Honey warming box

[max2]

My son was up for Christmas and we started working on a warming box to slowly decrystallize honey in buckets and jars.I did purchase some ply in anticipation.There is no hurry right now but winter will be here before we know it and we seem to have the perfect temperature for our type of honey to crystallize.It is  an issue I did not have to deal with just 10 or so years ago when we had regularly freezing nights/early mornings (I had to break the ice on the sheeps drinking water) . Our winter weather is more like around 12C ( and this is a cold night these days) and it seems to be the perfect temperature for our honey to crystallize.
My son came out with a repurposed pallet which we cut to the desired size - approx 600 x 1200 mm.We added some extra feet  as the location where the box will be kept can get wet on occasions.We screwed a sheet of thin ply on top to give us a nice , level area.Equally spaced risers allow 3 x 35W heating mats to be placed on top of the Ply.We were considering another sheet of Ply on top of this ( with suitable spacing) and an array of holes to let the heat rise evenly but I had some Aluminium channel so we decided that this was a better option as  heat transfer to the buckets should be more even. There are 8 channels evenly spaced.The space can take 6 x 10l buckets as a single layer or 12 x 10l buckets when doubled up. I'm not sure if the base can handle the extra weight - time will tell.
The buckets will be surrounded by a ply box ( about 25mm Ply). The outside will be insulated with polystyrene sourced from the waste bins at the local Hospital.
An insulated lid ( double thin Ply insulated) will form the lid.
Still a work in progress.It should allow me to warm up about 150 kg of honey at a time. We shall see.Nothing fancy but cheaper than this: https://redpaths.com.au/product/honey-warming-cabinet-2/I will be on the lookout for an old fridge too to stock with crystalized  honey in jars.Mind you, we have been selling more crystalized honey in jars of late.

[BeeMaster2]

Max,
What are you going to use to heat the box and what are you going to use to control the temperature?
I use an incandescent light bulb and the thermostat from a hot water heater. The thermostats work real well and I can set it to exactly 104 degrees Fahrenheit, 40 degrees Celsius. You will probably need 2 or more bulbs.
Jim Altmiller

[max2]

Max,
What are you going to use to heat the box and what are you going to use to control the temperature?
I use an incandescent light bulb and the thermostat from a hot water heater. The thermostats work real well and I can set it to exactly 104 degrees Fahrenheit, 40 degrees Celsius. You will probably need 2 or more bulbs.
Jim Altmiller

Hi Jim,

The heat box will be used to de-crystalize honey, mostly in 10l buckets, as explained above.
I will be using 3 x 35W heat mats ( the type they use for snakes etc) The all have thermostates. I will try a lower temperature first.
No bulbs used as the heatmats are cheaper to run and the heat is more evenly distributed.

[Ben Framed]

BI use an incandescent light bulb and the thermostat from a hot water heater. The thermostats work real well and I can set it to exactly 104 degrees Fahrenheit, 40 degrees Celsius. You will probably need 2 or more bulbs.
Jim Altmiller

This idea behind this set up works for incubating chicken eggs also...

[max2]

Working on a heat box and trying to find the " perfect" temperature to set the thermostat is getting me to do all sorts of reading.

We know that bees are poikilothermic and endothermic.

We know that hive temperature is between 34.5 C and 36C.

I assume that at this temperature the honey is in perfect condition.

This is quite a tropic temperature.

Seeley ( 2019) reports that a cooling to 30C for just a few hours leads to the development of ascosperosis.
Is there a negative effect on honey? Probably not?
We can observe a worker with her thorax resting against an alveolus, remaining in this posture long enough to generate enough heat to raise her thoracic temperature to 40 C and warm the alveolus by a few degrees.
So 40 C is OK for honey?
Stabentheiner et al ( 2003) tells us that below 7C bees " fall into a kind of coma and then die".

Goller and Esch ( 1990) say that bees exposed to 45C will die " within a few hours"

I have corresponded with a beekeeper who kept hives in the Blue Mountains ( NSW) and had hives survive the bushfires.

The data by these researchers give us quite specific information  about normal and extreme temperatures bees can survive.
Is there a correlation with the ideal storage temperature for honey?

We know that honey stored at a high temperature will darken but I can find any accurate recommendations.
There must be a lower limit and an upper limit which is ideal and at which amino acids, vitamins, minerals, iron, zinc and antioxidants are not negatively affected?