar 'honey warmer' on Betterbee I think, somewhere anyway, that quoted £150+ for the gadget you recommended I got from Lidl recently. The site had a lot more uses for it and explained what was possible. Thanks very much for heads up, saved a fortune. Cheers again.

 

[Erichalfbee]

If you filter you remove most if the pollen. Is it 200 microns folk use for showing? Something like that

 

[Jonnyl]

If you filter you remove most if the pollen. Is it 200 microns folk use for showing? Something like that

Ah I see. Thank you. Seems a little pointless to me but I suppose others have their own reasons which should be respected. Thanks again. So my (your( honey should be labelled as sieved? I've never seen it described using that word. I understand now.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ah I see. Thank you. Seems a little pointless to me but I suppose others have their own reasons which should be respected. Thanks again. So my (your( honey should be labelled as sieved? I've never seen it described using that word. I understand now.

Strained maybe or unfiltered

 

[Erichalfbee]

Strained maybe or unfiltered

Ah I see. Thank you. Seems a little pointless to me but I suppose others have their own reasons which should be respected. Thanks again. So my (your( honey should be labelled as sieved? I've never seen it described using that word. I understand now.

If you are showing honey it needs to be crystal clear. That’s why it’s filtered
Honey that is not filtered can be described as unfiltered but usually simply HONEY is sufficient

 

[Moobee]

It takes over the kitchen leaves a stick mess takes ages and generally is a pain. About 5 years ago I was told at the Devon County show that you could use a paint striper gun to remove the cappings - wow! who would have thought it? I have upgraded to a 9 frame electric extractor, but that 'walks' across the floor. I have a honey box to heat the honey before basic filtering. I have always struggled getting the honey off the bees, and never had any joy with bee escapes. So all tips greatly appreciated.

Lots of damp cloths (not wet as you just smear it everywhere) and clean spills up as you go.

 

[oliver90owner]

Sieving honey only removes coarse matter, not honey (unless there is some crystallised bits). Those non-honey bits are simply not honey - no different than that which would either sink to the bottom of a settling tank or float (as in wax which would be skimmed off). 75 micron filtering cloths are often used to remove virtually all pollen grains for showing purposes and by commercial ‘runny honey’ suppliers to prevent early crystallisation (in squeezy containers in particular).

Worker bee seems to have ‘gone to ground’. I do hope my comment re not smoking when removing frames (for extraction) has been duly noted by him and other new beeks who might have otherwise followed suit.

 

[enrico]

Sieving honey only removes coarse matter, not honey (unless there is some crystallised bits). Those non-honey bits are simply not honey - no different than that which would either sink to the bottom of a settling tank or float (as in wax which would be skimmed off). 75 micron filtering cloths are often used to remove virtually all pollen grains for showing purposes and by commercial ‘runny honey’ suppliers to prevent early crystallisation (in squeezy containers in particular).

Worker bee seems to have ‘gone to ground’. I do hope my comment re not smoking when removing frames (for extraction) has been duly noted by him and other new beeks who might have otherwise followed suit.

I guess you can always sell it as smoked honey!

 

[pete darbyshire]

Try using a hot air gun for up capping. Saves a lot of mess.

 

[Newbeeneil]

A few years ago I tried using a hot air gun but decided the a knife was probably easier and I got some lovely capping wax that I would give to the bees in an English feeder to clean.
Due to my problems with EFB I am trying to minimise any chance of cross contamination of hives so decided I didn't need the cappings and retried the hot air gun.
I had 11 supers to spin out this morning and found it quick and clean so I'll probably carry on with the rest of my colonies.