Curly Green Fingers’ Tips

[Curly green finger's]

The Clingfilm Trick

So you lay a layer over a bucket and push the clingfilm down on the honey, then either peal of from one side or as jbm does pinches the clingfilm from the middle. hey presto
Scum has gone, I then will tip honey into this ready to jar up. .
@jenkinsbrynmair i did it your way but both ways work.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Why don’t you start a thread, maybe call it Curly’s too tips and have all these in the same place rather than starting new threads on every brilliant idea. I could do that for you and you’re all set

 

[Curly green finger's]

Why don’t you start a thread, maybe call it Curly’s too tips and have all these in the same place rather than starting new threads on every brilliant idea. I could do that for you and you’re all set

Ok do what you will, call it c.g.fs tips if you like instead thanks

 

[Curly green finger's]

Not really new tips, I've learnt the above from you guys on here

 

[Erichalfbee]

It saves you starting new threads for everything

Not really new tips, I've learnt the above from you guys on here

Nevertheless it’s a great tip and nobody else has posted it in the beginners section

 

[bobba]

I tried the cling film method, but did not like it. I just seem to loose a lot of honey and make a mess, probably largely down to my poor implementation. I tried pulling from middle, sides etc.

Where you say " Scum has gone, I then will tip honey into this ready to jar up. "

I extract straight into one like that/this...

Then I dont bother removing the scum right away. What I do is start filling jars. The scum will stay on the top. When the bucket is approaching empty you must take care not to fill too fast or you will suck scum and air bubbles in. By the time you are down to the last few jars, you will have by this point tilted the bucket. The scum will keep forming a smaller and smaller circle. Just before the level of the honey goes below the valve opening, I just scoop it out with a spoon. Absolute minimal honey wastage. I reckon I barley waste a toasts worth of honey.

Give it a try, you will be supprisd how the scum gets concentrated into a small easily removable disc.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I tried the cling film method, but did not like it. I just seem to loose a lot of honey and make a mess, probably largely down to my poor implementation. I tried pulling from middle, sides etc.

Where you say " Scum has gone, I then will tip honey into this ready to jar up. "

I extract straight into one like that/this...

Then I dont bother removing the scum right away. What I do is start filling jars. The scum will stay on the top. When the bucket is approaching empty you must take care not to fill too fast or you will suck scum and air bubbles in. By the time you are down to the last few jars, you will have by this point tilted the bucket. The scum will keep forming a smaller and smaller circle. Just before the level of the honey goes below the valve opening, I just scoop it out with a spoon. Absolute minimal honey wastage. I reckon I barley waste a toasts worth of honey.

Give it a try, you will be supprisd how the scum gets concentrated into a small easily removable disc.

Thanks bobba, perhaps it was a good idea starting this thread because there will be new ways of getting rid of the scum/detritus that we can all learn.
I will try it and any honey saved is a bonus after all its liquid gold and the girls have spent alot of time and energy making each bucket.
Thanks again for sharing.

I know some folk use a settling tank which can hold some 100s of lbs and jar straight from that as in much the same way as you, but I like to extract each super and then bucket, My reasons each super can be different honey or even some times individually frames can have different coloured honey in them and I like to separate them.
This season I've had 7 different coloured honeys not alot of difference maybe in flavour but there are suttle differences maybe a bit over the top but I don't think that would change even if I was extracting a ton.

Going back to the tips etc I measured the honey that dripped out and it wasn't even 50mls.
Please keep adding your tips / tricks I think we have started something here!
Cheers
C. G. F.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks bobba, perhaps it was a good idea starting this thread because there will be new ways of getting rid of the scum/detritus that we can all learn.

Please keep adding your tips / tricks I think we have started something here!
Cheers
C. G. F.

Immortality?
Like the What did you do in the Apiary thread

 

[Etton]

Immortality?
Like the What did you do in the Apiary thread

I put my scum into a feeder, and feed back to the bees

 

[pargyle]

I put my scum into a feeder, and feed back to the bees

I put the scum in a jar and eat it ...

I also think that you need a settling tank(s) to meet the size of your crop. All my honey goes into settling tanks after it comes out of the extractor - I have a few 30 litre plastic settling buckets with honey gates on them. Leave it for about 48 hours by which time the honey is crystal clear, remove the scum using cling film (you don't waste any if you squeeze it out of the cling film to use it as you wish) and the drain into storage buckets. Square ones that hold about 30lbs each.

The less transferring of honey from one vessel to another the better as you always leave some in the bottom of the tank even scraping it out with a spatula.

I then jar up, as an when required, from the storage buckets. I don't bother separating the honey from supers ... you can't usually be certain what they have foraged on and my customers just like the fact that it's local honey, tastes fantastic and is fairly consistent in appearance and quality. Having jars of different coloured honey with the same label is just going to confuse the marketing proposition. Each to their own though ...

 

[madasafish]

I put my scum into a feeder, and feed back to the bees

I put my scum on top of a sieve , jar it and eat it. It's lovely.

Or maybe I should sell it at a vastly inflated price as "beekeeper's honey" - as discussed on the forum.

 

[bobba]

Thanks bobba, perhaps it was a good idea starting this thread because there will be new ways of getting rid of the scum/detritus that we can all learn.
I will try it and any honey saved is a bonus after all its liquid gold and the girls have spent alot of time and energy making each bucket.
Thanks again for sharing.

