# Temperature for 200 micron honey straining?



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

140 degrees.


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## honeybeekeeper (Mar 3, 2010)

70 deg room temp draining all night long....Dont ask me how i know!...


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## BeeOld (Apr 7, 2009)

I stacked the 600, 400 and 200 an let it filter thru all three at room temperature.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I bet that your clarity problem has little to do w/ how fine your strainer is and more to do w/ the crushing and then the slow passing through the strainers allowing small air bubbles to invade the honey.

I could be all wet. Tho I'm not.


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

To me, it looks more like wax...

My "room temperature" trials haven't been very promising.


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

I'll go along with sqkcrk. Probably bubbles in your honey. Just let it sit for a while and it will clear up. BTW, I use the 200 micron filter in my house which my wife keeps at 75 degrees religiously. Starting with an empty bucket it takes about 20 minutes to filter a full bucket at that temp. And yes, it has millions of air bubbles in it, so I let it sit overnight before bottling, unless it's a rush job.


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

It's wax...

Or it would be clear after two months


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

It could be wax.


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## honeybeekeeper (Mar 3, 2010)

If you have alot of wax use a more coarse strainer before the 200 micron or run it through cotton cloth then through the 200....some people heat the honey so it will run faster and it works fine but when i strain mine i just use room temp, im not gonna bottle until the next day anyways. Alot has to do with the first step "the crush & strain"! Need to crush & squeeze it out real good!


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

My first posting said that I'm using 600 and 400 micron strainers as of now. 

The honey sat in the pail for about five days before in was bottled.


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## dehavik (Jun 5, 2010)

I did crush and strain, and had to heat my honey up to 90 degrees until it was thin enough to go through a 600-micron filter. I heated it in small batches on the stove, and didn't pour the next batch in the filter until the previous one had drained through. Though I only had four gallons of honey, it still took the better part of a day. A little wax is still in the bottled honey. It has floated to the surface, but I'm not fussed because it's all for us or friends-no selling. My honey is still incredibly thick and cloudy, even without any wax. I suppose it's pollen. It was only clear when it was hot. The cloudiness doesn't affect the taste, though. Delicious!


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Do you find wax particles on the top of the honey in the bucket and in the jars?

Why does the cloudiness bother you so? Your honey will probably be crystalized pretty soon anyway. And if it is wax, so what?


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## wolfpenfarm (Jan 13, 2009)

dehavik said:


> My honey is still incredibly thick and cloudy, even without any wax. I suppose it's pollen. It was only clear when it was hot. The cloudiness doesn't affect the taste, though. Delicious!


Oh wow, don't filter it. the biggest particles will coem to the top and its usually wax. I usually skim it off and toss it into a bread type recipe that needs sugar. It won't hurt a thing.  

But filtering it you will remove the good stuff from it, the pollen itself. Shoot I put my crushed comb into a collander, then collect honey into a big pot, then pour off the honey into gallon jars through cheese cloth. That catches most of the big stuff. Then what is left will float to the top which i usually spoon off into a jar i use to make recipes. it will stay cloudy but that is way cool with me cause i know its got the benefits of the pollen in it which is very good for us.

Uhmm if it does crystalize, you can warm it up to turn it back into honey OR you can put it in a blender and make honey butter out of it.... MMMMmmmm


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## honeybeekeeper (Mar 3, 2010)

Like i stated previously, Room temp always worked for me! Good Luck!


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## Fuzzy (Aug 4, 2005)

BeeCurious,

Seriously, do you know the moisture content of your honey ? Really dry honey doesn't go thru filters at room temp (in my lifetime anyway). 

As for how to heat: Gently..... using some kind of rube goldberb double boiler. Personally I have a 10 gallon turkey fryer, a stainless rack, and another pot (or bucket) that fits inside of the turkey fryer. I use a propane burner to bring the water bath up to 120F. Then it it a painful wait and stir for hours until the whole pot or bucket is up to temp. 
OR: You could sell the kids and purchase a bottling tank from Maxant and you are good to go. (just don't get caught selling the kids).

Fuzzy


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

BeeOld said:


> I stacked the 600, 400 and 200 an let it filter thru all three at room temperature.


That is all I do also. Just leave it all night and it will go through.


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

EastSideBuzz said:


> That is all I do also. Just leave it all night and it will go through.


Some things don't seem to work for me....
Or perhaps I don't have the patience required. 

Overnight isn't going to work for me. 

"overnight" doesn't meet my "reasonable rate" criteria mentioned in my original posting. 

The 120 to 140 degree F warming sounds like what I'll be leaning towards. 

I'll never have the volume to require a bottling tank. And if I did, I'd need to wait until Thanksgiving to sell one of the kids when they come home for a visit.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I really think you should just learn to be satisfied w/ the honey the way it is. It's not like you are trying to win a honey judging contest or something. And if it is wax, it won't hurt anyone to eat it.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

I've been using these 200/400/600 micron filters for about 9 years and I have never seen cloudy honey unless it was on the verge of crystallizing. If it is then it will be VERY slow to pass through filters. Probably in the past 3-4 years I've been using 600 exclusively - still no cloudy honey. I agree that it could be related to the crush and strain process. I use an extractor and do not have experience with crush and strain. Are there pollen cells in the comb that you're crushing? If so, I'd expect to see a cloudy product - and moving to a 200 micron will not remove the pollen. Most pollen is less than 100 microns in size, so the idea that straining with these filters removes all the good stuff is just not true. I use the 600 now just because its a lot faster.


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

> Are there pollen cells in the comb that you're crushing?


No.

I would have cut out any pollen before crushing...


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## honeybeekeeper (Mar 3, 2010)

opcorn:


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

honeybeekeeper said:


> 70 deg room temp draining all night long....Dont ask me how i know!...


honeybeekeeper,

So... what's the approximate volume of honey you're straining in 24 hours?

2 or 3 gallons?

How are you squeezing the honey from the wax? 

With bare hands?

Gloves?


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

honeybeekeeper,

So... what's the approximate volume of honey you're straining in 24 hours?

2 or 3 gallons?

How are you squeezing the honey from the wax? 

With bare hands?

Gloves?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I wonder what the micron measurement of my nylon cloth strainers is? Any idea, anyone?


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