Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Daddys Girl on April 06, 2009, 01:20:55 pm
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Hello all,
How long does it take for the honey to fully, or as fully drain, from the wax when using crush and strain. I am assuming a couple of days to be sure.
Thanks!
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depends on your set up, the temps, etc. the last one i did took over a week. it was done in cold weather and i had to set the whole mess up in front of the pellet stove. ask tillie about doing it in warmer weather, or go to her blog. she had good video of her extractions.
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On a warm day in Atlanta, I harvest in the morning and put the crush and strain bucket outside on my front walk (with a brick on top of the bucket). By the end of the day, all of the honey will have strained through. I usually bottle it then, but leave the wax in the filter for another day when about one or two bottles' worth may still filter out.
Linda T in Atlanta
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>How long does it take for the honey to fully, or as fully drain, from the wax when using crush and strain. I am assuming a couple of days to be sure.
Forever. But I suggest you give up before then. There is a point of diminishing returns and you give up before the wax every completely is free of honey. Temperature, water content etc. all have an effect on how fast it drains. You time, your kitchen, the amount of your equipment, your life affect how long you're willing to wait.
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Forever. But I suggest you give up before then. There is a point of diminishing returns and you give up before the wax every completely is free of honey. Temperature, water content etc. all have an effect on how fast it drains. You time, your kitchen, the amount of your equipment, your life affect how long you're willing to wait.
I put the bucket in a place with a space heater to encourage the honey to flow out a little quicker, and added the remains from the cut comb project from this evening. I was going to take a gander tomorrow and then call it good and bottle what was left.
Many thanks to tillie for the videos, and especially about the cardboard! Lordy, does that save lives. Heheehee.
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you give up before the wax every completely is free of honey
Michael's right - that you give up at the point that fits your needs and life style, but after watching extractors in use at Young Harris Bee Institute and using an extractor at the Folk School, I think you get as much or more honey from the frames with crush and strain. There's a lot left for the bees to clean up when you extract.
Linda T in Atlanta
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I strain it out for a day, then I take the what's left and melt it down in a double boiler and let it cool. I use a plastic large frosting bucket from the local bakery set inside a large canning pot as a double boiler. When it cools it separates. The honey on the bottom and the wax on top. I break a hole in the wax and pour off the honey through a filter. Then I melt the wax again and pour it off also though a strainer into a bread loaf pan so that it cools into a brick shape. I use a plastic honey strainer for the honey. I use cheese cloth to strain the wax because the wax is difficult to clean out of the other strainers.
Alfred
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I went out and did a complete inspection of both hives, split the stronger of the 2 and moved the parent hive about 4 feet behind and 2 feet to the side of its original location, I put the split in that location so all the returning foragers would give it a population boost. I made the split in a double decker 5 frame mediium nuc. Put the frames of bees, pollen, a partially drawn frame and a frame of honey in the upper one and just empty frames in the lower one. Gives the split the advantage of a smaller space yet also room to grow immediately, It will be ready for it's second super when it fills the space available. I put the mite board on to reduce the entrance on the split. It was a walk away split so next week I'll be looking for either eggs or queen cells in the split.
I found that the parent hive had made a big mess out of the combs in the exact location they overwintered at. I had to cut the comb and honey out of 4 frames as it was so wild it was the only way to correct the situation. I brought it into the house and did the crush and strain. I've gotten about a gallon of nice raw honey out of 4 medium frames.
Wiill in the bee yard I also set up a bait hive (double decker nucs) and 2 8 frame mediums for the 2 packages I've got coming. Mite boards in place on those too. They are ready to shake in the bees. spent about three hours in the bee yard as I have to take frequent rest breaks due to health.
Looking forward to that honey, made this year.
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You could always use a press, here is a good one I found,
https://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/fruit_press.aspx
I had them send me a bunch of extra pictures, I can send to anyone who wants them (pm me)
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You could always use a press, here is a good one I found,
https://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/fruit_press.aspx
I had them send me a bunch of extra pictures, I can send to anyone who wants them (pm me)
I actually have a cider press that I use for crush and strain but with only 4 partial frames I didn't feel it was worth digging it out of the barn and setting it up.
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I saw a jar to jar crush and strain setup to do a qt at a time. If anyone remembers where it is would you point me in the right direction please. wm
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There's a description on my blog of jar to jar:
http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2008/07/four-ways-to-harvest-honey-without.html
and
http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2006/09/phase-two-of-honey-harvest-helpers.html
I found the method somewhere else and I think it's credited in one of those posts.
Note: I have tried this three times. The first time I used a paint filter (cut to fit the jar) and it worked well on one jar and poorly on two others. The second time it didn't flow through at all. The third time I used a cloth filter from Dadant and it still didn't work well. a woman at my bee club fitted the jar with a tea strainer and had good results.
Linda T in Atlanta
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a woman at my bee club fitted the jar with a tea strainer and had good results.
When I use the cider press I line the "barrel" with a linen pillow case, place the comb honey inside, and then crank it down until it stops. I end up with about 1/2 inch of solid wax that I have to peel from the pillow case. All of the honey filters through a tea strainer and into the bucket. When I do small amounts I still use the tea strainer. It does a good job, leaves just enough minute wax and bee parts to convince people it is pure RAW honey.
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I wonder if this press would also be usefull for rendering wax as well? Boil the broodcombs in a bag, render out the easy wax, then press it while pouring boiling water in it?
a woman at my bee club fitted the jar with a tea strainer and had good results.
When I use the cider press I line the "barrel" with a linen pillow case, place the comb honey inside, and then crank it down until it stops. I end up with about 1/2 inch of solid wax that I have to peel from the pillow case. All of the honey filters through a tea strainer and into the bucket. When I do small amounts I still use the tea strainer. It does a good job, leaves just enough minute wax and bee parts to convince people it is pure RAW honey.
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you give up before the wax every completely is free of honey
Michael's right - that you give up at the point that fits your needs and life style, but after watching extractors in use at Young Harris Bee Institute and using an extractor at the Folk School, I think you get as much or more honey from the frames with crush and strain. There's a lot left for the bees to clean up when you extract.
Linda T in Atlanta
Even if you get more honey, doesn't it take them a lot of energy to make new comb? Seems when I throw in already built comb during a flow they get after it and in no time the frames are full again. Contrast that with another week or two at least before they have new frames built out and are filling the frames. I try to protect the comb.
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I think you have to have a good flow for bees to draw out new comb, if you dont have a good flow with comb already drawn out you may still get some honey with a so -so honey flow, this is just my thinking I dont know for sure.
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I wonder if this press would also be usefull for rendering wax as well? Boil the broodcombs in a bag, render out the easy wax, then press it while pouring boiling water in it?
a woman at my bee club fitted the jar with a tea strainer and had good results.
When I use the cider press I line the "barrel" with a linen pillow case, place the comb honey inside, and then crank it down until it stops. I end up with about 1/2 inch of solid wax that I have to peel from the pillow case. All of the honey filters through a tea strainer and into the bucket. When I do small amounts I still use the tea strainer. It does a good job, leaves just enough minute wax and bee parts to convince people it is pure RAW honey.
I move the cake of compressed wax directly from the cider press to the solar wax melter. Since I do it all outside it's just a matter of turning around.
Quick and easy and my melter is large enough to hold 10 lbs of compressed bees wax for melting.