Jarring question

[dto001]

Hi all,

I hope everyone is well.

Has anyone used (or have any reason why not to) the little plastic valves for homebrewing buckets for jarring honey instead of a honey gate? If you attached a length of hose on to it, it would be easier to jar honey as you could just move the hose (assuming the honey was runny) as opposed to moving the jar.

I hope you get what I mean.

Cheers

 

[enrico]

I do but I think you would be there for ever!

 

[pargyle]

I do but I think you would be there for ever!

And ... honey is much more viscous so it will not syphon or flow like wines and beers do. Even connecting it so that gravity is the driving force you will find that the rate of flow (without some sort of pump) is so slow - as Enrico says - you will find it very time consuming and getting the last dregs out of the tube will be a nightmare.

If you have a honey gate in your settling tank that's anything like mine it is a bit leaky and opening and shutting the valve can be messy. I tend to fill a large plastic jug from the honey gate and use that to fill the jars .. I fill my jars as I need them so a couple of dozen at a time only takes a relatively short time and there's virtually no mess ('er indoors will usually find at least one sticky spot in the kitchen to beat me with in any case !).

Most hobby beekeepers find their own way of filling jars and I'm sure someone will eventually find a way of modifying the traditional honey gate to make it more of use for filling jars straight from the settling tank .. or perhaps there already is something that is available ?

 

[dto001]

I never actually thought of a jug just filling them straight from the bucket through the Honey gate ��-

Cheers

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm sure someone will eventually find a way of modifying the traditional honey gate to make it more of use for filling jars straight from the settling tank .. or perhaps there already is something that is available ?

There is, Thornes make a 'snap shut' valve which replaces the gate valve

 

[pargyle]

This looks incredibly civilised for the average small time beekeeper - can only find it in the USA and at $330 a tad expensive but you can set it to deliver whatever quantity of honey you need to fill each jar and once it is set .. no more weighing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbUXo0_ELD0

 

[pargyle]

There is, Thornes make a 'snap shut' valve which replaces the gate valve

Does it work ? Has anyone used it ?

https://www.thorne.co.uk/honey-and-...-storage-and-strainers/valves?product_id=6780

 

[enrico]

I have never had a problem with the old hat valve. The secret is to keep the opening part pressed against the sealing o ring as you open and close it so there are no side or top leaks!
E

 

[pargyle]

I have never had a problem with the old hat valve. The secret is to keep the opening part pressed against the sealing o ring as you open and close it so there are no side or top leaks!
E

I can't even walk and eat at the same time .. the chances of me doing that whilst holding a honey jar and reaching for another is remote ! I think the stainless steel ones are more reliable - I've tried several different plastic ones and they all seem to drip no matter what I do with them ..

Incompetent jar filler ? Yes - probably my technique but the average honey gate does not help ...

 

[Angry_Mob]

Does it work ? Has anyone used it ?

https://www.thorne.co.uk/honey-and-...-storage-and-strainers/valves?product_id=6780

Old Castle Farm hives were selling them for circa £25 at the UBKA convention, i looked at them, didnt buy but Ian told me they were good.

This time I tried a double jug method, one jug in the bucket which gets covered in honey which is used to pour into the other "non-sticky" jug used for filling the jars, went more smoothly than the gate method as could get much better control over the flow.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Old Castle Farm hives were selling them for circa £25 at the UBKA convention, i looked at them, didnt buy but Ian told me they were good.

This time I tried a double jug method, one jug in the bucket which gets covered in honey which is used to pour into the other "non-sticky" jug used for filling the jars, went more smoothly than the gate method as could get much better control over the flow.

How ever you do it, your still going to get honey on your hands.. I tried to use nitriles today but I was so tempted to taste it after finishing I got my hands in the settling tank after putting it in buckets.. Then a wooden spoon got passed me by my two youngest.
Alf said its to die for and that comes from a 5 year old!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Tried all sorts - still go back to the honey gate. Works better on cold honey (If I'm decanting honey from the warming cabinet to the bottling tank, I leave it for eight hours or more befor bottling)

 

[drex]

I agree with enrico, keep the flap pressed against the O ring and minimal leakage. I also always have a bowl of water and damp cloth if my hands or the gate do get sticky. Not really messy at all. I usually jar up 60 lbs at a time

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes same here. I moaned about honey gates on here and mbc told me I was doing it all wrong. He was right. If you keep pressure on it doesn’t leak and dribble round the top.

