Stainless steel honey press?

[peterbees]

Has anyone here used the Thorn's stainless steel honey press for heather honey?
We are thinking of buying one to lend out to members. There's a fair harvest of heather honey here in North Wales.
We have one of the Economy presses, not so impressed with it.
Thanks.

 

[elainemary]

I’d recommend this one instead about 1/2 the price. I bought for our association a couple of years ago & use for pressing heather comb (need to line with a linen bag).
https://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/9-10-litre-cross-beam-press-with-stainless-mesh-basket-v20/

 

[peterbees]

I’d recommend this one instead about 1/2 the price. I bought for our association a couple of years ago & use for pressing heather comb (need to line with a linen bag).
https://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/9-10-litre-cross-beam-press-with-stainless-mesh-basket-v20/

Thanks Elaine.
Peter McFadden, Conwy Beekeepers.

 

[Gunner]

And the added bonus that if the heather crop is no good your members can make some cider using it! We have one for that purpose and it’s a sturdy press that produces plenty of juice.

 

[peterbees]

Thanks Elaine.
Peter McFadden, Conwy Beekeepers.

We've just ordered this press from Love Brewing, the mainly-stainless version @£216, including a straining cloth. We have plenty of heather honey this year in the Conwy Valley.
Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[peterbees]

We bought the all-stainless steel version @ £215 with free carriage and a free straining bag. It is now out on hire to a member. It is a solid piece of kit.
The picture shows a 454g honey jar on the table, to give an idea of the size of the press.

 

[Angry_Mob]

Mines due to arrive tomorrow, bought the stainless steel version as well.

Looks bigger than I thought but looking forward to trying it out and finally finishing the harvest.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Really useful. I’ve added this to the stickies

 

[peterbees]

Really useful. I’ve added this to the stickies

Thanks Dani,
We've had a good heather honey harvest in the Conwy Valley this year, and we want to encourage more of our members to go for heather honey.

 

[peterbees]

Mines due to arrive tomorrow, bought the stainless steel version as well.

Looks bigger than I thought but looking forward to trying it out and finally finishing the harvest.

It is a big well-made machine, made in Italy for winemakers.

 

[garypcook]

How do you find the size of this press? I'm torn between the 9-10 litre and the 20 litre versions - I have half a dozen hives within a mile or so of heather and got a few supers worth. Also I see they do fine and coarse versions of the straining bag - any recommendation on which to go for?

 

[peterbees]

The coarse straining bag is recommended for honey.
I guess the 20-litre machine will be a big, very heavy machine. Our new 9-10 litre machine is getting good reviews from Conwy BK members.

 

[elainemary]

How do you find the size of this press? I'm torn between the 9-10 litre and the 20 litre versions - I have half a dozen hives within a mile or so of heather and got a few supers worth. Also I see they do fine and coarse versions of the straining bag - any recommendation on which to go for?

I find the 9-10lt just the right size to handle, wouldn’t fancy lifting a much bigger version. I have similar number of hives to you, though I use a loosener rather than a press for some of them, and handles the supers I have well. Quick & easy to remove the crushed honey cake and add more in the bag (albeit a sticky process!)

 

[Ian123]

Also don’t forget those hydro presses. There have been some well priced versions posted about some time ago.

 

[Ian123]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hydropress-Press-Fruit-Making-Honeycomb/dp/B07RLBKR42
Not sure if that’s the best price but it looks similar to some mentioned in the past

 

[garypcook]

Thanks everyone,

Elainemary - I presume you're using the hand held loosener - how does this work, do you prefer it to the press? It looks like it only covers a small part of a frame at a time and would be time consuming and tedious to loosen numerous frames? And is it effective in getting all the heather honey out? I've tried a spikey uncapping roller to agitate the honey and a tangential extractor but only managed to get maybe half the honey from a frame.

Ian123 - I quite fancy a hydro press and that one looks a good price, but not sure I can justify the cost ... will need to think about it a bit more.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I presume you're using the hand held loosener - how does this work, do you prefer it to the press? It looks like it only covers a small part of a frame at a time and would be time consuming and tedious to loosen numerous frames? And is it effective in getting all the heather honey out?

It works by pushing it into the cells, giving it a good juggle then moving on to the next bit.
It does cover only a little of the frame, with a national shallow it covers about a third of the depth of a national shallow frame it's also only about two thirds of the length of a frame, so if it's a full frame you need to do the edges separately as well.
It doesn't get all the honey out.

 

[elainemary]

Thanks everyone,

Elainemary - I presume you're using the hand held loosener - how does this work, do you prefer it to the press? It looks like it only covers a small part of a frame at a time and would be time consuming and tedious to loosen numerous frames? And is it effective in getting all the heather honey out? I've tried a spikey uncapping roller to agitate the honey and a tangential extractor but only managed to get maybe half the honey from a frame.

Ian123 - I quite fancy a hydro press and that one looks a good price, but not sure I can justify the cost ... will need to think about it a bit more.

Hi Gary
The hand held loosener is effective it does get most of the honey out if you give it a good ‘jiggle’ and make sure the spikes of the loosener are pressed down to the midrib of the comb, but as you say is tedious and time consuming. The version I have which is old and bought from an auction spans the whole width of the super comb but you do need to work down the length. I don’t think an uncapping roller would have long enough spikes to effectively loosen the honey.
I tend to use the scrape and press method for pure heather and use the loosener when I have colonies bringing in a blend of heather and wildflower / garden nectar. In this situation I uncap, spin out slowly then tackle the heather ‘arch’ left on the comb with the loosener. All processes are slow I’ve found and hard work but the end product is wonderful

 

[peterbees]

How do you find the size of this press? I'm torn between the 9-10 litre and the 20 litre versions - I have half a dozen hives within a mile or so of heather and got a few supers worth. Also I see they do fine and coarse versions of the straining bag - any recommendation on which to go for?

The 20 litre press weighs a hefty 18kg, compared with the 9 litre press at 10kg.

 

[Poly Hive]

The rolls Royce machine has needles on springs that allow the needles to meet on each side of the midrib but not pierce it. You then move the handle several times, I found 4 was about right before pushing the lever right down so that the ratchet engaged and the needles moved. The point being that dipping once into a cell is NOT enough it takes several movements to turn it liquid. The spikes on the roller are way too short.

PH