I know some folk use a settling tank which can hold some 100s of lbs and jar straight from that as in much the same way as you, but I like to extract each super and then bucket, My reasons each super can be different honey or even some times individually frames can have different coloured honey in them and I like to separate them.
This season I've had 7 different coloured honeys not alot of difference maybe in flavour but there are suttle differences maybe a bit over the top but I don't think that would change even if I was extracting a ton.

Going back to the tips etc I measured the honey that dripped out and it wasn't even 50mls.
Please keep adding your tips / tricks I think we have started something here!
Cheers
C. G. F.

I extract each super separately too. Last year was my first harvest and every super produced a different honey. You can see some of them in my profile pic.

Some taste similar, but others very different. They even smell different.

I have several little settling tanks, I spin each super into is own tank, let it sit over night, then jar the next day. Obviously not practical if you have a large setup, or if you are in an area where all your honey is the same. But for me, I think the extra effort is worth the variety of honey. I just hope I get a good selection again this year .

 

[drdrday]

I do a bit of a cross between what Mark and Bobba do.

I extract into a settling tank, then lay a sheet of clingfilm over the surface of the honey and leave it on there. Most of the time I then jar straight from the settling tank after a couple of days, leaving the clingfilm in place as I go. As Bobba says, the bucket gets tilted as I fill, but the scum stays attached to the clingfilm, which just stays in place on top of the honey. When there isn't enough honey left to fill another whole jar I lift off the clingfilm, squeezing the scummy honey out of it into the honey that's left in the settling tank and then I can scrape that out for my own use not worrying about bubbles or waxy bits.

If I want to store the honey for longer before jarring I lift off the clingfilm before transferring the honey into a storage bucket, but then I still lay a fresh sheet of clingfilm over the top of the honey in the bucket again.
I figure the clingfilm also helps to 'seal' the surface of the honey, so that if my settling tank or storage bucket isn't full, or I can't get the lid on properly (one of mine is a nightmare to try and get the lid on and off of ), the honey isn't going to absorb any more water from the air above it in the bucket.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I put the scum in a jar and eat it ...

I also think that you need a settling tank(s) to meet the size of your crop. All my honey goes into settling tanks after it comes out of the extractor - I have a few 30 litre plastic settling buckets with honey gates on them. Leave it for about 48 hours by which time the honey is crystal clear, remove the scum using cling film (you don't waste any if you squeeze it out of the cling film to use it as you wish) and the drain into storage buckets. Square ones that hold about 30lbs each.

The less transferring of honey from one vessel to another the better as you always leave some in the bottom of the tank even scraping it out with a spatula.

I then jar up, as an when required, from the storage buckets. I don't bother separating the honey from supers ... you can't usually be certain what they have foraged on and my customers just like the fact that it's local honey, tastes fantastic and is fairly consistent in appearance and quality. Having jars of different coloured honey with the same label is just going to confuse the marketing proposition. Each to their own though ...

Each to there own
Edit: edit deleted because I was waffling on about tanks and buckets and beekeepers honey and colours of honey and customers getting confused and marketing proposition, and in the process forgot to take my tea bag out of my cup of tea and it has stewed so much the wax has cooled on top of the cup from to much beekeepers honey that I put in it, so I've thrown the wax, scum, beekeepers honey off the top of the tea in the bin tipped the tea down the sink and grabbed a cold cider from the fridge.
Cheers

 

[hemo]

The slum gum is also referred to as beekeepers honey, I have a nice SS large spoon and simply scoop it off the surface in to 1lb jars for personnel usage.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The slum gum is also referred to as beekeepers honey,

Wouldn't want to eat that - slumgum is all the filth that is left after you render wax down.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Wouldn't want to eat that - slumgum is all the filth that is left after you render wax down.

I put mine in the compost bin.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I feed mine to the children instead of buying sweets from the shop

 

[bobba]

I do a bit of a cross between what Mark and Bobba do.

I extract into a settling tank, then lay a sheet of clingfilm over the surface of the honey and leave it on there. Most of the time I then jar straight from the settling tank after a couple of days, leaving the clingfilm in place as I go. As Bobba says, the bucket gets tilted as I fill, but the scum stays attached to the clingfilm, which just stays in place on top of the honey. When there isn't enough honey left to fill another whole jar I lift off the clingfilm, squeezing the scummy honey out of it into the honey that's left in the settling tank and then I can scrape that out for my own use not worrying about bubbles or waxy bits.

If I want to store the honey for longer before jarring I lift off the clingfilm before transferring the honey into a storage bucket, but then I still lay a fresh sheet of clingfilm over the top of the honey in the bucket again.
I figure the clingfilm also helps to 'seal' the surface of the honey, so that if my settling tank or storage bucket isn't full, or I can't get the lid on properly (one of mine is a nightmare to try and get the lid on and off of ), the honey isn't going to absorb any more water from the air above it in the bucket.

I think having the film left on top when filling could stop air bubbles being sucked down when the tank is getting low, thus let you fill jars faster.
At lest for us guys with single super tanks.

I dont think the humidity in the air trapped in the top of a bucket could significantly alter the water content of your honey.

And what if you have some high water content honey, and you put it in the tank on a dry day? - you may be trapping water in the honey .

 

[bobba]

I put mine in the compost bin.

Spot on, contains traces of triacontanol from the wax and the sugars from the honey. So is great for the bacteria and fungus in the soil. And I expect all manor of micro nutrients are contained in the crud.

The miss puts it in her compost tea.