 

[pargyle]

Yes same here. I moaned about honey gates on here and mbc told me I was doing it all wrong. He was right. If you keep pressure on it doesn’t leak and dribble round the top.

I think the problem lies with some of the plastic gates..I've tried ones from Thorne, Simon the beekeeper, amazon and I haven't had any joy with any of them - they all leak and I think it is because they distort and the rubber seal does not sit in the grooves as well as it should ..I think I'm going to have to invest £30 in a stainless steel one ...hopefully that will work as it should. I can see how pressing it in should make the seal seat properly but I've just had a go this morning with some honey in my tank and it drips even when I press it in - indeed I have to wrap cling film around the gate to stop it leaking when I screw the wingnut up tight. Archaic design and I am sure it can be improved upon !

 

[enrico]

I have never had that problem. I never get any honey on my hands. I raise the tank to about a foot off the ground and have a small fishing chair I sit on. I have designed a unit so I can tilt the tank towards me. I put a bowl under the tap for drips. I keep the wing nut fairly tight so that I can just push the flap through it. I hold the jar a couple of inches under the tap. I open the tap with pressure against the tank. I open it about a third and as the honey reaches the top of the jar I gently close the tap maintaining pressure against the o ring at all times. I close it completely into the wing nut. I lower the jar and the honey stops dripping immediately so I remove that jar. Drips go into the bowl. I grab another jar and put it under just as the drips stop. I get no honey on the outside of the jars at all. I repeat as necessary. I can fill a jar in about five or six seconds. Having somewhere to put them and empty jars near you is important!
Maybe I should do a video
E

 

[drex]

Again, my procedure is exactly the same as enrico 's, found through trial and error, and is mainly problem free. I ensure the face plate of the gate is smooth, that the O ring is seated properly, and that the wing nuts are tightened just right. Too tight is as bad as too loose.

 

[Niv]

I have never had that problem. I never get any honey on my hands. I raise the tank to about a foot off the ground and have a small fishing chair I sit on. I have designed a unit so I can tilt the tank towards me. I put a bowl under the tap for drips. I keep the wing nut fairly tight so that I can just push the flap through it. I hold the jar a couple of inches under the tap. I open the tap with pressure against the tank. I open it about a third and as the honey reaches the top of the jar I gently close the tap maintaining pressure against the o ring at all times. I close it completely into the wing nut. I lower the jar and the honey stops dripping immediately so I remove that jar. Drips go into the bowl. I grab another jar and put it under just as the drips stop. I get no honey on the outside of the jars at all. I repeat as necessary. I can fill a jar in about five or six seconds. Having somewhere to put them and empty jars near you is important!
Maybe I should do a video
E

Exactly how I do it. No problems here either!

 

[bobba]

I know this thread is old but...

I have used honey gates for the 1st time this year. Like enrio I have had no problems with them. I only have a small 10L tank.

I wonder if some of the people having problem are using larger tanks with more pressure behind the gate?

Others like pargyle say they fill 12 or so jars, then I assume return the tank to storage. I would not trust the gate to get a good long term seal once honey has flowed through it.

I view it as a fill the tank, jar it all in one go, then clean before refill operation.

It would be interesting to know if the metal gates do work for resealing a part emptied tank.

 

[understanding_bees]

Hi all,

I hope everyone is well.

Has anyone used (or have any reason why not to) the little plastic valves for homebrewing buckets for jarring honey instead of a honey gate? If you attached a length of hose on to it, it would be easier to jar honey as you could just move the hose (assuming the honey was runny) as opposed to moving the jar.

I hope you get what I mean.

Cheers

I agree with other replies here, from Enrico and Pargyle, about honey being viscous, etc.

I have built a stainless steel honey-settling-tank, from what was originally an LPG gas cylinder from a motor vehicle. It is made from the same grade of stainless steel as that which is classified as food-grade stainless steel. I have fitted a stainless-steel honey-gate, rather than a plastic one. The cost of the stainless-steel honey-gate was less than twice the price of a plastic honey-gate. It is so much more robust than the plastic one, and can be adjusted so that it does not leak, and is my preferred option.

Even when the honey-gate is only partly opened the honey flows freely. If the "hinge screw" of the honey-gate is adjusted correctly then there is not a problem of honey leaking when the gate is closed.